Northern AFC

Full name	Northern Association Football Club
Nickname(s)	Northern
Founded	1888
Ground	Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Turf, Gardens Ground, Forrester Park, Prospect Park Dunedin
Coach	Arran Wilkinson Mens Prems Grace Teah Womens Prems
League	ODT Southern Men's Premiership ODT Southern Women's Premiership
2023	ODT Southern Men's Premiership, 3rd of 10 ODT Southern Women's Premiership, 6th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Founded in 1888 Northern AFC is the oldest continually operating football club in the Southern Hemisphere.

The club is based in the city of Dunedin, within the Southern Football Federation region of the New Zealand Football structure.

The club has 12 senior teams, ranging from Men's and Women's Premiership teams, Men's and Women's Reserves, Men's Third and Fourth grade teams, and a Men's over 45's masters grade, and a junior club with teams from 6th grade through to Youth grade.

The club's Senior and Junior home grounds are at The Caledonian Ground, Logan Park Turf, the Gardens Ground (The Clubrooms), Chingford Park, and Forrester Park, all are in the Northern Dunedin area of the city.

Club history

Founded in 1888 Northern AFC is the oldest continually operating football club in the Southern Hemisphere.

In 1888 two football clubs called Northern and Southern were formed in Dunedin. The Northern club played in Brown’s paddock in North Dunedin. The Southern club played at Tahuna Park in South Dunedin.

Before the formation of the Southern League competition in 1968, Northern was the winner of Dunedin’s top league 14 times (1927, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962).

Fiercely proud of its history, Northern is one of the more successful teams in Dunedin with eight Chatham Cup Final appearances. Two of the club's proudest moments were in 1959 and 1961, winning the Chatham Cup, as well as the National Rothman Cup in 1962.

In response to low player numbers in 1972 the Senior club joined with Maori Hill FC in the interests of football in the Northern end of Dunedin, and so the North End United club was formed. At the Junior level, both Maori Hill and Northern maintained their individual identities.

Then in 1991 it was agreed that the Senior club would revert back to its historic Northern AFC name.

In 2013 the club celebrated its 125th Jubilee, as part of the celebrations the Men’s Premiership team played Green Island FC in the first club football match to be held under the roof at Dunedin's iconic covered Forsyth Barr Stadium.

Northern’s teams play in Black and White striped shirts, Black Shorts and Black socks as the home kit, with Orange and Black as away kit colours. However in 2022 to acknowledge a period in the clubs long history, the ODT Mens Premiership team wore Black and White Hooped Shirts, White Shorts and Black Socks, and the away kit was Maroon and Gold Shirts, White Shorts, and Maroon Socks in recognition of a relationship with Maori Hill JFC. The ODT Women's Premiership team kit for 2022 was all Black, with an all Dark Green away kit, again in recognition of the clubs women’s football history.

However, in 2023 both Men's and Women's Premiership teams returned to the traditional Black and White striped shirts, Black Shorts and Black socks as the Home kit.

Recent seasons

ODT Southern Men's Premiership, Southern Football Division One Fletcher Cup, and Southern Football Division Two

Following a number of seasons where the club achieved limited success, and in particular some heavy defeats in 2020, changes were made to the coaching and support staff ahead of the 2021 season.

This led to recruiting new and younger players to the club, alongside experienced players like National League and New Zealand Representative Goal Keeper Liam Little. Increased preparation and a hard work ethic resulted in improved performances and then results on the pitch. The Men's Premiership team ended the season winning 4 games and drawing 2 games, which included beating the 2020 reigning ODT Men's Southern Premiership winners Otago University AFC.

2022 saw the performances and results continue to improve significantly. Again new and young talented players were recruited to the club, and were provided with environment to train, play and develop. The Men's Premiership team led the league for a long period in 2022, ending the season winning 9 games, drawing 4 games, and eventually finishing 4th place.

The steady progress made in 2022 continued into 2023 and despite some player movements in and out of the club, the Men's Premiership team ended the season in 3rd place.

2023 was also a successful season for both Southern Football Fletcher Cup and Southern Football Division Two teams. The Fletcher Cup team finished runners up in the league and played in the final of the Chinese Charity Cup, and the Southern Football Division Two team won the league.

Womens ODT Southern Premiership

2022 saw the Women's Prems team return to the ODT Women's Southern Premiership. The young team faced a challenging season against opposition with much more experience. The team finished 6th, and plans to continue to recruit young players and develop its team further into 2023.

North End United Youth Development League Squads

Northern JAFC, Northern AFC, and Maori Hill JFC continued the partnership to create combined Youth teams to compete in the Football South Development League under the name of ‘North End United’. This ‘hub club’ model is supported by Football South and will form a pathway for footballers of both clubs towards Senior Football at Northern AFC. The Football South Development League is the pinnacle Youth league in the Southern region and involve teams from Dunedin, South Canterbury, Central Otago/Lakes and Southland.

North End United have been very successful and have won this Development League in 2021 and 2022.

Players

2022 ODT Mens Southern Premiership

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	NZ	Zane Green
2	Def	NZ	Josh McCarroll
3	Def	NZ	Dean Allan
4	Def	NZ	Matt Johnstone (C)
5	Def	NZ	Amacio Jutel
6	Mid	SLB	Michael Samani
7	Fwd	NZ	Hayden Teixeira
8	Mid	NZ	Harry Fraser
9	Fwd	NZ	Tyler Muir
10	Mid	NZ	Rory Hibbert
11	Fwd	Oman	Al Julanda Al Mawali
12	Def	Fiji	Mateo Savou
13	Mid	NZ	Luka Mandich
14	Fwd	NZ	Gian Krauer
15	Mid	Germany	Janic Gorman
16	Def	Germany	Jonas Gorman
17	GK	NZ	Michael Dunnet
18	GK	NZ	Liam Little

2022 Football South Fletcher Cup

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	NZ	Michael Dunnet
2	Def	NZ	Conor Stephenson
3	Def	NZ	Jordan Mitchell
4	Def	NZ	Lachlan Shanks
5	Mid	NZ	Johnny Woodall
6	Mid	NZ	David Williams
7	Def	NZ	Louie Potter
8	Def	NZ	Louis Gray
9	Def	NZ	Stassi Kypri
10	Mid	NZ	Mark James
11	Mid	NZ	Jacob Willmott
12	Def	NZ	Matthew Cowles
13	Mid	NZ	Moreton Dacombe-Bird
14	Fwd	NZ	Harry Major
15	Fwd	NZ	Eli Newall
16	Fwd	NZ	Gian Krauer

Coaches and Officials

Federation Awards

In 2023 Northern AFC were nominated for 5 awards at the Southern Football Senior Awards evening:

References