{{Infobox football club | clubname = Sobou FC | image = Sobou F.C. logo.png | fullname = Sobou FC | nickname = | founded = 1980s | ground = Lae Stadium<br>Lae, Papua New Guinea | capacity = | chairman = | manager = | league = National Club Championship | season = | position = | pattern_la1 = | pattern_b1 = | pattern_ra1 = | leftarm1 = ffff00 | body1 = ffff00 | rightarm1 = ffff00 | shorts1 = 0000ff | socks1 = 0000ff| }}

'''Sobou FC,''' previously known for sponsorship reasons as '''Cellnet Sobou''' and '''Telikom Sobou''', is an amateur association football team based in Lae, Papua New Guinea. The club appears to have been in existence since the 1980s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/png85.html|title=Papua New Guinea 1985|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref>

The club is domestically one of the most successful in Papua New Guinean football history, having won five National Club Championship titles consecutively from 2001 to 2005,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/pngchamp.html|title=Papua New Guinea - List of Champions|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref> a domestic record they share with University. The club also took part in two editions of the OFC Champions League, but were unable to register any points.

Since the introduction of the National Soccer League in 2006, the club has retained its amateur status and taken part predominantly in regional competitions.

== History ==

=== Early years === Not much is known about the foundation of the club, but the first records of their competitive history come from 1985, when the club were declared runners-up of the Lae Regional League.<ref name=":0" />

Sometime in the early 1990s, the club joined the new Lahi Regional League, and went on to win the competition three times consecutively in 1994, 1995 and 1996.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/png98.html|title=Papua New Guinea 1998|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref>

Further records begin in 1997, when the club took part in that year's Papua New Guinea National Club Championship, the biggest domestic competition in the country at that time. The club did not finish in the top four.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/png97.html|title=Papua New Guinea 1997|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref>

In 1998, the club won their fourth regional title, defeating Guria Lahi 4–2 in the Grand Final.<ref name=":1" /> This ought to have qualified them for the 1999 National Club Championship, but for unknown reasons, they did not take part.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/png99.html|title=Papua New Guinea 1999|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref> They did, however, pick up a fifth regional title, defeating Guria Lahi on penalties in that year's Grand Final.<ref name=":2" />

In 2000, the club took part in their second National Club Championship, finishing fourth.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/png00.html|title=Papua New Guinea 2000|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref> A further regional title followed later in the year, before the club began to fully dominate domestically for much of the early 2000s.

=== National dominance and continental qualification === Despite coming second regionally, they picked up their first National Club Championship on 11 November 2001, defeating four-time champions University 3–0 in the Grand Final.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/png01.html|title=Papua New Guinea 2001|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref> The following year they completed a national and domestic double, defeating PS United in the National Club Championship and Unitech in the regional final.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/png02.html|title=Papua New Guinea 2002|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref>

In 2003, the team faced Unitech in both the national and regional finals: on 16 September 2003, the side defeated Unitech 1–0 to claim the national title for the third successive season; just over a month later, they were on the wrong end of a 2–0 defeat to surrender the regional title to their rivals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/png03.html|title=Papua New Guinea 2003|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref> In 2004, they repeated their feat from 2002, picking up the national title over HC West and the regional title against Bismarck FC.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/png04.html|title=Papua New Guinea 2004|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref>

Their 2004 victory qualified them for the 2005 OFC Club Championship, a competition that would eventually become the OFC Champions League. After defeating Samoan side Tuinaimato Breeze 7–0 on aggregate in the preliminary round,<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tableso/oceacup02.html|title=Oceania Club Competitions 2005|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref> the club went on to lose all three games in the group stage, conceding 20 goals and scoring just four.<ref name=":3" /> Their final national title came in 2005, with a 4–2 victory over Cosmos,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oceaniafootball.com/archives-11707/|title=PAPUA NEW GUINEA – SOBOU BOOK PLACE AT OFC CHAMPS|website=Oceania Football Confederation|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref> while regional they finished as runners-up once again.

The club's performance in the 2006 OFC Club Championship wasn't much better than their previous attempt. The club qualified for the competition directly, but lost all three of their group games, scoring once and conceding 21 goals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tableso/oceacup06.html|title=Oceania Club Competitions 2006|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oceaniafootball.com/archives-4623/|title=OFC – AUCKLAND CITY OFF TO WINNING START|website=Oceania Football Confederation|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oceaniafootball.com/archives-6535/|title=OFC – AUCKLAND CITY FIRST TO SEMIS|website=Oceania Football Confederation|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref> Domestically, the side came second regionally while reaching the 2006 National Club Championship final, where they faced four-time champions University, whose record they had surpassed the previous season after winning their fifth title. On 9 July 2006, University equalled Sobou's new record with a victory on penalties after a 0–0 draw in normal time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/png06.html|title=Papua New Guinea 2006|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref>

=== Decline and return to regional competition === In 2007, the club took part in one of the regional competitions intended to be a feeder for the 2007 National Club Championship. Although the national competition didn't materialise, the Momase regional did take place, but Sobou were unable to make an impact on the competition.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/png07.html|title=Papua New Guinea 2007|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref> They did, however, clinch their ninth regional title with a 2–1 victory over Sogeram on 27 October 2007.<ref name=":4" /> In 2008, Sobou won the Momase Regional Championship and qualified for the National Club Championship, but did not reach the final.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/png08.html|title=Papua New Guinea 2008|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref> They finished second in the Lahi Regional League that year.

Following the suspension of the Lahi FA in 2009,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/png09.html|title=Papua New Guinea 2009|website=RSSSF|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref> the club's records go dark until 2018, when the club reached the final of the Lahi Regional League before losing on penalties to Consort United.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenational.com.pg/united-edge-sobou-in-lahi-penalty-shootout/|title=United edge Sobou in Lahi penalty shootout|date=2018-11-12|website=The National|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref>

In 2019, the club was one of the teams that took part in the relaunched Momase Regional Championship, bidding to become the region's representative at the renewed National Club Championships later in the year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenational.com.pg/lahi-soccer-to-oversee-regional-tournament/|title=Lahi soccer to oversee regional tournament|date=2019-06-17|website=The National|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://postcourier.com.pg/momase-regional-club-challenge-gets-underway/|title=Momase regional club challenge gets underway|date=2019-08-02|website=Post Courier|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-18}}</ref>

== Honours ==

=== Continental competitions ===

* '''OFC Champions League''' ** Group Stage: 2005, 2006

=== National competitions ===

* '''Papua New Guinea National Club Championship''' ** Champions: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 **Runners-up: 2006 ** Fourth: 2000

=== Regional competitions ===

*'''Momase Regional Championship''' **Champions: 2008 *'''Lahi Regional League''' ** Champions: 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007 **Runners-up: 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2018 *'''Lae Regional League''' **Runners-up: 1985

== References == <references /> Category:Soccer clubs in Papua New Guinea