Welcome to Whakatane Town AFC

There is not much written material relating to those early days but some of the original pioneers of the game in the Eastern Bay still live in the district, and from the stories they tell one can form a picture of the difficulties they faced in introducing football to a sceptical population.

According to Football fanatic, Alf Brooks, such was the novelty of the game in this area that when the local sports shop (Tyson sports shop, next to Shapleys) was approached for a ‘soccer’ ball, they had to send to Wellington to get one.

Joost Bylsma who was the Goalkeeper in the first Whakatane team clearly recalls that the main driving force behind its formation was Alec Town, a local butcher who had previously played in Auckland.

The first Bay of plenty league consisted of Board Mills, Whakatane Town, Kawerau, Edgecumbe, Te Puke, two teams from Tauranga, and three from Rotorua. In the words of Alf Brooks…”much of the travel to away games was along narrow, dusty, unsealed roads”.

From such humble beginnings the club has progressed to a modern organisation with first class facilities and a large number of senior and junior players. One can admire the foresight and diligence of those men and women of the 1950s who laid the groundwork for our club and our sport to prosper