Onehunga Sports Football Club is a youth football club based in Onehunga, New Zealand. A senior side formerly competed in the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Premier, last appearing in the competition in 2019.

Onehunga Sports
Full nameOnehunga Sports Football Club
Nickname(s)OSFC
Short nameSports
Founded1956; 68 years ago (1956)
GroundWaikaraka Park, Onehunga, New Zealand
LeagueNRF Men's Central Division 8
NRF Women's Championship
2023NRF Men's Central Division 8, 7th of 8
NRF Women's Championship, 2nd of 8
WebsiteClub website

The club is widely regarded within New Zealand for their strong focus on youth development. In recent years, Onehunga Sports have most notably produced New Zealand internationals Sarpreet Singh, Chris Wood and Moses Dyer, and former head coach Hiroshi Miyazawa.[1]

Club history edit

The club was founded in 1956 as Cornwall AFC, originally as a youth-oriented breakaway of Ellerslie AFC; Cornwall began play in the 1957 season, holding home games first at Auckland Domain until Fergusson Domain was made available in 1961. The club's change of name to Onehunga Sports and Soccer Club came in 1986, soon followed by the club's first promotion to the NRFL Premier in 1991.

As Onehunga gradually progressed, gaining promotion into higher divisions, tighter restrictions on the playing surface at Fergusson Domain were placed on the club. Relocation discussions began in 1995, and following the construction of clubrooms and training facilities the club moved to Waikakara Park for the 2004 season.[2]

In 2010, Onehunga Sports won the NRFL Division 1 title, winning promotion to the regional top flight.[3]

In 2017 and 2018, Onehunga Sports won consecutive NRFL Premier titles; 2017 also saw the team lift the Chatham Cup for the first time, defeating Central United in the final.[4]

In 2020, Onehunga Sports merged with Three Kings United to form Auckland United, which assumed Onehunga's position in the 2020 NRFL Premier season; the youth, women's and social sectors of Onehunga Sports remain in operation.[5][6]

Notable former players edit

The following players went on to play professionally following their time at Onehunga Sports.

Honours edit

  • Chatham Cup: 2017[7]
  • NRFL Men's Premier winners 2018
  • Women's Conference Division Champions 2018.
  • NRFL Men's Premier winners 2017
  • Lotto NRFL and New Zealand Football 2017 Coach of the Year: Hiroshi Miyazawa.[8]
  • Lotto NRFL Men's Premier Division Player of the Year 2017: Joseph Dawkins captain of the Men's Premier team.
  • Northern Regional Football community coach of the year 2022: Jannine Stewart

References edit

  1. ^ "The coach who is transforming New Zealand football". www.asiamediacentre.org.nz. Archived from the original on 24 January 2019.
  2. ^ "History of Onehunga Sports Football Club « Onehunga Sports Football Club". Archived from the original on 9 September 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Onehunga Sports". Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  4. ^ Casson, Mark (1 September 2018). "NRFL Results September 1". Auckland Football Federation. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  5. ^ https://onehungasports.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/AUstructure2020.pdf Archived 11 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine [bare URL PDF]
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ "New Zealand 2017". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  8. ^ "The coach who is transforming New Zealand football". www.asiamediacentre.org.nz. Archived from the original on 24 January 2019.

External links edit