Ellerslie AFC

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www.ellersliefootball.org.nz

Story

This is an Official Ellerslie AFC Page

Ellerslie AFC’s history goes back to the original founding of the Auckland Football Association in 1887, whereby it was one of the seven clubs to participate in the Association’s inaugural competition. The club continued into the second season of organized soccer in Auckland, but, like the playing of the game at that time, did not continue past that point. Auckland soccer had slipped into a period of recess, due to the lack of suitable grounds, and Ellerslie became an early victim of the break in competition.

Come 1953 and the Club was reformed through the efforts of a number of families. Enough members were gathered to form two senior teams in that first season, with games played at the Michaels Avenue ground, while training sessions took place at Ellerslie Domain, courtesy of the local rugby league club’s generosity in lending the club the land for this purpose. Training sessions on a Thursday evening consisted of a full-scale match between the previous Saturday’s first team and reserves, an encounter from which the coming Saturday’s line-ups were selected by the coaches and the committee members.

The original clubrooms were built very shortly after the club was formed, and are still on the Michaels Avenue complex today, now being the home of the Auckland Pigeon Club. The current clubroom structure, situated adjacent to the YMCA Complex, was erected in 1979.

The Club has enjoyed its fair share of Premier League success over the years, winning a number of local competitions, culminating in its promotion, in 1993, to the Country’s highest competition at the time, the Super Club Competition. In addition, Ellerslie has reached the last sixteen of the Chatham Cup four times since 1978.

One of the outstanding features about Ellerslie is the loyalty of its members, both playing and non-playing. Indeed, the Club can point to three families in recent times who’ve given Ellerslie AFC outstanding service over the years. The Ritchies, the Woods, and the Poelmans have all been an integral part of the Club and it is their dedication and others like them, that have moulded Ellerslie AFC into the open and friendly Club it is today.

In essence, the Club is about inclusiveness and participation with a focus on a family orientated environment where friendships are started, and developed over extended periods of time. The Club prospers as a result of the huge amount of voluntary work undertaken by members in terms of coaching, administration, management of teams, and the myriad of other tasks necessary to keep a club of our size running smoothly.

In fact, for the current season, the Club has turned out on the playing fields of Auckland, the following:

Senior Men : 18 Teams
Senior Women : 3 Teams
Youth Boys (10-17yrs) : 34 Teams
Youth Girls (10-17yrs) : 9 Teams
Midgets (5-9yrs) : 48 Teams

total of approx. 1,270 players, all proudly wearing the red, black and yellow colours of this historic Club.

The Club is established under one constitution, but operationally is run under two separate divisions, Senior and Junior/Youth. An overall business plan is currently being revised to assist with implementing structures and programmes that will allow a productive pathway to develop/prosper between the younger grades and the senior ranks. A significant part of this plan is the Michaels Avenue Reserve Redevelopment Plan that will include new playing surfaces, including an artificial turf, new amenities and new clubrooms.

The challenge is, after all, for our members to contribute once again towards building this Club into a major force on the Regional, and National, stage.

Come and join, participate with us and contribute towards developing the family-based, yet competitive ethos of our club