Suburbs soccer celebrates 75 years

BY MELANIE VERRAN

A bunch of "old fogies" will descend on the Eastern Suburbs Football Club next week to reminisce over a beer or two.

The club’s 75th jubilee celebrations will attract former players from as far as Australia and patron Trevor Diamond is looking forward to catching up with some old mates.

The 71-year-old life member has a special attachment to the club which his father Selwyn Diamond helped to form from the amalgamation of the Glen Innes and Tamaki football clubs in 1934.

It was a true family affair, with his uncles, cousins and brother all playing for the club. Now his five-year-old grandson Ryan is keeping up the tradition.

Trevor first put boot to ball as a four-year-old in 1942 and was considered the first team’s mascot as he accompanied his father – their coach – to the games. Back in those days the ‘clubhouse’ was a large willow tree at Vellenoweth Green.

Looking back, he says his highlights were winning the championships and having after-match drinks.

"We had a very good team when we were in the juniors," he says. "We played good football and we won the championships."

He and his teammates from the junior grades went on to play in the top team for Suburbs in the late 50s, claiming a string of championship titles.

"In 1960 we were the first club team to go overseas. We played a New Caledonia rep team and their club team."

The nickname Dirty Diamond stuck after a photo was printed on the front page of the football newsletter which showed him "chopping down the other player".

"They’ve always called football the gentleman’s sport but we do have our tough play and our dirty play."

Trevor joined the club committee in 1956 and served on it until 2003, when bad knees meant he had to retire from the sport. He had stints as secretary, coach and team manager.

He still makes the trip from Howick to watch the first team play at home games and regularly meets up with a group from his 1942 team.

The best thing about the club is the camaraderie, he says, and he’s keen to get together with the "old fogies" for a beer and a yarn.

He has friends coming from Kerikeri, Queenstown and Dunedin and knows of six or seven making the hop across the Tasman for the jubilee.

The club now boasts 2000 members and is the largest sports club in east Auckland. Its jubilee celebrations will be held at the clubrooms in Madills Farm, Kohimarama.

Three days of fun

The jubilee will kick off on September 4 with a mix-and-mingle evening incorporating the club’s senior prizegiving at the Madills Farm clubhouse.

On September 5, a junior gala will be held in the morning and men’s matches will be played in the afternoon.

That includes the battle for the Rangitoto Shield between Eastern Suburbs and North Shore United, which hasn’t been fought since the late 1960s.

The jubilee dinner is being held in the evening.

On September 6, youth games will be played in the morning with women’s senior games starting at 12.30pm.

A luncheon and farewells will wrap up the event.

For more information and registration details visit the website at www.easternsuburbs.org.nz or call 578-1375.

- © Fairfax NZ News