ABOUT | PNGFA

ABOUT THE PNGFA

Football was first introduced in PNG in 1884 in Finschafen, Morobe Province by the German missionaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany. An organized competition was started in the gold fields of Wau/Bulolo by the indigenous gold-miners. This competition was called the Wau Kik, which is often referred to nowadays as Wau/Bulolo, or 1946 Kik, depicting a foul kick or rough play.

News reports from the South Pacific Post states that the Port Moresby football association was established in January1962 with the election of senior administrative officers from Australia. Administrator Sir Allan Cleland was the inaugural patron. A central organization, recognized by those who played the game in the four regions of Papua New Guinea, Southern, Highlands, Momase and the New Guinea Islands became necessary to run the affairs of the thriving game.

Later in 1962, the Papua New Guinea Football Association was established with the primary role to unite and coordinate provincial football associations and facilitate participation at a national and international level. In the early days there were no offices and the majority of administrative matters were run in the home and office of past held administrators. With little or no financial support, there was dependence on the contribution of diehard fans, players, administrators and volunteers.

In 1963 Papua New Guinea Football Association moved swiftly to become a member of the global football family by affiliating to FIFA – Federation International de Football Association.

1966 saw the PNGFA become a chief player in the establishment of the Oceania Football Confederation. The organization was formed to coordinate and facilitate football in the Pacific which included Australia and New Zealand. The founding members of OFC were PNG, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia.

The Papua New Guinea Football Association managed to operate from its own office in 1999 through the funding of OFC and FIFA. The first PNGFA office was opened in Lae and managed by a full time paid General Secretary. 1999 was also the year when the PNGFA Constitution was adopted.

A major milestone was the approval by the FIFA Goal Bureau of the first Goal Project in PNG on 29 October 2001.

OFC President Basil Scarsella opened the National Headquarters and Academy on 24 May 2003 with the help of Goal and the Financial Assistance Programme. For the first time in its history, the national association could now hold training and promotional courses for all categories of football under one roof. The sports complex incorporated the offices for Papua New Guinea’s football administration.