Waitemata AFC

Club history

The birth of Waitemata AFC started in Ranui. A club called Western United was formed headed by Tommy Russell, Reg Matthews and Frank Lowe The Ranui community is steeped in Rugby but the new club was formed in 1959 with junior teams followed by Senior teams the next year. In 1960 the senior club came to life with a gala held at Cooks Paddock in Swanson Road. Floats were made and travelled along Swanson Rd from Redwood Park to the new grounds at Cooks Paddock. In the same year a float was entered in the Auckland Anniversary show at Western Springs and a stall was set up with table football on offer.

The people and events that made up the history of the club is as follows: – In 1961 our president was Assid Corban and Patron was Edmund Hillary. Western Utd's first senior games were played at Cooks Paddock with both the first team and reserves playing. The reserves drew 2–2 and the first team took on Eden, whose captain commented "I don't know where Western are from, but we'll show them how to play". Unfortunately for him Western gave Eden a 5–0 drubbing.

In the early to mid 60s Western earned promotion to the 2nd Division. In 1962 they won the Dacre Cup the 2nd Division Knockout Competition. Promotion to the 1st Division was achieved by winning the 2nd Division in 1963 and retaining the Dacre Cup. In 1964 Western reached the semifinals of the Chatham Cup Northern Section, losing 2–3 to Mt Wellington in extra time. Ken Armstrong the legendary Mt Wellington Coach reported in the NZ Herald that the support and singing from the Western fans was akin to English Football fans. Through those years at one time 38 games were played without defeat and the feat was reported in the NZ Herald. In the early years a large number of players were in the NZ Air Force based at Whenuapai, plus many British & Dutch immigrant players and the odd Kiwi. The club was lucky with a lot of outstanding players and administrators. The players included Gary Eckles, Harry Precious, who was an Auckland Rep player, Ken Conway, & John Summers. Goalkeepers were well to the fore in this list & included Denis Wells, Ron Wheaton, Derek Rawlinson, Gerry Keyning & Nick Bakker. Youngsters Bernie Hunter, Howard Bough and Eddy Verbieson maintained the high standard and kept the reputation of the club at a high level.

Behind the scenes John Sheehan and his wife Elaine, Sam Oldfield, Yvonne Johns, John Mochan, John Cryner & Reg Keeling kept the wheels of administration turning along. The success of football in the Ranui area was a significant achievement in the early 60s. Young Frankie Crynan took a football to his school, Ranui Primary, and was told "not to bring a round ball to school". A few years later more football was being played than rugby. The love of the game can be best demonstrated by the remarkable record of Peter Van Der Sluis. This year Peter has played continuously for 49 years and was the oldest player to play for the 1st team at 47. This is a great example for the youth of today that age is irrelevant, love of the game is all that really matters.

Current squad

Goalkeeper 1. Roy Bell, 23. Ali Hulameh

Defender 2. Josip Botica, 3. Brent Mayhew, 5. Adam Turner, 8. Derek Weldegrave,

Defensive / Midfielder 4. Jessie Smith, 6. Sam Sedon (Capt), 12. Michael Halliday, 22. Chris Acott

Midfielder 10. George Curry, 11. Craig Wylie, 13. Tiadgh Stoddart, 14. Simon Day, 16. Henok Tesfay, 17. Michael Mayne, 18. Daniel Jones

Forward 7. Nathan Gates, 9. Shane Tanner, 19. Daniel Gates

Coach Michael Mayne & Mark Naylor