THE HISTORY

of PUKEKOHE A.F.C

The inaugural meeting of the Pukekohe Club was held in the Pukekohe High School gymnasium on Tuesday February 23rd, 1960 at 8:00pm. Officers elected were:

It was established that the Club be called the Pukekohe Ramblers Association Football Club. Club colours would be Black shirts with a yellow v-neck, white shorts, black socks with yellow tops. Subscriptions would be 35 shillings per annum and a supporters club would be known as the Ramblers Social Club.

Mr G Humphreys was elected the first Club Delegate to the newly formed Franklin & Districts Football Association. Mitch Rogerson was appointed Manager/Coach of the Senior team and coach of the Junior team with Jim Stevenson as Junior manager. H Lieshout, W Still, D Broome and V Littmoden also played representative football for Franklin.

Subscriptions for 1961 were tabled as Seniors – 2 pounds, Juniors – 2 shillings and 6 pence.

Tom Walker of Pukekohe was Manager/Coach of the Franklin representative team that won the Minor Associations Trophy in 1962 – the Hallyburton-Johnston shield, after defeating Waikato 4-1 at Galloway Park in Hamilton. Messrs Lieshout, Littmoden, Still and Broome from Pukekohe were in this successful team.

In 1963 a combined Pukekohe/Papakura team finished 3rd in the Franklin League. Senior subscriptions were increased to 3 pounds and 10 shillings. The club’s senior playing strength read like a United Nations Peace-Keeping Force comprising of:

For the first time, pitches became available at the Fen, Bledisloe Park.

Pukekohe won the Wiseman Cup in 1964 and finished Runners-up in the Franklin League. This achievement saw them promoted to the newly formed Northern League.
In 1965 Pukekohe progressed through to the 3rd round of the Chatham Cup after drawing 1-1 with Manurewa at full time and going through on corners 2 nil. The club colours changed to maroon and white.
J Whellams, D Ritchie and H Lieshout gained Representative honours in 1966. Pukekohe lost 1-3 to Gisborne City in the quarter finals of the Chatham Cup.
Pukekohe won the Wiseman Cup, defeating Manurewa 4-1 in the final. Floodlights were erected on the practice pitch.
1968 saw Pukekohe runners-up to Papakura in the Wiseman Cup, losing 2-4.

In 1973 Pukekohe finished 3rd in the Northern League 4th Division. Runners-up in the Wiseman Cup, losing 4-5 to Hamilton Wanderers in extra time.
Derek Jay who had been running junior teams in conjunction with the senior club retired with ill health in 1974.
A separate junior club, Pukekohe Junior Soccer Club, was formed in 1975. Officers elected were:

Over the next few years, the junior club made steady progress, while the senior side dropped out of the Northern League. Membership dwindled and the side continued to struggle in the Franklin League.

In 1982 the senior and junior clubs were brought back together under the same committee and matters improved with 3 senior and 15 junior teams being fielded. The club name was changed from Pukekohe Ramblers to Pukekohe Association Football Club (PAFC). Shorts were changed from white to maroon.

The senior 1st team returned to the Northern League 4th Division after beating Avondale United in play-off matches in 1984. The team finished 3rd in the league. Negotiations commenced for purchase of the Junior Boys Rugby Hall on Bledisloe Park as permanent club headquarters. Nellie Lieshout for the down payment launched a $10,000 public appeal.
Final negotiations were completed for the purchase of the club headquarters in 1985 and a $25,000 mortgage was taken out with the Pukekohe Borough Council.

Since 1984 the senior club has competed in the Northern League, mainly in the 3rd and 4th Divisions although promotion was gained to the 2nd Division for one season. The reserves have competed regularly in the Franklin (Counties Manukau) 1st Division. The junior teams have competed successfully in their various competitions with many junior players gaining representative status.
Other results of note:
1987 – 3rd Northern League 4th Division
1988 – 2nd Northern League 3rd Division

In recent years the older players have extended their playing careers in the Masters League.
The ladies’ team was restarted in 1997 there are now two women’s sides at the club.
In 1998 the final installment was paid on mortgage so the club rooms are now owned freehold.

The club membership continues to grow steadily over the years.

2011 - NZ Football ‘The Whole of Football Plan’ is introduced at Pukekohe. The plan aligned strategy, workforce and focus across football development in New Zealand. It provided a united pathway for players, coaches, referees and administrators to deliver a consistent high quality experience that is designed and tailored to meet their needs. The WOFP is playing at Pukekohe A & P Showgrounds during the winter.

2013 - Pukekohe AFC is awarded the NZ Football Quality Club Mark Award. This accreditation programme is designed to identify, support and highlight football clubs in New Zealand who are well run, community focused organisations aligned to the NZ Football Whole of Football Plan.

PAFC’s women’s team had progressed up through the divisions over an 8 year period to play in the Women’s Premier league for the 2013 year. After the first round the league was then split into top 6/bottom 6 and PAFC won the bottom 6 competition and received a winners trophy from AFF. Unfortunately, with the loss of several senior players the Women’s Premier team dropped out of the Premier league in 2014.

2015 - The old Pukekohe Association Football Clubrooms on John Street is demolished to make way for the new clubrooms. Pukekohe AFC shared the Pukekohe Metro Cricket Clubrooms for one year during the new build.

2016 - The highest playing membership of the club is recorded at 887. The new two storied Bledisloe Park Sports Centre is completed in September at a cost of $2.25 million. It has provided Pukekohe AFC with a practical and highly functional building that is also cost-effective. The stylish design includes downstairs changing rooms and a corner tuck-shop that opens to the grounds. Upstairs, there are a range of rooms including a bar and restaurant, office, meeting and event rooms and all are planned for disabled accessibility (including a lift). The design takes full advantage of the view from the clubrooms and includes a generous balcony area overlooking the playing fields.

Senior membership fees were increased to $260.00 for the season.

Pukekohe AFC started running a Community Football Open Day for all to attend. This Open Day provides the community with football playing opportunities for children aged 4-9 yrs free of charge. Over 300 children from all sporting codes attended the Open Day to ‘have a go’ at football. This Open Day helps to increase membership.

Franklin United Club was established with the vision to create a sustainable pathway for the talented youth and seniors to the top level for all football players, coaches and referees in the Franklin Community. Franklin United give players the opportunity to develop their talent and see an elite pathway forward. Affiliated feeder clubs to Franklin United are Pukekohe AFC and Drury Utd FC.

Pukekohe AFC Ladies teams were very strong with 3 teams in total. The Ladies 1st team were promoted to the AFF Conference League, with the Ladies Reserves team being in the AFF Conference Reserves League. The teams improved over the course of the season considering the average age of the teams was only 19 years old.

Pukekohe AFC Mens teams were strong within the club. There were six Mens teams in total with the Mens 1sts team being placed 3rd in the Championship Division. Mens 3rds Cavaliers team won the AFF Division 7 title. Mens Over 35’s team changed to become Mens Over 40’s team due to the players aging. They maintained a solid position in the AFF/NFF Men’s Over 40’s Conference League.

2019 - Pukekohe AFC Mens 1sts team was relegated to Division 2 (out of Championship/Division 1) and a rebuilding year began. Mens football is still strong within our club with 6 teams for 2019 season. The club only had one Ladies team in 2019. The Ladies Social football team maintained a placing in Division 4.

Senior membership fees were increased to $290.00 for the season.

2020 - Football started strongly in 2020 with all players in teams by early March. Numbers were only down slightly on previous years with players still very enthusiastic.
Then the global pandemic COVID 19 hit New Zealand on 28 February 2020. On 25 March the Government announced a Level 4 lock down, stalling life in New Zealand, as a state of emergency is declared. For the first time in history, the Government closes the country’s borders to all but New Zealand citizens and permanent residents. The country goes into lock down for a minimum of four weeks. All work, schooling and sports are halted while New Zealanders have to remain at home. On 26 May Pukekohe AFC is approved to start football training again after meeting stringent regulations from NZ Football. Football as we have known it has gone – replaced by disinfecting of equipment, hand sanitising and complete contact tracing of all players in Level 1. Many apprehensive players pull out of teams therefore reducing the clubs membership by 25%.
Pukekohe AFC finally starts playing competition football on 20 June 2020. This is a shortened season due to COVID. On 12 August 2020 Auckland was moved back into a Level 3 lockdown, hence stopping the season for the second time this year. Finally on 7 October 2020 Auckland was then moved into a Alert Level 1, but as this was so late in the year, all football for the season could not be resumed, so the season was cancelled.
Pukekohe AFC offered our Summer 5 a side league at the end of 2020, which may teams took the opportunity to play some football before Christmas.
Pukekohe AFC Mens 1sts team are offered the opportunity to compete in Division 1 after another club team pulls out. Pukekohe AFC Mens Reserves remain in Division 5.
Pukekohe AFC Ladies team (only 1) remain in Division 4.
The Club total membership for the 2020 season is 558.

2021 - All members were keen to get back playing in 2021, due to the shorter season in 2020 (due to Covid 19). Membership was stronger in 2021 with 698 players.

Pukekohe AFC Mens 1sts team were competitive in Division 1 and Ladies were promoted to Division 2, both teams being competitive in their respective grades.

All Pukekohe AFC teams were enjoying the season, then the Delta variant of Covid 19 was found within the New Zealand community on 16 August. The Government put New Zealand into a Level 4 lockdown again from 18 August for 4 weeks. This unfortunately ended the winter season for all. Plans were then made for any extra games that we were able to hold once lockdown restrictions had been relaxed – extra games included Memorial Tournament, Summer 5 a side and Franklin area Youth based tournament, all to officially end the season.