William Alfred Brien, aka Bill Brien
born 23rd August 1936
Bill was introduced to sport at an early school boy stage and progressed through the grades of rugby union. He was captain of the 1st XV at Hauraki College where he was Head Boy He Joined the NZ Police from the family farm and obtained the rank of Detective Senior Sergeant, serving predominantly in Auckland and Wellington. On leaving the police, Bill became involved in the Hospitality Industry as Licensee of several leading Wellington Hotels.The last of these was as “mine host at the renowned Rose & Crown Tavern where he was in a position to assist to support the community at large in many ways.

Rugby Club Service
Bill played senior club rugby in Auckland and on transfer to Wellington joined the Titahi Bay Club, captaining the team during the 1964/65 season. He Joined the Wellington Football Club and was a driving force in the formation of the Police Team which he also captained and coached. Bill finished playing serious rugby in 1970, which was the Club’s Centennial.

 

Club Administration

Wishing to remain proactive Bill became involved in the club administration and has an excellent service in this area, summarized as follows.

 

- Chairman - Wellington Football Club ( 1971-1980)

 

- Coached and managed and captained Club Championship teams.

 

- Coached and managed Wellington Football Club Age Grade Representative Teams.

 

- Held every position in the Wellington Football Club, except Patron

 

- Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Club Captain.

 

- Club Captain Delegate, to Wellington Rugby Football Union for 15 yrs.

 

- Solely responsible for restoring the then Under 18 Age grade in 1982 Service to Wellington Rugby

Football Union.

 

A Summary of service as follows

- Member of Wellington RFU Centennial Committee 1978-79.

 

- Wellington Union Member of NZRFU Centennial Committee 1990-92.

 

- Chairman of Wellington Centennial NZRFU Committee 1990-92.

 

- Member of the WRFU Committee for 125th Celebration for 2004.

 

- WRFU Vice President 1987-89.

 

- WRFU President 1990-91.

 

- Delegate to NZRFU 1990-91-nominated Vice President NZRFU

 

 

Associated Matters

- Bill was a foundation and playing member of the renowned Koro Heke XV of 1973.

 

- Admitted to the Centurions in 1974 and is a Life Member.

 

- President 1984, Club Captain in 1983, and Treasurer continuously since 1975.

 

- Life Member of the Wellington Football Club.

 

- Member of the Board of Governors, NZ Sports Halls of Fame.

 

 

Bills numerous contributions to all aspects of rugby include:

- Financial support through donations was afforded on many occasions to Wellington representative teams well before professional rugby appeared.

 

- Identities such as Ian Upston and Brian Frederickson utilized Bill’s Hotels for team and pre-match meetings, including meals at no charge. Frank Ryan did likewise during his tenure as representative coach.

 

- Directly involved and responsible for club sides touring overseas and was touring President of the WRFU representative side that toured UK, Italy and France in 1991.Many of these events were partly financed by Bill personally or in conjunction with his hotel.

 

- A lot of Bill’ memorabilia and photographs were donated to the Athletic park long room and Presidents Lounge over the past 30 years.

 

- Following the closure of and the Centurion Clubrooms valuable items donated by Bill were transferred to complete the WRFU collection at the Stadium.

 

- Most of the memorabilia and the extensive library in the Centurions Lounge were donated by Bill.

 

- Served as WRFU’s unofficial and voluntary historian for many years.

 

- Written two History Books on Wellington Rugby.

 

- Maintained the register of past All Blacks which he compiled while serving on the 1992 NZRFU Centennial Committee.

 

- Produces the annual list of obituaries of Wellington Players and Administrators.

 

- Service to the Community and Associated Sports.

 

- Bill has also competed, administered and supported many other sporting codes and in particular Surf Lifesaving, Amateur Boxing, and Athletics. Rotary-almost 30yrs a member and past president of Wellington South Rotary.

 

- Halberg Trust- Trustee for almost 20yrs.

 

- Trust Bank Community Trust- Trustee for many years and long serving trust chairman.

 

- Hotel & Hospitality Industry.

 

- A National Councilor of Hanz for 30 yrs, and National trustee of Pub Charity Inc, responsible for the distribution of a large amount of funding to sporting organizations.

 

Bill will forever be in the thoughts of the Axemen and his contribution to the Wellington Football Club will always be remembered. – “GIVE EM the Axe”.