soccer in Nauru

The most popular code of football in Nauru has long been Australian rules football, which was introduced during the early 20th century by Australians working in the phosphate industry. Soccer had been introduced as early as the 1890s, but was overwhelmed by the organisation of Australian rules.

In 1954, local rugby and soccer leagues were all wound up as the popularity of Australian rules football on the island skyrocketed.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245570809 |title=Geelong Foster Game at Nauru |newspaper=The Herald |issue=23,984 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=9 April 1954 |accessdate=23 November 2021 |page=17 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Soccer was re-introduced in the 1960s, by migrant workers from Kiribati, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu. It enjoyed a period of relative popularity, and at one point the island had a six-team league.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} The all-time top scorer for the Tuvalu national football team, Alopua Petoa, is from Nauru.{{cite web |last1=Ewart |first1=Richard |title=Pacific Games Day 3: Red cards and red mist! |url=https://footballoceania.com/2019/07/12/pacific-games-day-3-red-cards-and-red-mist/ |work=Football in Oceania |date=12 July 2019 |access-date=30 July 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://archive.today/20230805153920/http://oceanianf.weebly.com/news---notiacutecias/archives/01-2015|title=Alopua Petoa - Oceania NÃO FIFA article}}

A 2009 World Soccer article noted that organised soccer had "fallen apart" on Nauru, and that the island was unlikely ever to field a team at the Pacific Games (the main regional tournament for non-FIFA teams).[http://www.worldsoccer.com/uncategorized/micronesia-is-struggling-to-keep-the-game-afloat-writes-steve-menary-292016 "Micronesia is struggling to keep the game afloat, writes Steve Menary"], World Soccer, 19 November 2009. Retrieved 12 November 2016.

In the 2019-2020 budget report by the Government of Nauru it was noted that all available open spaces on the island are used for Australian rules football, making it difficult to promote other sports such as soccer and softball.{{cite web |title=2019-20 Budget |url=https://naurufinance.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Budget-Paper-2-2019-20-FINAL.pdf |publisher=Republic of Nauru |access-date=30 July 2021}}

On 14 March 2024, former Premier League striker Dave Kitson was announced as Nauru's first ever national team manager, in addition to a role as international ambassador, with Charlie Pomroy appointed as the team's head coach by Head of Nauru Soccer Federation Gareth Johnson.

The Nauru Soccer Federation unveiled plans to organise a new regional sub-confederation, the Micronesia Football Federation, with other associations in Micronesia. The group had begun planning to hold a tournament in summer 2025. Kiribati, the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands planned to participate, in addition to Nauru.{{cite web |title=Dave Kitson: Former Reading forward set to manage Nauru in first international match|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68658309/ |publisher=BBC |access-date=14 April 2024}}{{cite web |title=Dave Kitson to coach Nauru football team - a team that doesn’t exist yet|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/dave-kitson-to-coach-nauru-football-team-a-team-that-doesnt-exist-yet/NQ2ERJBZ6ZHZHO432MTBTCJYW4/ |publisher=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=14 April 2024}}

{{main|Nauru national soccer team}}

The Nauru Soccer Federation has unsuccessfully applied for membership in the Oceania Football Confederation and FIFA in the past.{{cite web |last1=Düerkop |first1=Sascha |title=The Associate Members of OFC – 0:3 for football |date=5 January 2020 |url=https://footballoceania.com/2020/01/05/the-associate-members-of-ofc-03-for-football/ |publisher=Football Oceania |access-date=30 July 2021}} The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) suggests that it is "quite likely that there has been no official Nauru national soccer team." However, unofficial representative teams have been organised on at least two occasions.

On 2 October 1994, a combined Nauru team played a team of expatriate workers from Solomon Islands in Denigomodu, winning 2–1.Paul Watson, [https://books.google.com/books?id=EXDXBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT106 "FIFA's Exiles"], The Blizzard: The Football Quarterly 15, 10 December 2014, p. 106. Another Nauruan select team was raised in 2014, playing a team from the Nauru Regional Processing Centre to celebrate World Refugee Day.{{cite web |title=Nauru Honours World Refugee Day |url=http://www.naurugov.nr/government-information-office/media-release/nauru-honours-world-refugee-day.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824210958/http://www.naurugov.nr/government-information-office/media-release/nauru-honours-world-refugee-day.aspx |publisher=Government of the Republic of Nauru |year=2014 |archive-date=24 August 2019 }}[https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nauru2014.html Nauru 2014], RSSSF. Retrieved 12 November 2016. In 2020, Nauru Soccer Federation vice-president Kaz Cain announced that Nauru was considering creating its first-ever official national side for a 2021 tournament in Hawaii.{{Cite news |first=Richard |last=Ewart |date=23 July 2020|title=Fake soccer league website turns spotlight on what is really happening on Nauru |url=https://www.abc.net.au/radio-australia/programs/pacificbeat/nauru-soccer/12483124|access-date=14 November 2021 |work=Pacific Beat |publisher=ABC Radio Australia|language=en-AU |type=with audio, 6 mins 55 secs }}

In 2020, a website for the new Nauru Soccer League appeared online. However, no such league existed and individuals involved with the sport on the island clarified that it was a hoax.{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/pacific/programs/pacificbeat/nauru-soccer/12483124|title=Fake soccer league website turns spotlight on what is really happening on Nauru|date=22 July 2020 |publisher=abc.net.au}}{{Cite web|url=https://footballoceania.com/2020/07/18/a-fake-nauru-league-has-appeared/|title=A fake Nauru league has appeared|date=18 July 2020 |publisher=footballoceania.com}}

• Nauru Soccer Federation
• Australian rules football in Nauru

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{{Football in Oceania}}

{{Non-FIFA teams}}