Waterside Karori

Waterside Karori was formed in 1987 when Karori Swifts merged with Waterside. These two clubs had contrasting origins: Swifts were founded in 1894 from a Sunday School, and Waterside were founded in 1921 by dock workers. The current Waterside Karori club is still nicknamed Wharfies. Waterside were originally based at Kaiwharawhara at Wellington's waterfront, a location still used by Waterside Karori. Waterside was a successful club at a national level in New Zealand in the 1930s and 1940s, winning the Chatham Cup in 1938, 1939, 1940 and 1947. However, the club was damaged by the wider effects of the in 1951 disaster hit the club. The 1951 waterfront strike which lasted 151 days and only five players returned from that industrially ravaged season to play in 1952. It took around 9 years for the industrial problems to recede, and then Wharfies started to rebuild. In 1965, land was leased from the city council at Kaiwharawhara and clubrooms erected there. The area was top-soiled, drainage laid, and floodlighting installed, at considerable cost, to provide players with facilities approaching the best in Wellington at the time. In 1978 the club changed its name to Columbus Waterside in appreciation of the major sponsorship received from the Columbus Shipping Line. The Wellington Swifts were formed in 1894. They played in a maroon shirt and dark shorts. The Swifts football club were a nomadic bunch with no roots to any one district, wandering all over Wellington before moving to…

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Men's

League

Central First Division Champions: 1970, 1971, 1973, 1977 (as Waterside), 1987, 1988 (as Swifts) Chatham Cup Winners: 1938, 1939, 1940, 1947 (as Waterside)

Women's

League

Women's First Division Champions: 2011, 2022 & 2023

Cup

Kelly Cup Champions: 1992, 1997, 2009, 2011, 2022, 2023