Tupapa Maraerenga Football Club is a

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club located in

Avarua Avarua (meaning "Two Harbours" in Cook Islands Māori) is a town and district in the north of the island of Rarotonga, and is the national Capital city, capital of the Cook Islands. The town is served by Rarotonga International Airport (IATA ...

. It currently plays in the

Cook Islands Round Cup The Cook Islands Round Cup, also known as the Rarotonga Round Cup and the Tower Insurance Premiership, is the top division of the Cook Islands Football Association in Cook Islands. The winner qualifies for the OFC Champions League. Current champ ...

and in the

Cook Islands Cup Cook Islands Cup is the top knockout tournament of the Cook Islands Football Association in Cook Islands. Cook Islands Cup winners *1950: Titikaveka *1951–77: ''Unknown'' *1978: Tupapa Maraerenga *1979: Titikaveka *1980: Matavera *1981: ...

History

Tupapa F.C. are the most successful club in the Cook Islands. They have won 19 Cook Islands Round Cups and 9 Cook Islands Cups.

New millennium

The turn of the millennium heralded a new era for the club. In fact, the 2000s saw Tupapa and Nikao Sokattack compete for the title, with 4 championships for the former, and 6 for the latter. Tupapa won 3 in a row in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, before Nikao repeating the feat, only to be interrupted by the black and whites in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

.Cook Islands – List of Champions
at RSSSF.com

First continental adventures

Tupapa became the first

club to play on the continental scene, by participating in the 2001 OFC Club Championship. Drawn in

group B Group B was a set of regulations for Grand tourer, grand touring (GT) cars used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World S ...

, they finished 4th out of 5 teams, with 3 losses and 1 win. Their maiden win, which came against PanSa, was initially a 4–0 result, before being turned into a 2–0 win by default, due to the team from

American Samoa American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. Centered on , it is southeast of the island count ...

fielding ineligible players. The club was scheduled to participate in the

2008–09 OFC Champions League The 2008–09 OFC Champions League was the 8th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 3rd season under the current OFC Champions League n ...

preliminary round. However, they withdrew before the competition began. After winning the 2011 Cook Islands Round Cup, the team appeared in the

2012–13 OFC Champions League The 2012–13 OFC Champions League was the 12th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club association football, football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 7th season under the current ...

, starting in the

preliminary Round A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

. After topping their group, they were eliminated in the play-off round by

Mont-Dore Mont-DoreCommune de Mont-Dore (63236)
code officiel géographique, I ...

League dominance and return to the continental scene

The 2010s saw Tupapa cement itself as the new dominant force in the Round Cup, with the club winning 8 out of 10 championships ( Puaikura winning the other 2). In

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, the club took back the Round Cup from the hands Puaikura, finishing 9 points ahead of runner-up Nikao Sokattak, thus returning to the Champions League. Tupapa managed to overcome the preliminary rounds for the first time in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, winning all their 3 games and topping their group in the process. For their return to the group stages (in 2001, there was no qualifying round), they were drawn in

group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles wer ...

, where they lost all their games and were eliminated. In the

2019 OFC Champions League The 2019 OFC Champions League was the 18th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 13th season under the current OFC Champions League name ...

, the club repeated the same feat by topping their qualifying group, ahead of their

Samoan Samoan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean ** Something of, from, or related to Samoa, a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands ** Something of, from, ...

opponents. They were drawn in

group D Group D may refer to: * FIA Group D - International Formula racing cars: ** Formula Two ** Formula Three ** Formula 3000 * One of six or eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup ** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group D ** 2018 FIFA Worl ...

with

Auckland City Auckland City () was a territorial authority area with city status covering the central isthmus of the urban area of Auckland, New Zealand. It was governed by the Auckland City Council from 1989 to 2010, and as a territory within the wider Au ...

and

Magenta Magenta () is a purple-red color. On color wheels of the RGB color model, RGB (additive) and subtractive color, CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located precisely midway between blue and red. It is one of the four colors of ink used in colo ...

, in what was arguably the most difficult group of the competition. They unsurprisingly lost all their games, with a -33 goal difference, only scoring 2 goals. After a 3rd consecutive league title, Tupapa returned to the Champions League, qualifying once again for the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, with their games scheduled to take place in

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

. However, the team was forced to withdraw from the group stages due to three of their players failing to confirm their immunization to

measles Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...

before New Caledonia's Directorate of Health and Social Affairs. After winning the 2022 Tower Insurance Premiership, they earned a spot in the

2023 OFC Champions League qualifying stage The 2023 OFC Champions League qualifying stage was played from 18 to 24 February 2023. A total of four teams competed in the qualifying stage to decide the last of the 8 places in the group stage of the 2023 OFC Champions League, in which the hosts ...

, but failed to progress after losing to

Lupe o le Soaga SC Lupe o le Soaga Soccer Club is a Samoan professional football club based in Tuanaimato. It currently plays in the Samoa National League. History Lupe o le Soaga was founded in 2011. The team played in the First Division, the second tier of the Sa ...

. With another league title in 2024, Tupapa has now won 8 of the last 10 league titles, and 16 out of the last 25 league titles. The league had not seen such a dominant club since

Titikaveka Titikaveka is one of the five districts that make up the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. It is located in the south of the island, to the south of the districts of Ngatangiia and Avarua, and east of the district of Arorangi Arorangi is o ...

's consecutive titles in the 1970s and 1980s. For the 2025 season, the club hired female coach Mii Piri-savage. With the 2025 OFC Men's Champions League qualifying stage held at home for the first time, Tupapa progressed to the group stage thanks to a 3–3 draw against

Royal Puma Royal Puma is an association football team from Pago Pago, American Samoa. They play in the territory's top division, the FFAS Senior League FFAS Senior League is the top division of the Football Federation American Samoa in American Samoa and ...

and a 2–1 win against Vaipuna. On this occasion, Piri-Savage became the second female coach at the OFC Men's Champions League qualifying stage, after Steffany Godinet in 2023, and the first ever at the group stage. For their first appearance in the group stages in 6 years, Tupapa was drawn in group B alongside

Hekari United Hekari United, formerly known as POM Souths, Souths United, PRK Souths United and Hekari Souths United, is a professional soccer club formed in 2006, based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The club holds the record for most titles in the Papua ...

, Ifira Black Bird and Central Coast F.C., the team once again failed to collect a single point, being eliminated this time with a –19 goal difference.

Honours

: 19 ::

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, 1998–99,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

: 9 ::

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Current squad

Squad for the

2024 OFC Champions League qualifying stage The 2024 OFC Men's Champions League qualifying stage was played from 17 to 23 February 2024. A total of four teams competed in the qualifying stage to decide the last of the 8 places in the group stage of the 2024 OFC Men's Champions League. Pre ...

Staff

Women's team

Tupapa Maraerenga has a team in the Women's Cook Islands Round Cup. It has been crowned champions 15 times in addition to winning 15 FA Cups. After winning the 2024 Round Cup, the team will participate in the

OFC Women's Champions League The OFC Women's Champions League is the top-tier women's football club competition in Oceania. It involves the top clubs from countries affiliated with the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The first edition was played in June 2023. AS Acad ...

for the first time in 2025.

References

{{Cook Islands Round Cup Football clubs in the Cook Islands Avarua