Page 8 - NUAFC EBook

A Place to Call Home - Narra Style

Where do I begin to tell the story of how great a love has been . . .

….ahhh aptly written opening words from the theme song to everyone, Grandparents, Parents, Players, Members and kids.
Love Story. This is a short story of my love for the place I call Everyone played a part in getting our new home up and
home Ngaruawahia United AFC. running.
Having spent less than a year at home in eight years I We used to have a really large old commercial chest
was really happy to finally get back here and catch up on lost freezer that was excellent at rocking the babes to sleep in
time with family and friends. With the last three years in their carry-cots. I guess it was an easy choice in those days as
England I, like so many others, had been exposed to the a lot of us were young married couples with young families
game of football and had fallen in love with it. and very little money so it was as much our entertainment as
It was December 1976 and we had only been home a it was work! Most of the team were AFFCO workers and as
month or so before our relationship with the Club began Butchers, they made rubbish, plasterers, brickies, builders
through George Sunnex Snr over a couple of beers at the and painters! But hey, we all did our bit and loved it.
RSA. The following season AFFCO Rangers amalgamated With the arrival of Dave Hall in the late seventies, he
with Narra and life in the Northern League began. set about transforming our club into a more professional
The early years were new and exciting and extremely team and organisation. He gained sponsorship for our
busy no different to now actually! We were looking to build travelling suits, Sax Altman no less, and the day we lost on
new Clubrooms and expand our playing fields so there was a the field to Hamilton City at Muir Park then walked out in our
lot of work to do. new gear was the day we won off the field and became the
The days of all crowding into the old concrete block envy of all the clubs not just in the Waikato, but in the
shed on the edge of the now No 2 field after a game, Patchy Northern League as well.
the Gorman’s foxy asleep on the nets in the corner, a couple Everyone wanted to play for us! In fact within two
of rows of seats from the old picture theatre and dozens of seasons we had acquired most of the `Muir Park Dynamos’.
people standing room only, with their arms in the air passing John McDermid, Graeme Fleming, Dick Plume, Jim Barry,
money forward to Jimmy (the Greek) Anderson to buy a beer John Cyples all transferred to join our already very formidable
which would then be passed back along the outstretched team. We had excellent administrators too, Liz & Charles
arms to the person who purchased it, were coming to an end. Gorman Jnr who took over from Mary and Charles Gorman
Snr, and along with the MacDonalds, the Fitness’s, the
The biggest issue for us ladies in those days was the McCaig’s, the Sunnex’s, the Connolly’s, the Prendergast's,
lack of toilets, well there were the temporary ones that were the Millers, the Henckels, the Patterson's to name a few, the
bought in for big games in the early days but otherwise you club absolutely thrived. It became a great place to be and to
had to go home or wait till it was dark so you could hide socialise as much as the place to watch good football.
between the cars. I never trusted those portable loos, they Anne Patterson was one of those excellent
never seemed to be very stable. administrators who held many positions in the club and used
I remember the boys talking about coming down one to own a shop in the early eighties called Petticoat Lane. It
Sunday and one had blown over and killed a sheep! Yes there was stocked to the rafters with fabulous dresses and was a
were actually sheep on the field back in those days, to help favourite place for all the ladies to hang out!
keep the grass down! There were also the stories of having to I remember well the `morning teas’ we used to
empty them, not like now when they pick them up and take partake in that would go for quite a few hours! Anne was
them away and do it. always dreaming up something under the guise of fundraising
George Sunnex Snr and Maurie Frankhouser (or was which we all clambered over one another to be part of cos
it Jimmy McCaig Snr?), got a bit of their own back when we always knew it would be something fun.
trying to empty the tin down the bank into the wind! But hey Even the kids all knew where to go to have a good
that was how it was back then. time especially in the School Holidays when Anne and Stan
Great jubilations of course when Council put the would run camps at the Club. Ann would do all the catering
ablution block/changing sheds up but getting there was still a and plan all the activities and Stan would organise them all
problem. The area between to old clubrooms and the new and they would have a ball. Stan was the hard working
sheds/toilets was a swamp and even though there were Barman come cleaner at the time that also was the voice of
planks lined up all the way across, that became perilous in reason and along with Charlie Snr they managed to keep us
the dark after a few beers. There were many hilarious stories all on the straight and narrow.
of those who didn’t quite make it. I remember one of the biggest things to happen in
Once the shell of the new clubrooms went up, it was our club life towards the end of the eighties was the
all go to get the job done. The guys would play the game and employment of our first fully professional overseas Coach in
then as soon as the guests had gone they would be over at Kit Fagan. Great excitement for those of us who were
the site working. It was actually a fun time and involved Liverpool fans because the `Joe Fagan’ ex Liverpool Manager
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