Page 10 - NUAFC EBook

The Warm-up

Excuses Hi-Lights of 50 years
This 50-year compilation is a collection of photographs, Ngaruawahia United was formed in 1968 by
statistics and media reports obtained from several sources. Ngaruawahia High School engineering teacher Joe
Much we have acquired ourselves but other sources Templeton (an ex-Sunderland goalkeeper), mainly from
have been used - such as the Northern League web site by players attending the High School.
Barry Smith and some very limited data from the local WaiBoP However, due to a lack of numbers, no
(Waikato Bay of Plenty) footballing organisation. competition was entered into until the 1969 season,
It will be obvious that there are gaping holes in the when the team competed in the Waikato B Division.
There has been uncovered newspaper accounts
information contained herein. We, as a club, were not well of a club formed in Ngaruawahia in 1922 with several
known for keeping early records and what we did keep and games played locally, including Hamilton Wanderers.
recollect may not be 100% accurate.
There are no records of their functioning after 1923.
There has been an attempt, through Facebook, to Amalgamation with Northern League neighbours
update missing data. The contributions of those who have AFFCo Rangers in 1977 saw Ngaruawahia gain painless
responded is appreciated. No doubt now that the history has entry into the Northern League 4th Division. Also in the
been published more data will come rushing to the front and same year the two-storied clubrooms were built, almost
the questions will arise - “How come this was not included?”, entirely by the club membership.
“Where is the information about .....?”. Such responses are to In the 1980s the club and council combined to
be expected. prepare “the tomato patch” as another playing surface
The book is a collection of data arranged into years and and, with the later hosting of Waikato FC over the 2008 -
is not necessarily organised consecutively within those years. It 2009 summer season, Ngaruawahia had the beginnings
is just a repository for the data that has been uncovered/ of a very good playing pitch.
recovered/discovered. “The Tomato Patch” was originally designated as
Cemetery land but, due to the almost impossible task of
Book Sections digging graves through the dense clay layer beneath the
The majority of pages contain collections of topsoil, the Ngaruawahia Borough Council permitted
lease of the land to a local farmer. Some use was made
information grouped into years from 1968 through to 2018.
This is followed by pages on Life Members, Personality of the land but its lack of drainage was a serious
Parades and ending with an alphabetical listing of all those who problem.

The club requested access to the area to form a
have been (or still are) club members. This list contains the third playing pitch and was assisted by the Council with
names and years that their membership has been valid, Juniors two D8 bulldozers in tandem pulling a single router tooth
and Seniors, Players and Non-players. There will, unfortunately, to disrupt the clay and allow drainage channels to be
be many names missing from this collection. inlaid.
Ngaruawahia moved up and down the Northern
Credits League tables over the years between Div. 4 South and
The material contained herein has been unknowingly Premiers.
contributed by: John Bell, Brian Harding, Maxine Duffull, Joe A club highlight was reached in 1998 when the
Templeton, Glen Gray, Brian Webb, Doreen Clancy, Malcolm senior team met Dunedin Technical in the Chatham Cup
Burt, Charles Gorman Snr, Janet Sunnex, Dave Hall, Ian Miller, semi-finals (losing 0-2) in Dunedin.
Maxine Duffull, George Sunnex, Charles Gorman Jnr, Elizabeth 2006 saw the establishment of the club website
Gorman, Paul Fitness, Barry Smith, Ryan Kerr-Bell, WaiBoP, and the regular matchday programmes that were
Auckland Football Federation, Lisa Williams, Jared Williams, published whenever the senior team has a home game.
Ngaruawahia High School, The Huntly Press, The Waikato Times This became a full-coloured 20-24 page magazine in the
and Kirsten Henckel. 2009 season, strongly sponsored by the Ngaruawahia
presence of Century 21 and then in 2010 by Print House
of Hamilton.

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