Club History

In 1982 our national team qualified for the football world cup for the very first time, and world cup fever gripped the nation. Inspired, a group of local lads got together at the start of 1983 and decided to give it a whirl, and Wakefield Football Club was born.....nearly four decades later the club is still going strong!

Starting off with just one team, which floated between the third and second division's of the Nelson senior competition for the first 27 years, to having a player base of around 75 players spread across four teams competing in separate divisions.

Wakefield's first ever game was played away against Tahuna but the result went against the new boys from the country by a margin of 8-0. It would be ten long years before the club would taste it's first success in the trophy department when it won the third division in 1993. Once that first trophy was in the cabinet the trophies would flow. Five years later it would again have success when it won the second division in 1998. 2003 would again see Wakefield's name up in lights when it won the third division. There was a wee wait for trophy number four, to the tune of seven seasons, when after several seasons of growth the club entered a second team and with it came success in the second division when in 2010 it claimed the trophy for the second time. In 2014 trophy number five came in the newly formed fourth division.

However times haven't always been roses and petals, tragedy struck in 2009 during a night game at Wakefield when we lost one of our members on the field of play. Greg Brown was a wonderful club man and although he had only been with the club for four season his loss was felt immensely throughout the club. Not only was he a treasured member of the senior team, he also ran the Waimea Plains football club, which is the junior club based at Wakefield with over 150 kids affiliated. In his honour the Greg Brown Memorial Trophy was established in his name and was until recently contested annually with Richmond, who were the opposition on that fateful night. Not a year goes by when Greg isn't thought about by the club members and the fact that tales are still told about the man shows the affect he had on those that knew and had the privilege of playing beside him. RIP Greg, rest easy fella.

The club has seven Life Members: Stan Hollis, who was the first ever President and Coach of the club in 1983. Second on the list is Graham Cole who was the driving force behind the club throughout the 90's when there was a couple in dark years where the club struggled to maintain players. He put the club on his shoulders and carried it through- building the base of what is now a very strong club. The third is Chris Olaman who was the last remaining member of the original team having played all bar one season between 1983-2018, and has held several positions within the club throughout this time. With records hard to come by from the first 25 seasons we can only estimate his appearance and goal tally at around 600 games and 400 goals, records unlikely to be touched for the rest of time. Ian Radcliffe helped take the club forward for several years. Hayden "Chopper" Ingham has been heavily active in the club for the majority of the last two decades, acting as President for some years, as well as being the club's first choice keeper. Grant de Joux was awarded the prize tankard for over 10 years of hard work in multiple roles, including Treasurer, Bar Manager, and President. Paul Doorman received the honour, after many years coaching juniors, huge amounts of work organising events such as the annual Reefton Tournament trip, and for being one of the longest serving and most committed team members.