Founded in 1943, VUWAFC is the third-oldest university football club in New Zealand. To mark its 75th anniversary, around 100 past and present club members are gathering at the VUWAFC clubrooms at Kelburn Park to celebrate the club’s history, which includes several members who went on to become All Whites. The special event will involve speeches, social matches, craft beer and an honours board unveiling.
Today there are more than 350 members in the club across 21 teams (17 men’s and 4 women’s). Members are mostly alumni or current students, but Club Captain Matt Lamb says anyone can join.
In the lead-up to the anniversary celebrations, the VUWAFC led a weekend away to Palmerston North to play teams from Massey University. Matt explains that travelling around the country to play teams from other universities used to be more of a fixture of club life, but the tradition died away in recent decades.
“We’ve tried to reinvigorate that relationship and we hope to make it an annual thing,” he says.
Matt says the matches against Massey went well—the VUWAFC women’s team won its game, while the men’s team had a draw.
“The main point of the Club is to have fun, and going away for games and tournaments really adds to the enjoyment. It’s also a great way to meet fellow students and alumni.”