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Since 2003
Club History
Twenty years of Papua New Guinean football, told through the seasons that mattered.
Hekari has been a symbol of football excellence in Papua New Guinea for two decades. Formed in the early 2000s, the club became the first Pacific Island team from outside New Zealand and Australia to win the OFC Champions League in 2010. That result took the side to the FIFA Club World Cup and put Papua New Guinean football in front of a global audience for the first time.
At home the club simply took over. Nine national championships, eight of them consecutive, built a reputation for discipline and professionalism that shaped how clubs in the country operate.
As the regional game changed, so did the club’s ambitions. In 2025 PNG Hekari FC was established as a new entity, built on the foundations and values of the original club, to meet the standards of a fully professional Oceania competition. The original Hekari United continues as a feeder club, developing grassroots talent and feeding the pathway to the elite level.
Under the leadership of general manager Wira Wama, the club has focused on the three things professional football demands: strong administration, serious player development, and modern infrastructure. The road from local champion to regional professional club has been one of resilience and reinvention.
“Our Passion His Glory”
Timeline
Season by season
The club is formed
Founded in Port Moresby and entered into the capital’s First Division, the second tier of football in the city. The side topped the table in its first season but missed promotion on penalties.
First national championship
Competing as PRK Souths United, the club tops the inaugural National Soccer League and beats Gelle Hills 2–0 in the Grand Final. Kema Jack scores both goals and finishes as the league’s top scorer.
Champions of Oceania
A 3–0 first-leg win in Port Moresby and a 2–1 defeat in Auckland gives Hekari a 4–2 aggregate victory over Waitakere United — the first club from the Pacific Islands to win the OFC Champions League.
On the world stage
The club represents Oceania at the FIFA Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, opening against hosts Al Wahda. No Papua New Guinean club had ever reached the competition.
Eight in a row
An eighth consecutive national title completes the longest period of dominance in the history of Papua New Guinean football.
Inaugural NPL champions
During the split from the National Soccer League, Hekari win the first edition of the National Premier League with a 4–0 Grand Final victory, including a hat-trick from Tommy Semmy.
Back in the NSL
The club rejoins the National Soccer League, wins all fourteen of its conference matches, and reaches the Grand Final.
Back on top
A ninth national championship, won as both premiers and champions of the Premier Soccer League.
A new identity
The club is relaunched as PNG Hekari FC on admission to the OFC Professional League, and reaches the OFC Champions League final as runners-up to Auckland City.
The professional era
One of eight foundation clubs in Oceania’s first professional league, alongside sides from New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu.