It is being reported by Fiji Football Association that Vodafone Premier League is scheduled to begin on February 2nd. Eight teams will fight for the title of the first division of Fijian football: Ba, Labasa, Lautoka, Nadi, Nasinu, Navua, Rewa and Suva.
Vodafone Senior League, the second tier of Fijian football, is scheduled to begin on March 1st.
AJ Inia is a talented 19 years old midfielder with Tongan citizenship that is playing in the Australian leagues since the U15 level.
He was one the most important players of Melbourne Knights in the 2019 National Premier League Victoria and he is now part of an ambitious project. Despite having some offers from Asian clubs, including Phnom Pehn from Camboja, he decided to stay in Australia to play for George Cross FC – “A great opportunity came up for me to be a major signing for a club here is Melbourne as well as to train with an A-League team once a week” said Inia.
The A-League club that he talks about is Western United – the newest team of Hyundai A-League, the major football league in the country. George Cross FC share training grounds with Western United so Inia will have the opportunity to be closer to an A-League team – George Cross will count on some former A-League players to get the promotion for Victoria National Premier League and become a strong team in the Premier League.
Inia has never played for Australia National Teams but he has been close to represent Olyroos (Australia U23) this year – “I was cut short of the Australian U23 shortlist so I was hoping to represent them in the Olympic qualifiers, but I had to miss out because I could not renew my passport in time.” he said.
Despite the Australia’s interest he is willing to represent Tonga at Senior level – “I never spoke with them (Tonga FA), just with the coach (Timote Moleni) […] But there is a competition this year that I am keen on playing in” stated Inia. He has never hidden his Tongan roots as he keeps his citizenship available to public on social media.
Tonga Football Association already knows about him and he could be a great addition for 2020 OFC Nations Cup. Inia could follow Mohammad Rajani’s steps: living in Australia but representing Tonga at international level. They are not the only Tongan players that play abroad and Tonga FA should pay more attention on these players in order to strengthen the National Team.
Jared Clark is a 22 years old Australian footballer that plays for Croydon Kings in the South Australia National Premier League. He is a central back that can also play as a defensive midfielder.
Despite being so young, Clark has some European experience as he had a stint at Serbian side FK Vojvodina youth teams.He also played for Adelaide United in the Y-League, the main youth football league in Australia.
There are strong rumours that Clark has Ni-Vanuatu ancestry so he would be able to represent Vanuatu National Football Team. Local people are reporting that he has some relatives that live in the country and some important people related to football also raised this question. According to sources Clark speaks Bislama (Vanuatu’s language) which could mean that he really has that ancestry.
He would not be the first Australian player representing Vanuatu. Former Australia U17 player Mitch Cooper received his first call up for Vanuatu National Football Team last year and he had a great performance in the 2019 Pacific Games held in Apia, Samoa.
Oceania Football Center management tried to talk to the player but had no answer so far. We will keep investigating in order to bring the most accurate information to our readers. Anyway, Clark would be a huge add for Ni-Vanuatu squad for 2020 OFC Nations Cup.
The eighth episode of Islanders Observer arrived! Oceania Football Center keep talking about the foreign islanders that are playing in 2019-20 ISPS Handa Permiership, the top national football league in Oceania. The last episode talks about Solomon Islands international Andrew Abba.
That is a season to forget for Abba, the Waitakere United’s winger suffered a knee injury and he will undergo surgery this week. He played only three matches in the season, coming from the bench against Canterbury United, Eastern Suburbs and Southern United in November.
He is already committed with Forrest Hill Milford to play 2020 New Zealand winter leagues.
Jama Boss is returning to Hamilton Wanderers. The 25 years old forward confirmed that he is coming back to Wanderers.
Yemen-born New Zealander was playing for Tasman United but he was not called for the last two ISPS Handa Premiership matches against Eastern Suburbs and Southern United. He is back to Wanderers after some years as he played there from 2015 to 2017.
Jama scored one goal in eight matches for Tasman.
One of the most celebrated players of Solomon Islands and Oceania recently signed his first professional contract with the top-tier South African side Maritzburg United. Since Micah Lea’alafa signed for his new club, he played in 11 matches for the team and did not record any assist or goal so far.
Despite having a great history in Auckland City back in New Zealand, his former club, Lea’alafa is having difficulties to establish himself in his team – a completely different level that he was used to when playing in Oceania.
The challenge is big, but Lea’alafa has the talent to break into the high stages and make his country and all the region proud of his football career. The player seemed a good pick from the coach Eric Tinkler in Maritzburg, being a danger for the opposition defenses and creating opportunities to score for his teammates.
Since the Solomon Islander was subbed in the first half – after only 38 minutes of play – against SuperSport United the player did not feature in the two matches of his club, against Chippa United and AmaZulu, not even being an option for the coach in the bench.
The forward received critics from the fans and seemed to be droppeb by Maritzburg staff in the previous matches, since there are not any reports the player was injured – in the match against SuperSport which the player left the pitch still in the first half, there were no reports of Lea’alafa injury in the South African media sites.
Despite having an interesting start in Maritzburg, Lea’alafa could not keep the good form for the team in his previous appearances: this is part of football, the competition is in a higher level in South African top-tier league than in ISPS Handa Premiership in New Zealand – where Lea’alafa achieved success – and the forward needs time to adapt to his new reality. Eleven games are not much, the season is long and Micah Lea’alafa deserves to resume to the team to show his capabilities.
One of the biggest talents of Fijian football, Shivam Naidu is being speculated in various clubs currently and the fans are willing to understand the case around the 19-year player that is still a Lautoka FC player, but attracted interest from clubs in Fiji and also outside the country.
It was reported recently that Naidu alongisde another players from his country would leave to play for an Australian team, move that is still to be completed. It is already known one of the players mentioned will not be moving to Australia anymore – Mohammed Alam signed a deal in New Zealand.
The local media in Fiji also reported the interest of Ba FC in Shivam Naidu for the upcoming OFC Champions League the club will take part. The move for Men in Black is in difficult situation to be completed: the 19-year old winger applied with Fiji FA to join Ba, but Fiji Football Association has declared Muni Shivam Naidu’s transfer window withdrawal application null and void.
Recently, Shivam Naidu talked to Oceania Football Center and stated he was contacted by a club in Singapore Premier League – creating another opportunity for the talented player. Although, until the present moment, this sitatuon with a potential move to the Southeast Asian country is no more but rumours.
Naidu recently won Pacific Cup in New Zealand playing for Lautoka and should be certainly an important player for the Blues. It is still unsure if Naidu will keep at Lautoka, will proceed to a Ba move or grab a rare opportunity to play overseas, the sole sure in the moment is that the player is being disputed by various clubs; fact that shows the talent of the young Fijian.
The 19-year old goalkeeper Mohammed Alam made a very important move for his football career: the youth Fijian international signed for the New Zealand side Manukau United.
The player represented Fiji U23 side in the previous OFC Olympic Qualifiers, where his team reached the semifinals of the tournament, but were eliminated by a strong New Zealand side. The player defended the colours of Nasinu in the previous edition of Vodafone Premier League, the top-tier league of football in his country.
Alam was reported to move for an Australian club this month alongside another Fijian players due a partnership with Fijian FA and the club in question. The young goalkeeper received a better offer to represent Manukau and decided to choose his next club will be the black and white side from Auckland.
Manukau United currently plays at NRFL Lotto Premier League and finished 7th in the table in their campaign last season.
The ISPS Handa Premiership weekened was full of goalls in all its five matches; Auckland City came from behind to beat Hawke’s Bay at Kiwitea Street and Hamilton Wanderers collected very important three points after beating Team Wellington at home. The results of the round put Auckland City in the top of the table now with six points of difference from Team Wellington – the Navy Blues keep unbeaten in the season so far.
Tasman and Southern promised a very tight contest in Blenheim, but the story told was completely different: 5-0 was the final result with a magnificent performance from the home side that gave no chances to the visitors. Jean-Philippe Saïko scored his third goal in the season to open the scoreline and still in the first half the defender Fox Slotemaker doubled the lead for Tasman.
More three goals came for the team coached by Jess Ibrom in the second half; the new signing Ben Watson scored the third for Tasman and the talented youngster Jesse Randall added the fourth to the account. Cory Vickers scored the fifth to give final numbers to the match in the 69th minute of play. The strong win by Tasman put them now inside the top four.
The things did not start well for the current title holders Eastern Suburbs in Christchurch against Canterbury United; Calum Ferguson headed in the first minute of the game the opener for the home side – but the outcome of the game was totally different than the starting minutes.
The debutant Adam Thurston, Christian Gray and a brace from the Uruguyan Martin Bueno put the Eastern Suburbs upfront with an emphatic 4-1 lead at the end of the first half. Despite all efforts from the home side, the Lilywhites scored another two in the second half with a penalty taken by Thurston and another from Reid Drake. After six matches without a win, Eastern Suburbs finally are back to the winning days and in style.
In Porirua Park in Wellington, Phoenix Reserves received the Auckland based-side Waitakere United. Both sides looked to recover in the table – Phoenix Reserves dropped two points allowing a late equalizer in their previous match against Southern and Waitakere was smashed by Auckland City by 6-2.
The talented Jake Porter put Waitakere upfront in the scoreline, but it did not take long for Byron Heath to put Nix Reserves back to the game in the 22th minute of the game. Dane Schnell put again the visitors upfront five minutes later the equalizer from Heath and the 1-2 was the final score in the first half.
The youngster Riley Bidois put WeeNix leveled in the scoreline in the 52th minute, but again, two minutes later, Nicholas Zambrano scored in favour of Waitakere United. In the final moments of the game Byron Heath found an equalizer for the homeside, but Alex Connor-McClean at the 96th of play gave all points of the clash for the visitors.
Auckland City had to fight to beat at home Hawke’s Bay United. The Napier-based side took a surprising lead after the goal scored by the experieced central defender Bill Robertson. But it did not take long for the home side to equalize – three minutes later Myer Bevan scored through a penalty kick to give the equalizer for the Navy Blues. Just one minute later, the Spanish defender Angel Berlanga put the current premiers upfront, to give the final numbers in the first half.
The new signing of Hawke’s Bay United, Angus Kilkolly coming from Team Wellington, had a instant impact as he scored the equalizer for the visitors in the second half. Ten minutes later from Kikolly goal, Myer Bevan scored his 12th of the season to put Auckland in front again. Cam Howieson scored the final goal of the clash in the 90th of the match to seal the Navy Blues win: 4-2.
Hamilton Wanderers is really coming in a high; a superb win by the club against Team Wellington put the club in the 3rd position in the table as Hawke’s Bay was defeat by Auckland City. Wanderers scored early in the game with the effort of Derek Tieku at the 11th minute of play – his seventh of the season. The scoreboard was unchanged until the last whistle of the referee, despite a lot of fight from TeeDubs to find an equalizer.
Wanderers are now only three points away Team Wellington in the table and they have still one match to be played from the clash against Waitakere United which was forced to be finished before the final whistle due climate conditions. The team leadered by Jake Butler has Tommy Semmy and Derek Tieku as their offensive standouts in the season so far combining for 11 goals.
Team Wellington suffered a major upset; they are now 6 points away Auckland City in the table and will have to be careful to defend their second place in the run.
You can check the current standings, all game results and top goalscorers of the season by visiting our session of New Zealand Football and clicking in ISPS Handa Premiership.
Fijian legend Esala Masi was elected as President of Brisbane Ba Soccer Club from Australia.
46 years old Masi is one of the greatest Fijian football players of all time.
Oceania Football Center