History Of The Wellington Football Club

 

BACKGROUND

 

Rugby made its first appearance in Wellington in 1870, when a match was played between Nelson Club (founded two years earlier) and a team of Wellingtonian “enthusiasts”. The Wellington side was selected from a number of Melbourne Rules players, but numbered only thirteen players in total — including the driver of the horse drawn coach that conveyed the players to the ground. Nelson, however, only had fourteen players in their contingent so the difference in numbers was alleviated slightly. The match took place in Petone on Monday 12 September with Nelson winning by the odd goal in three. However, a team of soldiers who had served in the Land Wars had been playing rugby at the Basin reserve since the mid ‘70’s and were the catalyst for the formation of the Wellington Club, although they were not officially established as a club until later.. A year later the Wellington Club was founded and the first practice was held on 1 July 1871 with the Wellington Independent reporting: “The majority of the members seem not to be sufficiently advanced for such scientific play as is entailed by the Rugby rules, and the result on Saturday was that the probability of getting the ball over the bar seemed very remote. ”The players persevered and on 29 September 1871 Wellington played its first representative match against a combined Nelson Clubs side and won by a goal and two tries to nil.

 

 

 

THE BIRTH OF A UNION

 

A second Wellington-based club was not formed until 1877 (Athletic Club), but from then onwards rugby in Wellington began to develop a strong following and in 1878 two more clubs were formed (United Club and Excelsior Club). The following year was memorable one for Wellington players with the Wellington and Athletic Clubs founding the Wellington Union on 20 October 1879. The Wellington Rugby Union’s first season commenced on June 11th 1880 with an Annual General Meeting.
The meeting was attended by delegates from both city Clubs, Athletic and Wellington Clubs, and Greytown Club (also voting on behalf of Masterton Club). The first Club Championship was played in two sections with Wellington and Athletic contesting the city division, while the Greytown, Masterton and Carterton Clubs played the Wairarapa series. Athletic and Greytown met in the final at the Basin Reserve on 31 July with Athletic winning 6-0. In the following years, however, the Union’s development was to be restrained by the fact that Wellington lacked a dedicated rugby ground. Cricket claimed the Basin Reserve and rugby was largely confined to the barren and boggy terrain of Newtown Park.

 

 

 

THE WELLINGTON COLOURS -BLACK AND YELLOW

 

Wellington’s colours are derived from the Wellington Football Club, the first rugby club in Wellington, and the second oldest in New Zealand The Nelson Club had been formed a few months previously, but went into recession several times —World Wars etc- whilst the Wellington club has fielded a team every winter Saturday since its formation in 1870. Rugby was played for some years before the formation of the club under the direction of Captain J C R Isherwood, a Crimean war veteran and the adjutant of the 69 Foot Regiment who had been fighting in the Native Land Wars. Games were held with the 45th Irish Regiment - the only other rugby team. The blue collar Irish relished the chance of muddy, bloody, battles with the British team, predominantly officers. Their field, at the Basin Reserve after it was drained following the 2m uplift which occurred during the 1855 earthquake, remained a quagmire for years. Captain Isherwood bestowed on the Wellington Football Club the colours of his regiment, black and gold. Those were possibly also the colours of his old school back in Britain. The regiment’s motif, a rampant chained lion and an axe, was on the left breast of a yellow and black hooped jersey, the attire till this day. The original colours and emblem were later “laid up” in the Dominion Museum. They were offered back to the club for display but were later lost before the Club received them. Many of the city’s founders and notable citizens played for the club, and the city and the club histories ran closely in parallel. When the Municipality of Wellington was eventually formed the city fathers approved the club’s colours as those of the city (later of the Province) and the Wellington City Coat of Arms still includes the chained lion and axe. As an aside, Captain lsherwood, in 1878, rather disloyally formed the Athletic Football Club; this club, the city’s second, has since gone into recess.

 

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CLUB

The Wellington Football Club is the oldest playing through rugby union club in New Zealand having played the first match in 1870 although there had been unofficial matches before that between composite teams from the 18th Royal Irish Rifles at thattime stationed in the Mount Cook Barracks following the Land Wars - but the honour of actually forming the first rugby club goes to the Nelson Club. The Christchurch Club was formed some years before but played Australian Rules and soccer until the late 1870’s when Canterbury adopted rugby union. The Wellington Club has placed a senior side on the field every year since 1870 and played matches prior to the foundation of the Wellington Union in 1879 when together with the now defunct Athletic Club they were the original two clubs to form the Union. The Nelson Club went into recess in both World Wars but the Wellington Club despite losing players in the Boer War and in the First and Second World War conflicts still managed to retain their status alone. Almost 30 All Blacks have played for the club over the years with 18 having been All Blacks from the Club. The first were Henry Roberts and Paddy Webb in the very first New Zealand team in 1884 and in fact Roberts was the first player to score for the All Blacks. A third club member Dr Henry McLean was also selected for this tour to Australia but had to withdraw due to his medical commitments. During a purple patch during the 30’s the club baffled all logic when in 1930 after defections in Club sides by some or all of the five who were or were to become All Blacks the senior side was relegated to the Second Division. Remarkably all the stars remained with the club and won by such mammoth scores that a special meeting was held during the season to promote them back to First Division! On two occasions during the 30’s the club also provided touring All Black captain and vice captain and against the 1930 Lions fielded 3 club members in a Test.

Many championships have been won over the years but highlights included 1939 when both the Senior Fist and second sides won the premier titles and during a magnificent era in the 1980’s when the club won more Jubilee Cups than any other club. In fact in 1985 the Seniors won the Swindale Shield/Jubilee Cup double, the second side won the championship as did two other open grade teams and from four age grade teams 3 championships were won and the Under 19’s were runners-up. In that season the club also fielded two All Blacks in Murray Mexted and Murray Pierce and apart from the Waitete Club in King Country — home of the Meads brothers — the club had the record of having had an All Black in consecutive test sides from 1979 to 1990 when Murray Pierce retired. In addition the club had fielded players in New Zealand teams at all levels from the All Blacks down to Under 18 and as well been represented in Maori All Black and Samoan International sides. The Club has also produced outstanding administrators and in fact were represented on the first New Zealand Council and on every Wellington executive since the formation of the Union. Dr PF McEvedy served the New Zealand Union as President, eight Axemen have been president of the Wellington Union — 4 last century and 4 since 1900, and 20 have

 

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