Tupapa Maraerenga F.C.
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| Full name | Tupapa Maraerenga Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Tupapa | ||
| Ground | Victoria Park, Avarua | ||
| Capacity | 1,000 | ||
| Chairman | Grover Harmon | ||
| Manager | Anthony Samuela | ||
| League | Cook Islands Round Cup | ||
| 2024 | Champions | ||
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Tupapa Maraerenga Football Club is a Cook Islands football club located in Avarua, Cook Islands. It currently plays in the Cook Islands Round Cup and in the Cook Islands Cup.
History
Tupapa F.C. are the most successful club in the Cook Islands. They have won 19 Cook Islands Round Cups and 9 Cook Islands Cups.
New millennium
The turn of the millennium heralded a new era for the club. In fact, the 2000s saw Tupapa and Nikao Sokattack compete for the title, with 4 championships for the former, and 6 for the latter. Tupapa won 3 in a row in 2001, 2002 and 2003, before Nikao repeating the feat, only to be interrupted by the black and whites in 2007.[1][2]
First continental adventures
Tupapa became the first Cook Islands club to play on the continental scene, by participating in the 2001 OFC Club Championship. Drawn in group B, they finished 4th out of 5 teams, with 3 losses and 1 win. Their maiden win, which came against PanSa, was initially a 4–0 result, before being turned into a 2–0 win by default, due to the team from American Samoa fielding ineligible players.[3]
The club was scheduled to participate in the 2008–09 OFC Champions League preliminary round. However, they withdrew before the competition began.
After winning the 2011 Cook Islands Round Cup,[4] the team appeared in the 2012–13 OFC Champions League, starting in the preliminary Round. After topping their group, they were eliminated in the play-off round by Mont-Dore.
League dominance and return to the continental scene
The 2010s saw Tupapa cement itself as the new dominant force in the Round Cup, with the club winning 8 out of 10 championships (Puaikura winning the other 2).
In 2017, the club took back the Round Cup from the hands Puaikura, finishing 9 points ahead of runner-up Nikao Sokattak, thus returning to the Champions League.[5] Tupapa managed to overcome the preliminary rounds for the first time in 2018, winning all their 3 games and topping their group in the process. For their return to the group stages (in 2001, there was no qualifying round), they were drawn in group A, where they lost all their games and were eliminated.
In the 2019 OFC Champions League, the club repeated the same feat by topping their qualifying group, ahead of their Samoan opponents. They were drawn in group D with Auckland City and Magenta, in what was arguably the most difficult group of the competition. They unsurprisingly lost all their games, with a -35 goal difference, only scoring 2 goals.
After a 3rd consecutive league title, Tupapa returned to the Champions League, qualifying once again for the group stage, with their games scheduled to take place in New Caledonia. However, the team was forced to withdraw from the group stages due to three of their players failing to confirm their immunization to measles before New Caledonia's Directorate of Health and Social Affairs.[6]
After winning the 2022 Tower Insurance Premiership, they earned a spot in the 2023 OFC Champions League qualifying stage,[7] but failed to progress after losing to Lupe o le Soaga SC.[8]
With another league title in 2024, Tupapa has now won 8 of the last 10 league titles, and 16 out of the last 25 league titles. The league had not seen such a dominant club since Titikaveka's consecutive titles in the 1970s and 1980s.
Titles
Current squad
Squad for the 2024 OFC Champions League qualifying stage
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Mii Joseph
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Women's team
Tupapa Maraerenga has a team in the Women's Cook Islands Round Cup.[9] It has been crowned champions 15 times in addition to winning 15 FA Cups.[2][1]
After winning the 2024 Round Cup, the team will participate in the OFC Women's Champions League for the first time in 2025.
References
- ^ a b c Cook Islands – List of Champions at RSSSF.com
- ^ a b c d "Annual Champions & FA Winners". cookislandsfootball.com. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- ^ "Oceania Champions Cup 2000". RSSSF. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
- ^ Cook Islands 2011 at RSSSF
- ^ Stokkermans, Karel (14 September 2017). "Cook Islands 2017". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
- ^ "Tupapa withdraws from Champions League". Oceania Football Confederation. 1 March 2020.
- ^ "Tupapa off to OFC Champions League qualifiers". Cook Islands News. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ^ "Tupapa Maraerenga bundles out of OFC Champions League". Cook Islands News. 25 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
- ^ "Tupapa-Maraerenga premier men wins Raro Cup". Cook Islands News (cookislandsnews.com). 9 November 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.