Soccer Club reports

by C. M. Ellen.

The Club commenced the 1967 season with seven teams, six playing in the Wellington Football Association's Senior Divisions and one in the Intermediate Division, but with increasing numbers of players coming forward it was found necessary to enter two further teams in the Wellington Football Association's Senior Sixth Division.

The club's affairs are handled by an elected committee of six and the nine team captains. In a club such as ours, which has only three non-playing members, the patron, Bill Ingerson, the president. Professor Roy Sidebotham, and the first team coach, Brian Swarbrick, a great burden of the work falls on the shoulders of the team captains. These players, in addition to directing their teams on the field of play, also perform duties which in other clubs would be undertaken by team managers and team trainers. The club is very fortunate this season in that without exception all team captains are doing excellent jobs.

The first eleven plays in the Senior Second Division and at present holds a position half way up the League table. If the team can win its six remaining League games it still has an outside chance of gaining promotion to the First Division. Regular players include Rod Bustard, one of the best goal-keepers in the Second Division, and who has been selected for the New Zealand Universities team for the past two seasons, and Bob Howell and K. P. Too, both of whom represented New Zealand Universities last year. The team is skippered by Bill Arcus and coached by Brian Swarbrick.

The second team was promoted to the Senior First Reserve Division this season, and with its present position of fifth has fully justified its promotion.

The team, apart from two very experienced players in Barry Morgan, its captain, and Bob Kerr, the club captain, consists mainly of young players, and provides the club with a strong set of reserves.

The Intermediate team, which has an age limit of 20 years, consists mainly of first year University students. It has been unfortunate that on many occasions the team has been under-strength, firstly because of the University holidays and later because of injuries, and to date has had rather an uneven season. The team is coached by George Collis.

The club's most successful team is undoubtedly the Fourth Division "A" side, which is at present sharing top position in the League table with Northern. Provided these two teams win their next three games, the final match of the season, when they meet, should provide a grand finish to the Fourth Division League championship.

The other teams of the club, with the exception of the Sixth "A" and Sixth "C" teams, are having more or less reasonable seasons. The Sixth "Cs" were late starters and have only played four games, while the Sixth "A"s have of necessity, been chopped and changed around so much that it is little wonder that they have only won one game.