Labu – no flash in the pan

One of the most talked about football players in the Nelson region is weighing up who to play for this season.

Labu Pan has had quite some career since his family became the first Myanmar refugees to Nelson 16 years ago.

Labu starred for Nelson College as they won the national secondary school title in 2015.

“I arrived with no English and very shy. I didn’t know or talk to anyone. It was quite sad and scary, but football brought me out of my shell,” recalls the former college captain.

People still talk about his remarkable “bicycle” goals while still at school. That is where a player jumps backwards and kicks the ball while it is still in the air.
Now 26, he has gone on to play for FC Nelson, Tasman United in the national premiership, Nelson Suburbs and FC Nelson Karenni, which he captained last year. Karenni is an ethnic group in Myanmar.

The gifted midfielder wouldn’t be drawn on which club he would play for this season, but he confirmed having trained once pre-season with Nelson Suburbs, which he knocked out of the Chatham Cup last season.

You can say ‘he’ because the builder scored two goals, the first where he chipped the keeper from long range, in a seven-minute second half burst to upset Suburbs 2-1 in the second round.

“Labu played well that day, but we were terrible,” declares Suburbs co-coach Ryan Stewart. Most of Labu’s appearances last season were for FC Nelson Karenni, which is a local first division club that trains at Victory Square.

“He floats about, even playing division 3 one season. You can imagine how dominant he was there,” observes Ryan. A dangerous floater who primarily plays in the midfield but can slot in “all over the place”.

So how good is he?

“I train and try hard. I am alright,” he says, before subbing on for FC Nelson Karenni in a pre-season match against the FC Nelson top side at Trafalgar Park earlier this month.

“They always beat us,” he says, before his team lost 7-0.

Ryan says his club hopes to have a chat with Labu when he returns from playing for New Zealand in the Sepak Takraw World Cup in India later this month.

The sport, also known as kick or football volleyball, showcases the ability to pull off high flying bicycle kicks.

So, if ever a game was designed for Labu Pan that’s buka ball.