Battle of the Giants (Fiji)

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The Battle of the Giants is a football competition held every year, under the auspices of the Fiji Football Association in which the top district teams take part.

The competition, which started in 1978, was due to the foresight of J.D. Maharaj, who saw it as a way of earning money for cash starved football associations in Fiji. This was the first time that a football competition in Fiji was sponsored by businesses. The competition has been held every year except 1987, when restrictions placed by the military government on organised competitions on Sunday led to all soccer competitions in Fiji being abandoned.

Nature of tournament[]

The top 10 district teams take part in the tournament. At present these teams are Ba F.C., Labasa F.C., Lautoka F.C., Nadi F.C., Nadroga, Nasinu, Navua, Rewa, Suva and Tavua. The teams are divided into two pools of five and each team plays all the other teams once, over three days. A win is worth three points, a draw one point and a loss no points. The top two teams in each pool qualify for the semi-finals, with the winner of each pool playing the runner-up of the other pool. The semi-finals and the final are played on the different days.

Champions[]

Year Venue Winner Runner-up Score Notes
1978 Ba Nadi Ba 1 - 0 -
1979 Lautoka Ba Rewa 4 - 2 Penalty kicks
1980 Ba Nadi Ba 3 - 0 -
1981 Lautoka Ba Lautoka 2 - 0 -
1982 Suva Suva Ba - Match awarded to Suva
1983 Nadi Nadi Lautoka 1 - 0 -
1984 Ba Ba Suva 1 - 0 -
1985 Suva Lautoka Rewa 3 - 0 -
1986 Nadi Nadi Labasa 1 - 0 -
1987 - - - - No competition due to coup
1988 Nadi Suva Ba 4 - 3 Penalty kicks
1989 Rewa Nadroga Nasinu 1 - 0 -
1990 Ba Ba Suva 5 - 4 Peanlity kicks
1991 Rewa Nadroga Nasinu 5 - 4 Penalty kicks
1992 Lautoka Ba Lautoka 1 - 0 -
1993 Rewa Ba Labasa 1 - 0 -
1994 Nadi Rewa Ba - Ba defaulted the Replay under Protest
1995 Suva Suva Navua 2 - 1 -
1996 Ba Nadi Tavua 3 - 1 -
1997 Labasa Labasa Nadi 1 - 0 -
1998 Nadi Ba Nadi 1 - 0 -
1999 Lautoka Ba Tavua 1 - 0 -
2000 Lautoka Ba Labasa 2 - 0 -
2001 Nadi Ba Lautoka 2 - 0 -
2002 Labasa Nadroga Labasa 2 - 1 -
2003 Lautoka Rewa Ba 1 - 0 -
2004 Ba Rewa Nadi 2 - 0 -
2005 Suva Navua Rewa 1-0 -
2006 Nadi Ba Suva 2 - 1 -
2007 Rewa Ba Nadi 3 - 1 Extra-Time
2008 Suva Ba Labasa 2 - 1 -
2009 Lautoka Ba Lautoka 1 - 0 -
2010 Nadi Rewa Navua 1 - 0 -
2011 Rewa Rewa Suva 4 - 3 Penalty kicks
2012 Lautoka Ba Labasa 4 - 2 Penalty kicks
2013 Ba Ba Lautoka 3 - 1 -
2014 Suva Rewa Lautoka 2 - 1 -
2015 Nausori Rewa Ba 2 - 0 Ba left the ground in shame before the final whistle and didn't participate in presentation ceremony.
2016 Nausori Lautoka Labasa 2 - 0 Extra-Time
2017 Lautoka Rewa Nadi 2 - 1
2018 Lautoka Ba Suva 2 - 0 Extra-Time
2019 Lautoka Labasa Lautoka 1-0
Lautoka REWA Suva 1-0

Most successful teams[]

Team Number of Wins Number of times runner-up
Ba F.C. 17 7
Rewa F.C. 9 3
Nadi F.C. 5 5
Suva F.C. 3 6
Nadroga F.C. 3 0
Lautoka F.C. 2 8
Labasa F.C. 2 7
Navua F.C. 1 2
Nasinu F.C. 0 2
Tavua F.C. 0 2

External links[]

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