What is the most obscure football team in the world? This is a question that is probably impossible to answer. Everyone will have their opinions on what makes a team obscure. Location, size of the club, and the owners. Even quirks such as Basque-only players at Athletic Club. Personal belief is that obscurity comes from the unknown. As obscure as Athletic Club is with their recruitment, a high volume of fans know this now and therefore cannot be deemed obscure.

A small team is more likely to be obscure. Not going to the depths of Sunday league, for semi-pro teams, there is often a small following, and the regional area knows of the club. Again, perhaps not obscure enough. This is where we land on location. If the location of the club is unknown, then it is surely very obscure. This could lean towards the organised football played in overseas territories like Mayotte (French overseas territory) or perhaps the football played on Saint Helena (British overseas territory and Napoleon’s place of death). Stories of Napoleon ensure Saint Helena is known to the world, and Mayotte, being a French territory, allows the club teams to play in the Coupe de France, therefore shedding light on the sport in the territory.

The Team In Question

This lands us in Niue. Niue? Where and what is that? Niue, depending on who you ask, is a country in the Pacific. However, some nations do not recognise Niue as an independent country but a sovereign state in ‘free association’ with New Zealand. Niue is a tiny island, not a member of the UN, with New Zealand handling defence and foreign affairs. To be a place that is only partly recognised by the rest of the world, perhaps makes Niue the most obscure place to play football on the planet. To put into perspective the size of Niue, the island is about 169 square kilometres, similar to the size of Washington D.C., also with a population of just 1800 people, this is similar in size to small villages or hamlets in the UK, such as Sudbrooke in Lincolnshire or Meldreth in South Cambridgeshire.

Now, a few years ago, it would be a different story. This article would have been titled ‘The nation without a national football team’. In fact, the Niue Football Association (NFA) was removed as an associate member of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in 2021 due to off-field issues at the OFC. Before their removal, Niue were not very active in terms of actually playing international fixtures. Niue, as a national football team, has only ever played two games. Both at the 1983 South Pacific games in which they played Tahiti and Papua New Guinea. Losing 14-0 to Tahiti and 19-0 to Papua New Guinea.

No international games since 1983, and a revoked OFC membership. Can Niue be the most obscure team if they don’t play football? Well, in recent years, the tides are turning. A few months after their revoked membership, a new Niue Football Association was put into place, and the future is looking bright for football on the island. Speaking with the association, there is a focus on youth development and a goal of making the sport popular once more on the island.

A New Football Association

The new NFA are now regularly organising small-sided games/tournaments with the inaugural 7-a-side season taking place in 2021. A team from the village of Vaiea, with a population of just 81, won the first two editions of this 70-a-side league. More organised games have been played, with a regular futsal tournament now being played, and youth tournaments now becoming a common occurrence.

What about an established national team, though? Perhaps still a few years away, with OFC membership not granted as of yet. The OFC have stated that the door is open to the idea of Niue applying for membership again. The agreed perception on the island is that the NFA would like to develop the sport before submitting a national team for the time being. The focus on youth football will only be a benefit for plans to play international fixtures in the future.

Recognised Players

Are there any professional footballers from Niue? If this question were asked in 2025, the answer would be no. Not one player from Niue has been granted professional status, but as of 2026, the island can now proudly say it has its first professional footballer. Jaylen Rodwell has taken his first steps into the professional game after signing for South Island United in the newly commissioned OFC Pro League.

Rodwell, born in 2002, has a list of clubs to his name, beginning his senior career at the college level with Portland Pilots in the United States before moving to New Zealand with the Wellington Phoenix Reserves. Since then, Rodwell has moved around several New Zealand and Australian clubs before his move into a professional career with South Island United.

On the 17th of January 2026, the OFC Pro League kicked off for the very first time. The second game ever happened to be an all New Zealand affair with Auckland FC (second team) and South Island United playing each other. Not only was this a derby, but Rodwell was flying the flag for Niue. Surprisingly, with Niue being such a small place, he wasn’t the only player on the pitch with Niuean citizenship. Auckland defender Aidan Carey holds both New Zealand and Niuean citizenship, making the game a historical moment for the tiny nation.

Fundraising

As of now, the NFA are fundraising through their Kickstarter campaign, which can be found on their official Facebook page. The Kickstarter has different tiers, which grant various rewards, with the lowest being the Bronze tier, which grants up-to-date news and a monthly email regarding the project. This is priced at just 20 New Zealand dollars, or £9. There are seven tiers, with the Diamond tier/Club Legend tier priced at 400 New Zealand dollars, or £175. The Diamond tier includes the monthly updates, your name on a special one-off design of a Niue jersey, a personalised thank you message, the ability to customise the name and number on the Niue jerseys of which you will receive all four, the home, away and the two goalkeepers jersyes and finally the one off, limited edition jersey featuring the donor’s names. A lot of bang-for-your-buck with the Diamond package there. So

So, perhaps not the most obscure team, having not played a game yet. But most definitely the most obscure team to be when they do finally put a national team out onto the pitch once more, and for the first time since 1983.

Written and Researched by BSc Cavan Campbell

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