Happy 75th Birthday Manly Warringah Football Association!

Happy 75th Anniversary (1)

With the 2022 season having just kicked off we thought it was the perfect time to start celebrating our 75th Anniversary!

The Manly Warringah Football Association was born in 1947 as Manly Warringah Soccer Association (MWSA) and since then a lot has changed.

It all started with two men, F Adler and G Hudson, who founded the association with Adler as president and Hudson taking on the roles of secretary and treasurer.

Adler served as president of the association for three years whilst Hudson held the role of secretary for four years, creating and growing what has become Australia’s largest grassroots football association.

The first recorded figures of teams and players goes all the way back to 1949 when there were just 31 teams and 553 players in the MWSA.

Since then, the MWFA has only grown.

In 1972, the 25th anniversary of the association, it had grown by 300 teams! 331 teams and 4389 players took to the fields of the Northern Beaches for the 25th year of the MWSA.

As numbers grew the women of the Northern Beaches wanted in on the action and so in 1976 Manly-Warringah Ladies’ Soccer Association was formed. 10 years later, in 1986, it was finally time for the ladies to join the MWSA. 87 women under 13, 65 women U15 and 168 women all age players joined the association.

50 years of the MWFA, in 1997, saw the number of teams almost double from 1972, with 633 teams and 7778 players!

2005 saw the official name change from Manly Warringah Soccer Association to Manly Warringah Football Association.

Today as we celebrate our 75th anniversary the MWFA stands as the largest grassroots association in Australia with 1409 teams and 18,618 player and a total of 21, 037 members.

However, none of this would have been possible without the football clubs of the Northern Beaches which all hold their own rich history.

In 1947 at the birth of football on the beaches Dee Why Football Club was founded. Harbord Diggers Soccer Club was also founded in 1947/48 which later merged with Seasiders Soccer Club to form Harbord Seasiders United Football Club, which we now know as Harbord Football Club, in 2004.

Manly Soccer Club was next to come along in 1949 and has since merged with Allambie Soccer Club (founded 1963) in 1992 to create Manly Allambie United Football Club.

A few years later in 1951 Manly Vale Football Club joined the party, followed by Curl Curl Youth Club in 1958.

The 60’s was a busy time for our clubs with Beacon Hill FC, Brookvale FC, Forest Killarney FC, Mosman FC, Narrabeen FC, Pittwater RSL FC, Seaforth FC, St Augustines Soccer FC and Wakehurst FC all being founded.

Avalon Soccer Junior and Senior clubs merged in 1982 to create Avalon Soccer Club, whilst Belrose Rangers Soccer Club and Terry Hills Soccer Club merged in 1986 to become the BTH Raiders FC.

Lastly but certainly not least, our biggest club in the association, CC Strikers, joined the association after the merge of Cromer Strikers Soccer Club and Collaroy Plateau Youth Club in 1995, creating the 17-club association we see today.

With so much history it is no surprise the MWFA isn’t the only one celebrating milestone anniversaries this year.

Dee Why FC turn 75 this year whilst Forest Killarney and Brookvale (Manly Milan was founded in 1962 and changed to Brookvale FC in 1971) celebrate their 60th anniversaries.

It has been 40 years since Avalon Soccer Junior and Senior clubs merged and Manly Allambie will celebrate their 30 years of marriage together this year.

A rich history with many stories and memories. The MWFA are proud to have helped create the footballing community on the Northern Beaches alongside the incredible work of the clubs and their volunteers as we would not be celebrating 75 years without them.

Here’s to the past 75 years and to 75 more!

whistle-icon-200px

Notice board

Find updates on each club and positions available.

soccer-ball-icon-black

Searching for Clubs?

Find clubs, club contacts, field locations and more in our clubs directory. 

Get social

Upcoming Events