The Fiji Premier League or the FPL, also called

Digicel Digicel is a Jamaican and Caribbean mobile phone network and home entertainment provider operating in 33 markets worldwide. Digicel has operated in several countries, including Guyana, Fiji, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia, Suriname, ...

Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is the top division men's professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

league in Fiji. Contested by eight teams, it shares a promotion and relegation system with the

Fiji Senior League The Fiji Senior League, or the Digicel Senior League for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division within the Fiji association football, football league system after the Fiji Premier League. It is contested by twelve teams with two group ...

(FSL). The League is controlled by the

Fiji Football Association The Fiji Football Association is the governing body of football in Fiji. It came into existence in 1961. It is the overseeing body of the Fiji National Team and its leagues. History Football started to be played in Fiji ever since the arrival of ...

. The league was founded as the Fiji National League in 1977 by the Fiji Football Association which was won by Ba. The club that has the most championships is also Ba with 21 titles.

History

Foundation (1977)

In 1977, the Fiji National League (FNL) was founded. The first ever season was won by Ba.

Sponsorship deals

Since 2016, the league has been called the Vodafone Premier League after a sponsorship deal with Vodafone Fiji. On March 3, 2021, Digicel Fiji signed a 3 year deal to sponsor the league, effectively renaming the competition to the Digicel Premier League.

Competition format

Competition

There are 8 clubs in the Fiji Premier League. During the course of a season, each club plays the others twice (a double round-robin system), once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponent's home. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches a ...

, and then goals scored. If still equal, teams are deemed to occupy the same position. If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, a play-off match at a neutral venue decides rank.

Promotion and relegation

A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Fiji Premier League and the Senior League. The last placed team in the Fiji Premier League are relegated to the Senior League, and the first placed team from the North and South zones of Senior League are promoted to the Fiji Premier League.

Clubs

8 clubs have played in the Fiji Premier League from its inception in 1977, up to and including the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

season.

Champions

League Championship (for Districts)

*1977: Ba FC *1978: Nadi FC *1979: Ba FC *1980: Nadi FC *1981: Nadi FC *1982: Nadi FC *1983: Ba FC *1984: Nadi FC *1985: Lautoka FC *1986: Ba FC *1987: Ba FC *1988: Lautoka FC *1989: Nadroga F.C. *1990: Nadroga F.C. *1991: Labasa FC *1992: Ba FC *1993: Nadroga F.C. *1994: Ba FC *1995: Ba FC *1996: Suva FC *1997: Suva FC *1998: Nadi FC *1999: Ba FC *2000: Nadi FC *2001: Ba FC *2002: Ba FC *2003: Ba FC *2004: Ba FC *2005: Ba FC *2006: Ba FC *2007: Labasa FC *2008: Ba FC *2009: Lautoka FC *2010: Ba FC Ba FC won the league and finished top of the points table, but second-placed Lautoka FC were awarded the title on Mar 11, 2011, after having a protest pertaining to their match on May 8, 2010 against Rewa (which finished 1–1) ruled in their favour

But the decision was overruled in July 2011, and Ba was declared the winner

/ref> *2011: Ba FC *2012: Ba FC * 2013 Fiji National Football League, 2013: Ba FC *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

: Suva FC *

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

: Nadi FC *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

: Ba FC *

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

: Lautoka FC *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

: Lautoka FC *

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 ...

: Ba FC *

: Suva FC *

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

: Lautoka FC *

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

: Rewa FC

Previous winners

National Club Championship

*1986:

Tanoa SC ''Pelusios'' is a genus of African side-necked turtles. With 17 described species, it is one of the most diverse genera of the turtle order (Testudines). Etymology The Latin name ''Pelusios'' means "mud" or "clay", and this is reflected by ...

(Nadi) *1987–88: ''Not known'' *1989:

Combine Stars SC Combine may refer to: Machinery * Combine harvester, or combine, a machine to harvest grain crops * Combine seeder, or combine, a machine to plant seeds Company structure * Corporate group, an industrial business group in Western democracie ...

(Suva) 1–0 Vunika (Labasa) *1990: ''Not known'' *1991: Ba FSC *1992: Greenstars 1–0 Ba FSC *1993: Lautoka General *1994–95: ''Not known'' *1996: Lautoka General Strikers *1997: Ba FSC *1998: Raymonds (Rewa) 1–1

Fiji Sugar Corporation Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) is the government-owned sugar milling company in Fiji having monopoly on production of raw sugar in Fiji. It is also the largest public enterprise in the country employing nearly 3,000 people, while another 200,000 or ...

( Raymonds on pens) *1999: Kiwi Sports (Labasa) 2–0 KK Nadi Blues *2000: Foodtown Warriors (Lautoka) 1–0 Nadi Eagles *2001–03: ''Not held'' *2003–04: ''Not known'' *2005: General Machinery (Lautoka) 1–0

Malolo Malolo is an inhabited volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean, near Fiji. Malolo was used as a tribe name in Survivor: Ghost Island. Malolo Island is the largest of the Mamanuca Islands and is home to two villages. History Malolo was one of the ...

(Nadi) *2006: General Machinery (Lautoka) 1–1 United (Rewa) (aet, 4–1 pen) *2007–08: Kriz Signs Uciwai (Nadi) 2–1 United (Rewa)

Club Franchise League

*2005: 4R Electric Ltd (Ba) *2006:

Nokia Eagles Nadi Football Club is a Fijian football club based in Nadi that competes in the Fiji Premier League. Their home stadium is Prince Charles. History Nadi Football Club was founded in 1937 under the leadership of Edward Grant. The local competit ...

(Nadi)

Topscorers

References

External links

Fiji – List of Champions
RSSSF.com
Vodafone Premier League
- Fiji Sun {{OFC Leagues 1

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...