Lahi United FC, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Snax Lahi United FC, is a semi-professional association football club based in
Lae
Lae () is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River and at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is the main land transport corridor between the Highl ...
,
Papua New Guinea. The club was founded in 2017.
The side made their competitive debut in the inaugural edition of the
Papua New Guinea National Premier League, finishing 5th in the Northern Conference.
In 2019, they took part in the
2019 edition of the
Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, finishing 4th in the Northern Conference.
History
The club was founded sometime in 2017, shortly before the first edition of the
Papua New Guinea National Premier League. The side were drawn into the Northern Conference alongside the likes of
Markham FC,
Morobe FC and
Laiwaden FC
Laiwaden FC is a semi-professional association football club based in Madang, Papua New Guinea. The club was founded in 2017.
The side made their competitive debut in the 2017 Papua New Guinea National Premier League, where they finished 4th i ...
, but had a poor season despite high expectations. They picked up three victories, against Morobe, Laiwaden and
Bulolo United
Bulolo United, known briefly as MMJV Bulolo United for sponsorship reasons, is a semi-professional Papua New Guinea association football team based in Lae in the Morobe Province. The club was founded sometime before 1987.
The club is best known fo ...
, but could only finish fifth out of six teams, failing to qualify for the next stage.
In late 2018, it was revealed that the side, under the new name of Snax Lahi FC, had expressed their interest in competing in the
2019 National Soccer League. Their official application was later accepted, and they were drawn into the Northern Conference.
The side made a decent start to their campaign, drawing 0–0 with former NPL rivals Markham FC on the opening day, before a 2–0 victory over Besta PNG United on 2 February. However, their form trailed off as they lost three of their next four games.
In March 2019, chairman of the club Giob Gariki died after suffering two heart attacks.
[{{Cite web, url=https://www.thenational.com.pg/lae-soccer-mourns-gariki-death/, title=Lae soccer mourns Gariki death, date=2019-03-19, website=The National, language=en-US, access-date=2019-03-31] Their immediately subsequent match against Markham FC was postponed.
The club eventually finished 4th out of eight teams in the Northern Conference, with four wins, three draws and six defeats, some way off the points required to qualify for the playoffs.
Domestic Record
National Competitions
*
Papua New Guinea National Soccer League
**
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
: ''Northern Conference:'' 4th
*
Papua New Guinea National Premier League
** 2017: ''Northern Conference:'' 5th
References
Soccer clubs in Papua New Guinea
Association football clubs established in 2017
2017 establishments in Papua New Guinea