Tawa AFC

A special 95th HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our Founding/Life Member - Bill Smith

A big thank you for the invitation to Bill’s 95th birthday celebration. I feel very privileged to be included and to attend on behalf of Tawa AFC. It means a great deal to the club to be part of recognising Bill, his extraordinary milestone, and the huge part he has played in shaping Tawa Football Club into what it is today.

Thank you as well for sharing the memories and history around how Tawa AFC came to be. It is inspiring to hear how much passion, belief, and determination it took in those early days to get the club off the ground. It’s a reminder that building something meaningful isn’t easy — and that it took foresight, courage, and a willingness to step outside the usual way of doing things.

Although we’re now well into the 21st century, the spirit remains the same. We face new challenges and new expectations, but the heart of the club is unchanged. We continue to build, adapt, and move forward, guided by the same values that Bill and others lived by all those years ago. Their legacy continues to guide and motivate us today.

Thank you again for including us in this very special occasion.

- Jan Lang (Tawa AFC Secretary)

A wonderful message from Ron Weitzel:

Happy Birthday, Bill. I hope you have a great day celebrating this special milestone. I’m sorry I’m unable to join the gathering with family and friends, but please know I am thinking of you.

My memories of Bill go back to 1973, when Grant Parker talked me into joining a fledgling Tawa Football Club, of which Bill was a founding member.

I still remember the story Bill shared with me many years ago about how Tawa AFC came to be. Before 1971, Tawa was part of Western Suburbs, which spanned from Tawa to Pukerua Bay. It was a large club, and with that came operational challenges—particularly within the junior setup. Bill and other Tawa parents were unhappy with what they felt was disorganisation.

So, one Saturday morning at halftime, Bill and a couple of other fathers retreated behind a shed to use the facilities. During that conversation, they vented their frustrations, and someone suggested forming a separate junior football club. And so, the inspiration for Tawa Football began—somewhere behind a shed, back in 1971.

Once the club was formed, Bill and other like-minded committee members set out a vision: to build clubrooms of their own and progress the First Team to the Central League First Division.

This vision became reality within 10 years. New clubrooms were built at Redwood Park, and the First Team rose from Wellington Division 3 all the way to the Central League First Division.

It was a remarkable achievement. But soon came the challenge of repaying a mortgage to the Tawa Council within three years. The club embarked on an ambitious fundraising effort, exploring all sorts of income streams.

One such venture involved members taking part in the production of TV advertisements. Bill stepped up and featured in a video shoot for local band The Warratahs and their hit song Hands Off My Heart.

Bill showed his deft dance moves, waltzing to Hands Off My Heart in the music video. The song went on to be a major hit and spent months in the charts. So every time it played on TV—which was often—it was “cha-ching,” with funds flowing into the club’s fundraising efforts. And if you’d like to relive Bill’s moves, you can still watch the video on YouTube today.

To all Bill’s friends and family, I’m sure you’ll agree that Bill is one of life’s good guys. I know you will celebrate this occasion in a way he will remember fondly.

- Ron Weitzel

#95YearsYoung #TawaAFC

The Movember Sports Club hosts a series of community charity events across a range of sporting codes, from golf to rugby and everything in between. These events run throughout the year with a simple goal: bringing people together, having fun, building social connections, and supporting men's health.

Movember has grown into a global movement, funding more than 1,320 men's health projects worldwide. By challenging the status quo, driving research, and improving access to support services, Movember continues to make a real difference in the lives of men and their families.

A huge thank you to the Parliamentary XI for being part of the occasion. The result on the scoreboard was secondary to what really mattered — enjoying the game, strengthening connections, and supporting an important cause.

👏 Football. Community. Men's Health. That's a win for everyone.

🥸 https://nz.movember.com/

🥸 https://nz.movember.com/support-us/movember-sports-club

📷 Photo credit: Jan Lang & Eliott Brookes

#KiaKaha #Movember #Charity #MensHealth #FootballForGood

💙❤️💛 Tawa AFC Life Member 2026 – Gerry Durr

On 1st August 2026, Gerry Durr, one of the founding members of Tawa AFC, was inducted as the club’s 22nd honorary life member.

Gerry served as Club Captain for three years and was a member of the original 1972 Foundation Committee. His tireless work helped establish and grow Tawa AFC in its formative years, particularly the junior section, which expanded to more than 17 teams. Through his dedication, generosity, and commitment to the club, Gerry helped lay the foundations for the community club we know and love today.

❤️ A message from his niece, Ellie:
"Over the weekend some of the family were lucky enough to watch our 93 year old Dad, Grandad, Great-Grandad become a life member of the Tawa Football Club. More than 50 years ago, he helped found the club from the ground up. He delivered flyers into letterboxes, drove kids to games in his van, and gave hours of his time to the club which is still such a big part of the Tawa community where he has lived for over 60 years.

Although his sons, son in laws and grandchildren grew up playing rugby, his great grandson has now given him a full circle moment and is playing for the club which we know fills him with a lot of pride. To see him recognised for everything he has contributed made us so proud.

We feel so fortunate that we could celebrate such a significant milestone with him."

🙌 Congratulations, Gerry, and thank you for the dedication, passion, and service you have given to Tawa AFC over the past five decades. Your contribution has helped create a club that generations of families continue to enjoy today.

⚽🏆 Tawa Hardly Athletic – Final Chapter - 5.9.26

Tawa Hardly Athletic officially wrapped up their Wellington Local Cup – Plate Division campaign, bowing out in a thrilling Final against a well-oiled opposition ⚙️🔥

Hardly Athletic put on a masterclass of grit and determination, giving it everything in a hard-fought battle from box to box ⚔️💪

The trophy might have escaped our grip this time, but the spirit of this team remains completely undefeated ✨

A massive shout-out to everyone on the sidelines—thank you for bringing the positive vibes all game long 📣🙌

Rest up, recharge, and we’ll see you all next season!🔋⚽🚀

📷 Photo credit: Jan Lang

#TawaAFC #FootballFamily #Teamwork #KiaKaha #WellingtonLocalCup #PlateDivision

💙❤️💛

🏆 Ending the season on a high! 🏆 - 6.9.26
The grand stage was set for the Art Deco Trophy – Bronze FINAL… and let’s be honest, after prizegiving the night before, the Tawa Collab lineup arrived with a few sore heads 😵‍💫 tired eyes, and questionable levels of hydration 🤢
Did the collective, massive hangover stop us from battling for the cup?
ABSOLUTELY NOT! 💪
We fuelled up on pure grit, sucked in plenty of fresh air, and channelled whatever leftover party energy we could find! 🕺💃
And what a cracker of a match it was!
Both teams brought the battle, with West making us work for every. single. inch. of that pitch ⚽🔥

💙❤️💛 Prizegiving 2026 🏆

What a rollercoaster of a season! 🎢

What a ride 2026 has been! From the highs to the lows, the goals to the tackles, the road trips to the sideline banter, the celebrations, the heartbreaks, the mud, the wind… and everything in between — what a season! ⚽🙌

Prizegiving is our chance to hit pause, put the boots away for a moment, and celebrate everything that made 2026 one to remember.

🏆 2026 ACCOLADES
⚽ Men's Central League 2 (MCL2) – Promoted to Men’s Central League for 2027
⚽ Tawa Reserves – Winners Capital 2 & promoted to Capital 1 for 2027
⚽ Tawa Collab – Women’s Capital 2 (1st round promotion to Women's Capital 1) & Women's Art Decor Trophy (Bronze) winners
⚽ Tawa Twisters – Women's Art Decor Trophy (Copper) winners
⚽ Tawa 300 – Wellington 1 (1st round winners)
⚽ Tawa Bulldogs – Wellington 2 (1st round winners) & promoted to Wellington 1

🏆 To all our award winners: a massive congratulations! Your hard mahi, commitment, teamwork and dedication deserve every bit of recognition. Enjoy the moment — you’ve earned it!

⚡ To our coaches & management: thank you for the endless hours, late nights, and all the work that happens behind the scenes. You’re the ones keeping the wheels turning, the teams organised and the players moving forward.

Add in some tough defence, a brutal Wellington wind blowing everyone’s hair directly into their mouths and eyes 🌬️👀, and a football that clearly had a mind of its own… and we had ourselves one very windy final! 😂⚽
But through it all, the gals dug deep, battled hard, and SECURED THE WIN! 🎉🏆
Lots of aroha to all our incredible supporters who braved the wind and came out to cheer us on! 🙌 Your support and positive vibes from the sideline gave us that extra boost when we needed it most! 💖
🫡 Massive thanks to the ref for keeping order, despite our severe lack of depth perception and spatial awareness! 👀🚫😂
Finally, a huge HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all the legendary dads who spent their special day standing in the wind, watching us run around a windy football pitch! 🥰💙
Now it’s time to rest those sore heads, put the feet up, and celebrate being WINNERS! 🍾🥂🏆
#TawaAFC #FootballFamily #Teamwork #KiaKaha #ArtDecoTrophy #BronzeFinal #Winners #FathersDay

💙❤️💛

🫶 To our President and committee: thank you for all the time, energy and mahi you put in behind the scenes. So much happens after hours to support our teams, players and whānau — and it wouldn’t happen without you.

🙏🏻 To our sponsors: times are tough out there, and your continued support means the absolute world to our club. Your generosity helps make football at Tawa possible, and we genuinely couldn’t do it without you.

🙋🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️💁🏻 And to our incredible volunteers: where would we be without you?! From organising ball kids, setting up and cleaning up, running the bar/café, putting out the goals, helping on matchday and doing all those little jobs nobody sees — your mahi and magic are what keep Tawa ticking. Without you, football at this club simply doesn’t happen.

So, here’s to 2026 — a season full of big moments, plenty of laughs, great memories, new friendships, hard-earned achievements and more than a few stories we’ll be talking about for years to come! ❤️

Here’s to the season that was — and an even bigger 2027 ahead! ⚽🔥

🙌 He waka eke noa — We’re all in this together.

📷 Nathan Bartholomew, Jan Lang & Photo Booth

#TAWAAFC #COMEONYOUREDS #KIAKAHA

Photo Gallery 2026

Shout out to all the photographers, for these awesome photos

Tawa AFC

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