Tupapa Maraerenga F.C.

Early years competing

Tupapa competed in the early football competition in Rarotonga whilst the Cook Islands Football Association was not a member of FIFA. The club won the 1978 knockout title,^[2] and secured their first league title in 1992,^[3] the first season officially sanctioned by the Cook Islands Football Association.^[4] Tupapa won their first title under FIFA sanctioned league in 1997, quickly followed by 1998 and 1999 titles, thus winning three titles in a row before the new millennium.^[3][4]

The new millennium

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 (2001, 2002 and 2003), before Nikao repeating the feat, only to be interrupted by the black and whites in 2007.^[3][4]

First continental adventure

Tupapa became the first Cook Islands club to play on the continental scene, by participating in the 2001 OFC Club Championship. Drawn in group B, 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 due to the team from American Samoa fielding ineligible players.^[5] The club was scheduled to participate in the 2008–09 OFC Champions League preliminary round. However, they withdrew before the competition began.

After winning the 2011 Cook Islands Round Cup,^[6] the team appeared in the 2012–13 OFC Champions League, starting in the preliminary Round. After topping their group, they were eliminated in the play-off round by Mont-Dore.

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. In 2017, the club took back the Round Cup from the hands of Puaikura, finishing 9 points ahead of runner-up Nikao Sokattak, thus returning to the Champions League.^[7] Tupapa managed to overcome the preliminary rounds for the first time in 2018, winning all 3 games and topping their group. They were drawn in the group A, where they lost all games and were eliminated.

In the 2019 OFC Champions League, they repeated the same feat by topping the qualifying group, ahead of Samoan opponents. They were drawn in the group D with Auckland City and Magenta, what was arguably the most difficult group of the competition. They lost all games, with a -33 goal difference. After a 3rd consecutive league title, Tupapa returned to the Champions League, qualifying once again for the group stage, with their games scheduled to take place in New Caledonia. However, the club was forced to withdraw due to three of their players failing to confirm immunization to measles.^[8] After winning the 2022 Tower Insurance Premiership, they earned a spot in the 2023 OFC Champions League qualifying stage,^[9] but failed to progress after losing to Lupe o le Soaga SC.^[10]

With another league title in 2024, Tupapa had won 16 out of the last 25 league titles. The league had not seen such a dominant club since Titikaveka'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 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, and the first ever at the group stage.^[11] For their group stage return after 6 years, Tupapa was drawn in group B alongside Hekari United, Ifira Black Bird and Central Coast F.C., once again failing to collect a single point, being eliminated with a –19 goal difference. They won the 2025 Cook Islands Cup emphatically, beating Nikao Sokattak by 5–0.

For the OFC Men's Champions League qualifying stage, they faced Pago Youth, Nukuhetulu and hosts Vaivase-Tai. They started their campaign with a 3-0 victory over Nukuhetulu, with loanee Daniel Bunch scoring a brace, and domestically-based Ngametua Tuakana scoring 1. Against Vaivase-Tai they would settle for a draw, with both finishing on 10-men. On the final day, Tupapa has beaten Pago Youth by a convincing 3–0 score, with Bunch scoring twice and president-captain Grover Harmon once.^[12][13][14] Prior to the 2026 OFC Men's Champions League finals, 4 of their loanees pulled out, including Jordan Boon and Daniel Bunch, and multiple players were unavailable, leading to them bringing in Honoura Maraetefau and Tauhiki Bohl, Key Villiamu, Maui Denny, Kima Webb, Tahiri Elikana, Tremaine Rimene-Albrett, Aadil Kamaldeen, and Dwayne Tiputoa.