Fiji Football Association - Fiji Indian Football Association

Fiji Indian Football Association

The formation of Fiji Indian Football Association was proposed by Arthur Stanley Farebrother, a Suva businessman. As the teams from Suva, Rewa, Ba, Levuka and Lautoka gathered in Suva for an inter-district tournament, a meeting was organised on 8 October 1938 in the office of A.S. Farebrother and Company and the Fiji Indian Football Association was formed to organise and control football in Fiji. A.S. Farebrother was its first President. The first inter-district football tournament was held in Suva on 9 and 10 October 1938 for the Lloyd - Farebother trophy donated by Lloyd and Company and A.S. Farebrother and Company. Rewa won the first competition by defeating Ba by 3 goals to 2.

The constitution of the Association was adopted at a meeting in Lautoka on 22 April 1939. The following year Nadi, Nadroga and Rakiraki also joined the Association. During the war years there was no dampening of interest in football in Fiji, which saw the domination of the inter-district competition by three teams: Rewa (which won in 1938, 1939, 1943 & 1944), Suva (which won in 1940 & 1945) and Lautoka (which won in 1941 & 42). In 1943 Navua and Tailevu/Naitasiri also joined the Association and Taveuni joined in 1947. In 1958, when the association celebrated its 21st inter-district tournament, 14 districts took part.