East Coast Bays AFC

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East Coast Bays A.F.C.
File:East Coast Bays AFC logo.png
Full nameEast Coast Bays Association Football Club
Nickname(s)The Mighty Bays
Founded1959
GroundBay City Park
Capacity4,000
ChairmanRussell Fisher
Head coachJoseph Hall
LeagueNRFL Division 1
2022NRFL Division 1, 4th of 12
WebsiteClub website

East Coast Bays is a football club located on Auckland's North Shore. The club has won the Chatham Cup[1] and the NRFL Premier Division three times.[2]

History

East Coast Bays were founded following a public meeting held at the Progressive Hall (since demolished and replaced by the Bays Club) in October 1958. The committee formed from this meeting entered four junior teams for the start of the 1959 season. As some of the committee members were supporters of Glasgow Rangers, the colours of Royal Blue shirts, white shorts, and royal Blue sox were adopted.[citation needed]

East Coast Bays picked The Maxwell Farm as its ground with the pitch running north to south. The old Progress Hall on the site was adapted to serve as clubrooms.[citation needed]

A senior side was entered the next season and with the opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, the area boomed and the club grew in size to more than 1000 juniors in the late seventies and early eighties.[3] Senior sides also grew in numbers and the first team slowly made its way through the leagues, and in 1975 when the Northern League was formed they were invited to compete in the first division.[citation needed]

Under coach Alan Yates, the club won promotion to the National League in 1981 but was relegated the following year.[4]

Player numbers continued to grow and Mairangi Bay simply couldn't cope with the numbers even with an additional ground at Windsor Park. This cause a breakaway of a faction of club members to form the Rangitoto club which also saw a decline in the number of junior teams.[citation needed]

Successive administrations lobbied the East Coast Bays Council for more grounds and at the same time new ground criteria for clubs playing in the Northern League Premier Division meant Mairangi Park was no longer suitable for playing top football. This meant that the club spent a couple of seasons using the new ground that was developed behind Rangitoto College.

Land off Anderson's Road originally designated but no longer required for a school was acquired by the council and it was agreed that the club would move there once facilities were built and grounds developed. In 1991 the club moved to its new headquarters at the newly named Bays City Park.[citation needed]

Since then clubroom facilities have been developed, further grounds have been obtained at Ashley Reserve. Under the direction of Willy Gerdsen, coaching pathways have been developed.[citation needed]

Honours

League

Cup

References

  1. ^ Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Chatham Cup winners, 1923–2021". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Welcome to East Coast Bays AFC". East Coast Bays AFC. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  3. ^ "East Coast Bays Football". www.sporty.co.nz. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  4. ^ "East Coast Bays Football". www.sporty.co.nz. Retrieved 29 September 2022.

External links

Preceded by Chatham Cup Winner
2008 		Succeeded by
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