Real Kakamora F.C.
 | |
| Full name | Real Kakamora Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) |
|
| Founded | 1969 (as Kakamora Football Club) |
| Ground | Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara |
| Capacity | 20,000 |
| Coordinates | 9°26′12″S 159°58′17″E / 9.43667°S 159.97139°E |
| Owner | Tommy Mana |
| Manager | Jeremy David Bosokuru |
| Coach | Stephen Aumanu |
| League | Telekom S-League |
| 2024 | Telekom S-League, 3rd of 12 |
| Website | https://www.instagram.com/realkakamorafc/ |
Real Kakamora Football Club, commonly referred to colloquially as Real Kaks or simply RK, is a professional Solomon Islands football club based in the province of Makira-Ulawa, and play their matches in Honiara. The club last competed in the Telekom S-League, the top flight of football in the Solomon Islands.
History
[edit]Precursor club and early success (1969-1998)
[edit]
Real Kakamora's origins go back to when football was introduced to Makira-Ulawa by the officials and missionaries of the Church of Melanesia as part of physical education programs. By the 1950s and 60s, the sport had become incredibly popular within the province, prompting missionary C.E. Fox to found his own club, which he named Flying Fox FC. Like many church-based clubs at the time, they began competing in the top division of the recently-created Honiara FA League, which at the time served as the premier football competition in the Solomon Islands.
In 1968, KAMP United, a club composed of former students from prominent Honiara secondary schools, won the HFA Rothmans Cup, an FA Cup-like competition featuring clubs of all divisions from the Honiara FA League. Following their victory and the conclusion of the league season, members of both Flying Fox and KAMP United approached each other regarding a potential merger of the two sides, and before the start of the 1969 season, Fox finalized an agreement to form Kakamora Football Club. KAMP’s top young players, such as captain John Wheatley and goalkeeper Patterson Seda, joined Kakamora as a result of the merger.
In their very first season, Kakamora topped the Honiara FA League table to win their first title. After narrowly missing out on retaining it the following year, Kakamora proceeded to embark on a run of unprecedented dominance, capturing six consecutive league titles from 1971 to 1976. Despite failing to secure a seventh in 1977, they managed to win the HFA Rothmans Cup, defeating Sunbeam 5-3 in the final. During this time, Kakamora and its players became “household names” in Solomon football, as they were well-regarded for helping popularize the sport in the country and introducing a more modernized style of play to their contemporaries, helping the Solomon Islands earn the nickname of “Brazil of the South Pacific”.[1] Wheatley was named as captain of the national team, while Seda served as its goalkeeper. Other young Kakamora stars, such as Wilson Maelaua, Henry Suri, Nelson Boso, and David Oli also became key contributors for the national team during this period, and were integral to Kakamora's success during the decade.
Kakamora returned to winning form in 1978 and 1979, capturing two more league titles, having won nine out of possible eleven league titles since their inception. Following their league triumph in 1979, Kakamora embarked on a tour of Fiji in August to play against clubs from the National Fiji League ahead of the South Pacific Games, which were set to be hosted in Suva later that month. In their first matches against international competition, Kakamora largely dominated their Fijian opposition, winning every match but one. They defeated league champions Ba 5-1 on aggregate over two legs, thrashed both Nadroga and Suva by a score of 7-0,
The precursor club enjoyed a great bit of success in the 1980s, placing as high as third in the Honiara Super League in 1988, in which they beat Uncles FC (now known as Solomon Warriors) 2-0 in the third-place match. During this time, Kakamora became a “household name” in Solomon football, as they were well-regarded for helping introduce a more modernized style of play to their contemporaries, helping the Solomon Islands earn the nickname of “Brazil of the South Pacific.”
Founding and early years (1998-2011)
[edit]The foundation of the Makira-Ulawa Football Association (MUFA) in 1998 by former longtime captain John Wheatley is widely accepted as the official beginning of the football club. Immediately upon the MUFA's founding, the association had absorbed complete control of Kakamora FC's assets and football operations. However, during this period, the club's relegation from the top flight of the Honiara FA League caused them to remain in relative obscurity for the next decade.
Originally founded in January of 1998[2] as an amateur team, the club has alternated between a dark blue and white kit since its inception.
Real Kakamora remained relatively unknown until 2011, when they joined the Telekom S-League as last-minute replacements for Makuru FC, who had refused to play in the league on religious grounds,[3] and one of the league's eight founding members.
Most notably, Real Kakamora preceded to record two additional seasons without a win. They finished 0-0-22 in the 2023 season, conceding an average of 5.27 goals per match[4] and with a goal difference of -102 despite playing in only 22 matches.
Their season ended with a 14-0 loss to Solomon Warriors, with striker Tigi Molea tallying 10 goals in the match to clinch the league title for the Warriors, the 2nd-highest total in league history.
In 2024, Real Kakamora got their first victory in 2 years against Marist FC.[5] Moreover, in the next match, they beat Kossa FC 2-0, starting a two match win streak, their first since 2021.
Spurred by their unprecedented online success, Kakamora shared their S-League license with the management of Honiara FA League club Green Shield FC, and used their new source of funding to target young, high-potential players, including Waneagu United striker Paul Francis and Central Coast U19 player Gordon Iro, amongst others.
The club's 2024 season resulted in a massive improvement, as Kakamora unexpectedly spent much of the early season leading the championship[6] before ending in third place, their best finish in club history. Kakamora firmly established themselves as one of the most popular clubs in the OFC, and won 130,000 SBD in prize money from the SIFF following the end of the season.
Crest and colors
[edit]In early 2024, facing widespread pressure and the threat of being removed from the S-League next season if their performances were not to improve, the club adopted a new crest and branding.
Grounds
[edit]Since their foundation, Real Kakamora played most of their home matches at the 22,000-capacity Lawson Tama Stadium in Honiara.
It has served as the de facto home venue of the entire league as a whole, restricting the club to play both their home and away matches at the stadium.[4]
Social media presence
[edit]Ever since the 2023 season, Real Kakamora's futile performances and egregiously-lopsided defeats later came to attract international attention, with many, including the club themselves, describing Kakamora as the "worst football club in the world."
Real Kakamora created their Instagram account in February 2024. They have been making use of Instagram's Reels to publish numerous football memes and posts humorously highlighting the club's shortcomings.
Real Kakamora's social media presence quickly grew viral on the platform, notable for its rather “unfiltered and contrarian” content[7][8] and provided the club with a newfound international fanbase in the club, the Telekom S-League and football in Solomon Islands.
With almost 33,000 followers on Instagram as at March 2025, Kakamora is considered to be one of the most popular football clubs in the largely semi-professional Oceania Football Confederation.
On April 3, 2025, Kakamora informed followers on Instagram that they would be excluded from the 2025 Telekom S-League season. This would be followed up with another post 4 days later showing conversations with Wil Liam believing that it had something to do with the owners of Juniper Tree FC, which followed the supposed owner stating 'Board have already deliberated on R. Kakamora and that is final'.
On the 30th of April 2025, The Real Kakamora Instagram page posted a black image with the caption informing their supporters that Real Kakamora would cease operations effective immediately on the 1st of May 2025. The Instagram page did not upload anything from then until May 15th, when they uploaded a picture with the caption "7 JULY 2025", hinting at a possible return of the club.
Players
[edit]Squad for 2024 Solomon Islands S-League
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Staff
[edit]| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head Coach |  Stephen Aumanu, Jr.
|
| Assistant Coach | Ian Lagwai Kalu
|
| Team President (MUFA) | Tommy Mana
|
| Team President (Green Shield) | Noel Hakopes
|
| Team Manager | Jeremy David Bosokru
|
Performance
[edit]Often beset by a lack of proper funding and resources in their first twelve years spent in the league, Real Kakamora failed to record a win in their first season of play in the S-League, and after a period of brief mid-table success, plummeted greatly and often finished at or near the bottom of the table in subsequent seasons.
Real Kakamora enjoyed somewhat limited success in its first few seasons as a professional club, with two 4th-place finishes in the 2011-12[9] and 2014-15[10][11] editions of the league.
Since their last 4th-place finish, the team has served as a perennial bottom-feeder in Solomon football, finishing in the bottom four places of the table each season; the lone exception being a 5th-place finish in 2021.[12][13]
References
[edit]- ^ "FAIRYTALE FOR SOLOMONS AS BILIKIKI EYE BRAZIL". Oceania Football Confederation. 2006-09-05. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ^ o w m"Solomon Islands - List of Foundation Dates". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ So streakIstheir first sSSF
- ^ a b "Solomon Islands - Real Kakamora FC - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ "Finally: Real Kakamora registers first victory after 33 matches in Telekom S-League". Oceania Football Center. 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
- ^ News, Sol Star (2024-05-28). "REAL KAKAMORA MAINTAIN TOP SPOT". Solomon Star News. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "Telekom S-League table, schedule & stats | Sofascore". www.sofascore.com. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ "Real Kakamora FC 0-14 Solomon Warriors | Solomon Islands S-League | 01 Oct 2023". FIFA. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ "Solomon Warriors win TSL league". Solomon Football. 2012-04-24. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ "Our Telekom S-League 2014/2015 - Results, fixtures, tables and stats - Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ "Positive start for Kakamora and Hana". Oceania Football Confederation. 2014-09-08. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ "Telekom S-League 2021 :: Solomon Islands :: Edition profile :: playmakerstats.com". www.playmakerstats.com. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ News, Sol Star (2021-11-21). "Real Kakamora FC seals fifth spot". Solomon Star News. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help)