C.E. Fox, who founded Kakamora Football Club in 1969
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.”
After narrowly placing 2nd in 1994, the club began to experience difficulties and were relegated for the first time by 1997.
Founding and early years (1998-2011)
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. The MUFA also established a Makira-Ulawa provincial football team to play in Solomon Cup competitions, which was originally named Real Kakamora to differentiate themselves from the league club. 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.
The team was relegated again to the third division by the start of the 2006 season, and had fared poorly in their few matches against top-division clubs in cup matches, notably losing 9-0 to Marist Fire in the group stage of the 2003 Honiara Cup. In 2009, the club launched a reserve side named Sokamora, who were comprised entirely of Makiran-born players. Sokamora and Kakamora both completed in the third division.
The S-League era (2011-)
The team continued to struggle until 2011, when they were selected for the new top-flight Telekom S-League as last-minute replacements for Makuru FC, who had refused to play in the league on religious grounds,[2] and became one of the league's eight founding members. The team was rebranded to Real Kakamora in accordance with the name of the provincial team to reflect the club's ownership under the MUFA.
Kakamora were forced to assemble a squad within 24 hours, and struggled in their inaugural season as a result, losing their first 7 matches and failing to score in their first 5. The signing of defender Cyril Muta[3] from defending Oceanian championsHekari United helped strengthen the team's backline, but they could not secure a win all season, finishing in last place with 0 wins, 2 draws, and 12 losses. The following season, Kakamora adopted a club constitution and appointed Peter Konata as the team's head coach. Aided by Makiran strikers Nicholas Muri and Johan Doiwale, Kakamora rose to 4th place the next season, tallying 7 victories.
By 2018, however, the team had fell on hard times financially, failing to secure a sponsor until three days before the start of the season. Kakamora's 2019/20 campaign saw the team lose all 15 of its matches as they were forced to field a squad of inexperienced local players, most notably losing the final match of the season to Henderson Eels in a 19-0 defeat which saw wonderkid Raphael Lea'i score a league-record 11 goals. Players such as Paul Hiri, who had played with Kakamora since their inaugural S-League season, were loaned out to other clubs as the team was incapable of paying their wages.
Following the disastrous season, local philanthropist Robert Chow assumed management of the team and infused much-needed funds into the Kakamora squad. Konata was re-appointed as head coach, and Kakamora managed to rebound to 8th place out of 12 clubs in the league in 2020/21. Following the conclusion of the season, the club appointed Henderson Eels head coach Chris Asipara to be their new coach and signed 2020 Solomon Cup standout Jaygray Sipakana, who went on to set a new league record for goals scored by a Kakamora player.[4] Aided by Hiri and winger Adrian Mara, Kakamora finished 5th the following season. However, Chow passed away unexpectedly due to an illness in February of 2022, and the club's momentum immediately evaporated. Again running low of funds, Sipakana and Mara departed the club, and Kakamora struggled greatly in 2022/23, placing 11th out of 12 clubs in the league despite a shock 1-0 win to defending champions Central Coast. By the start of the 2023 season, the club was virtually bankrupt, and was again forced to comprise a team of amateur local players. The team could not afford to hold regular training sessions, and went on to have the worst season in modern S-League history. The club again lost every match in 2023, conceding an average of 5.27 goals per match[5] and with a goal difference of -102 despite playing in only 22 matches. Oftentimes, Kakamora would be unable to field a full starting eleven, and played entire matches starting with 9 men on the field.
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. Following the nearly-incomprehensible display of futility, calls grew from supporters of other clubs for Kakamora to be removed from the league entirely. In February of 2024, the team rebranded its crest, created an account on Instagram, and quickly rose to fame on the platform through humorously posting about the team's shortcomings. Within a month, they had become the most followed S-League account on the platform.
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.
After a narrow 3-2 defeat to open the season against Warriors, Real Kakamora got their first victory in over 2 years against Marist FC, ending a streak of 33 consecutive losses.[6] Moreover, they embarked on a 5-match win streak, spent much of the early season leading the championship. Francis went on to become a cult hero amongst the club's new group of worldwide supporters as he went on to break Kakamora's single-season S-League scoring record.
The team's underdog story continued to attract fan attention before ending in third place, their best finish in club history. Kakamora had then 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. The team's social media efforts resulted in all-time highs for viewership and interest in the S-League and Oceanian football, which had long remained under obscurity to most global football fans.
Francis, Iro, and goalkeeper Harold Nauania were named to the Solomon national team for the first time ahead of the 2026 OFC World Cup Qualifiers. However, Francis only played 20 minutes in the tournament as Solomon Islands were eliminated in the group stage, sparking an uproar amongst the club's supporters.
Former club logo
However, in early 2025, Kakamora were denied their league license by the S-League board under suspicious circumstances, preventing them from participating in the competition. They were the only former S-League club to be denied entry in the league's new season. As a result, they were forced to sell all their players, with Francis heading to Fijian outfit Nasinu.
That July, the Makira-Ulawa Real Kakamora provincial team captured its first-ever Solomon Cup title, with league standouts and fan-favorites Jeffery Bule and Gordon Iro returning as designated players. The club continued to further its presence on Instagram, establishing relations with A-League sides Brisbane Roar and Auckland FC and positioning itself as a global ambassador of Solomon and Oceanian football.
Ahead of the launch of the OFC Professional League later that year, it was speculated that newly-founded side Solomon Kings would use Kakamora's branding for the tournament in an attempt to attract global fans. However, no formal announcements have yet been made.
Crest and colors
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
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.[5]
Social media presence
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.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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][citation needed]
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