The Taranaki Association Football Union was formed at New Plymouth with the founding member clubs; New Plymouth (the Maroons), Omata (the Blues), Star and Tukapa competing for the Taranaki Championship and Julian Cup. The inaugural final between Omata and New Plymouth was held at Omata on Mr. R. Clemow’s property with New Plymouth winning 1 - 0 from a first half goal by A. Dyne. The Julian Cup, donated by local hotelier Mr. H. R. Julian in 1904, is active within Taranaki football to this day.
The Taranaki Rugby Football Union announced a policy stating that any player that followed the rugby season by playing “the association game” would be excluded from Taranaki selection. The policy saw an end to most dual code players a›nd ceased any further involvement from the town rugby club’s Star and Tukapa who had both originally helped establish the association game in New Plymouth.
The Taranaki Association Football Union grew to include clubs from Waitara, Urenui, Egmont Village, Inglewood, Stratford, Kaponga, Auroa, Eltham & Hawera. “Thursday '' teams, Albion, Wanderers and Mangorei Swifts were started in New Plymouth during this time to feed the combined town side. New
Plymouth AFC won the Julian Cup again in 1907 and 1910 before going into recess due to the Great War in 1914 before reforming again in 1922.
Originally the Moturoa Football Club was a short lived rugby union club founded by the Breakwater Sports Committee in the Malva tea kiosk at Ngamotu Beach in early 1914, before amalgamating with the Star Rugby Football Club (now Spotswood United RFC). The club’s home ground was the Prison Reserve at Otaka Streetacross from the Moturoa cool stores. The club retained a junior team for a time after the amalgamation thatwore a star emblem on a white jersey.
From 1915 to 1920 there was no ocial association competition in New Plymouth with the players relying on matches against the crew of the trade shipping at the Port of Moturoa.
The Prison Reserve at Otaka Street, originally set aside in the mid 1800’s for a proposed prison to provide labourfor the construction of the port, was surveyed, subdivided and permanently preserved for a recreation groundand school with the control of the recreation ground to be tasked to a board of local residents. The board would later become known as the Moturoa Progressive Association.
A wireless telegram sent by the ocers of the Moturoa bound S.S. Peshawur to the Soldiers Club of New Plymouth requesting to provide a side to play on arrival in port initiated the reformation of the New Plymouth AFC. Mr. G. E. Roper was elected as president, white and black hooped jerseys were obtained and 44 members enrolled. Later in the year a home and away fixture organised with Hawera saw the first fixture at the Waiwhakaiho Showgrounds with a return match staged at King Edward Park in Stratford. The Taranaki
Football Association reforms and is based in Stratford.
In 1922 the Australia national team toured New Zealand for the first time with thetour including a match against Taranaki played at Pukekura Park with the Taranakiside dominated by men from south of the mountain.
The Chinese Universities team toured New Zealand and played a match against Taranaki at the Hawera Showgrounds. The Chinese residents of Taranaki donated a twin set of silver trophies after the match, one returned to China with the touring side and one - The Chinese Residents Cup - stayed in Taranaki for competition among local clubs.
The first ever recorded Moturoa association football side was published in the Taranaki Daily News on the 25th May 1925, with players Thompson, Randell, Matthews, Spedding brothers, Anderson brothers, Murray, Mells,Peere, Towes and Cole scheduled to face Fitzroy at the Tukapa Ground in Westown. A further match with EastEnd was scheduled with the inclusion of Hughes and Green to the side. The use of the Pioneer Road ground fortrials and friendlies became common. In 1925 there were over a dozen matches against visiting ships with variousteams representing New Plymouth. New Plymouth AFC finished as runners up in the 1925 Chinese Residents Cup to Julian Cup winners and 1925 Taranaki champions - Manaia.
At the annual general meeting of the New Plymouth AFC a decision was made by the committee to combine with the Moturoa Club for the purpose of entering a team for the Julian Cup. A trial game was scheduled between Moturoa and the NP AFC at the Tukapa ground, with the Moturoa side including players; Shepherd,Jones, Donohue, Karim, Hughes, Randell, Farley, Johnstone, Towes, Darwell and Florence. The combined side finished as runner-up behind Auroa in the 1926 Julian Cup and won the 1926 Chinese Cup after beating Hawera in the Manaia 2-1 with goals from E.Spedding and Upshall.
At the beginning of the 1927 season the New Plymouth AFC dissolved into threenew clubs; New Plymouth Watersiders AFC, the New Plymouth Wanderers and Fitzroy based New Plymouth Rangers with these clubs joining the recently formed New Plymouth Caledonian AFC in challenging for the Julian Cup. The TFA divided the Taranaki competition geographically with a northern and southern division.
The Duff Rose Bowl was donated to the secretary Mr. A. E. Wood of the Watersiders and Mr. Power of the Breakwater Hotel at Moturoa by the Glasgow based Macleay Du & Co of Scotland for competition among northern division sides.
The inaugural Duff Rose Bowl final between the Watersiders and Rangers at Western Park was won 2 - 0 by theWatersiders AFC, with E. (Ted) Spedding scoring the winning goals.
The Watersiders played Hawera for the first time in the semi-nal of the 1927 Chinese Cup winning 1 - 0 at the New Plymouth racecourse with the papers referring to the side as ‘the Reds’. The Watersiders lost the 1927Chinese Cup nal 4 - 2 against New Plymouth Caledonian played at the racecourse a fortnight later..
Canada toured New Zealand in 1927 and played a match against Taranaki at Pukekura Park. Watersiders captainW. Davis and forward E. Spedding were both selected in the Taranaki starting XI.
The first junior competition started in New Plymouth in 1927 after Mr. W.W. Thomson donated the ThomsonCup with teams; Westown Villa, Thistle, Central Rovers, Pirates, Fitzroy Rangers, Swifts taking part.
At the Watersiders AFC 1928 annual general meeting it was decided to change the name of the club to “Moturoa”. The meeting report detailed the 1927 season. The Duff Rose Bowl was given to the northern sub association of the TFA for competition among local teams. The annual subscription was set at 5 shillings, asquad of twenty players registered and colours of red shirts and white pants were fixed.
Moturoa first affiliated with the Taranaki Football Association for the 1928 season.
The Moturoa Club applied to the Moturoa Progressive Committee for the use of part of the recreation area at the
Ngamotu Domain to be developed as a home ground. (coordinates: 39.065669, 174.036134) The club was denied on thegrounds of its short existence but was encouraged to assist in the development. Proposed around the same time wasthe development of the area for a speedway track. The use of the bottom eld at the school, as well as the extensiveoriginal beach at Ngamotu, became the training ground for the club. The ‘bottom field’ at Moturoa played host to many seafarers for friendlies while in port.
The ‘Walnut Cup’ was first played between junior sides Tigertown and Spotswood setting the precedent for the Moturoa junior side to form and compete for the new Plumb Cup.
Albion AFC is formed in New Plymouth
The infamous “knife the ball incident” at Moturoa School that gained coverage by all the major newspapers in New Zealand heightened the interest of “soccer” among the pupils and locals of Moturoa.
Mr. J. R. Sceats presided over the annual meeting of the Moturoa Soccer Club on 7 March, there being a fair attendance. In the annual report it was shown that the club had had asuccessful season generally, although it had experienced trouble at times in fielding a senior team, owing to players leaving the town. The departure of the captain and full-back, Cyril Davies, had meant a big loss to the club. Owing to ill-health, Bert Lewis had also been forced to resign. Jim McKay had then been appointed captain and was to be congratulated on the eorts he had made to build up the team and, in spite of reverses, turning out week after week against strong opposition. The intermediate team was congratulated on its successful first year’s work. That success was greatly due to the management of Mr. E. Johns, whose untiring efforts were reflected in the success of the team, who were beaten on only two occasions. The club appreciated the generous donation of the president, Mr. J. Power. The committee wished to thank all the supporters of the club, and expressed appreciation of the enthusiasm shown by the players. - Commenting on the report, Mr. Sceats said the club was to be congratulated on the splendid manner in which it had played throughout the season. The seniors, though regularly beaten, had turned up to play every Saturday and their good sportsmanship had been the subject of favourable comment as being a shining example to other clubs. They were particularly unfortunate in being unable to field the same team twice. The intermediate team had played really good football throughout the season and a repetition of that form would give them a great chance in the competitions this season. A letter of thanks was received from the secretary of the Rangimarie Maori Football Club for the use of jerseys. Subscriptions were fixed at 10s for seniors and 5s for juniors. It was decided to hold a series of dances with the view of raising funds to make a tour at the end of the season. Regarding the matter of the proposed formation of a separate association in North and South Taranaki, in the stead of the Taranaki Football Association, it was decided to support the motion, the club adding a rider that in the event of dissociation the funds in hand be equally divided. It was thought that a standard time of 1 p.m. be set for all intermediate matches. A letter of thanks is to be sent to Mr. J. Power in recognition of his services to the club, and to express regret at his departure.. The balance-sheet showed that the receipts for the season had been £l6 10s, while assets, including £2 6s balance in the bank,brought the total up to £22 9s. The expenditure had been £17 9s 3d. The election of ocers resulted: —President, Mr. L.Watters; vice-presidents, ten were elected; committee, Messrs. J. McKay, White, J. Anderson, R. Johns and J. R. Sceats;delegates to northern division, Messrs. J. McKay and J. R. Sceats; secretary and treasurer, Mr. E. Bensley; club captain, Mr.E. Johns; ocer for boys’ team, Mr. G. H. Gorringe.
At the beginning of the 1929 season a 5-a-side tournament and cycling race was staged at Western Park. Moturoaplayers, A. Anderson, V. Anderson, J. McKay, Christensen and White took part. The following week the club made the decision to withdraw the seniors from the Julian Cup with the newspapers stating, “the club had earned an enviable reputation as good sports”.
The Moturoa junior sides under the coaching of Mr. E.E. Johns won the 1929 Plumb Cup and the Chinese Cup in 1929.
Pirate AFC was established at Fitzroy
The club entered a rebuilt senior side into the 1930 Taranaki Championship Julian Cup and Duff Rose Bowl and Chinese Cup and Priest Shield.The Taranaki Football Association returns the north and south split divisions to one.
The juniors entered the Thomson and Plum Cup.
Captain William Bark of the S.S. Ngapuhi who had been acommittee member since the foundation of the club retired to Auckland after the cessation of the Ngapuhi mail and passenger service between Moturoa and Onehunga.
Moturoa played its first ever game against Stratford for the Julian Cup at Rauponui with players, Johns, Bensley,Thompson, A. Anderson, V. Anderson, Rendall, Roper, Harris, McDonald, McKay, Ryan, White and Christensen in the side. Roper and White scored in the 2 - 1 victory. The Chinese Cup match scheduled between the two sides later in the season at Stratford would not be played after confusion between the north and south associations. It would be the last time Moturoa entered the Chinese Cup.
Moturoa entered three teams in the 1930 Priest Shield at Western Park. One of the three sides, Moturoa C wasmade up entirely of Maori players - a rst for the game in Taranaki. The team was praised in the newspapers as “the feature of the tournament, giving the eventual runner-up Albion a good game indeed”.
Moturoa player Frank Roper was selected for the 1930 Taranaki representative side.The first ever Moturoa player to represent the Taranaki region.
Moturoa won the 1931 Priest Shield by beating Stratford 3 - 1 in the nal atWestern Park. White scored a hat-trick for Moturoa. Moturoa players J.J.Thompson and A. Anderson were selected for the 1931 Taranaki Representative side.
Moturoa finished the Duff Rose Bowl(run in a league format) as runner up behind Albion.
The continuing question of playing grounds saw the club negotiate with the Moturoa Progressive Committee regarding the development of a football pitch at the Ngamotu Domain. The cost of establishing a ground was estimated at £500. The Daily News reported that, “the Moturoa team has decided to adopt a scheme of intensive training, their players being young and enthusiastic and other teams will find Moturoa hard to beat. At the previous club meeting the question of finance was fully discussed and various schemes are to be put in hand at once.”
The first matches against the reformed Waitara club take place at ANZAC Park (now St. Joseph’s school Waitara), and later Clifton Park and Bellringers Reserve at Fitzroy in 1933.
Moturoa played roughly half of its home games at Fitzroy on the Bellringer Reserve during the early 1930’s alternating at the New Plymouth racecourse.
Moturoa won the 1934 Priest Shield by beating Albion, Stratford and Waitara 2 -0 in the final at Rauponui - new season signing from Caledonian, J. Hill scored both winning goals.
