Foundation Round hitting CDSFA
This weekend will see a huge number of children and adults enjoy their first experience participating in community football in the Canterbury District Soccer Football Association.
Over 13,000 players will take to the many football fields in the Canterbury & District Soccer Football Association’s 2014 season.
The new players and returning players will be continuing the wonderful heritage of football since the Association was first established in 1923. The Association and its member clubs have been provided football to the community for over 90 years. The clubs cater for male and female grassroots players from 5 years of age to over 45. It is part of the contribution the Clubs and the Association make to the physical and social wellbeing within the local community.
The Association will be celebrating the start of the 2014 season by staging a Foundation Round of football involving two of the inaugural clubs, which started their existence in year one of the CDSFA competitions.
The Hurlstone Park Wanderers Soccer Football Club and Canterbury Junior Soccer Club have been drawn to play against each other in recognition of their special status as foundation clubs in the CDSFA.
The Hurlstone Park Wanderers Soccer Football Club and the Canterbury Junior Soccer Club have been an integral part of the fabric of football in both the inner west of Sydney and NSW. Both Clubs have been responsible for providing players who have represented both NSW and Australia.
Australian Goalkeeper, Jim Fraser is a product of the Hurlstone Park Wanderers Club. Jim is credited with ensuring Australia qualified for its first World Cup due to his match wining performance against South Korea in Hong Kong. The qualifying match determined which of the two nations went to the 1974 World Cup in Germany. Jim Fraser was most recently inducted into the Football Hall of Fame. Tommy North who was also a Hurlstone Park player represented Australia at National team level.
The Canterbury Junior Soccer Club also produced players who represented Australia. Col “Bunny” Curran was a member of the Socceroos and played in the same historic match against South Korea in Hong Kong with Jim Fraser. Other Canterbury Junior Soccer Club Socceroos include Dennis Yaager and Alan Westwater.
There will be multiple fixtures across a variety of age groups being staged at the historic traditional home grounds of both Clubs being Ewen Park and Lees Park.
The highlight of the weekend will be the two most senior games in the Women’s and Men’s competitions, where the two clubs will be playing in their traditional 1920s strips.
Hurlstone Park Wanderers, the second largest club in the Canterbury & District celebrates its 90th year in 2014. The Hurlstone Park Wanderers Club,was established in 1924 by the late William “Bill” Charles Brackenbury. The establishment of the club has been recognised by local government by the placement of a foundation plaque in Crinan Street, Hurlstone Park.
The CDSFA has inaugurated the William “Bill” Brackenbury Cup as its senior male competition. This is recognition of Bill Brackenbury’s role within the CDSFA where he held the position of Secretary/Treasurer from 1942 until his passing on 9 February 1968.
The President of Hurlstone Park Wanderers, Mr Paul Kougias said “As a club, we are very proud of the longstanding contribution the Club has made to the community around the Cooks River through 90 years of club football. We are particularly proud of the way that our club has grown the game and we have more than 60 teams playing interclub football in 2014. The Foundation Round allows us to celebrate our long history”.
Canterbury Juniors Soccer Club has the honour of being the longest standing club in the Association. Mr Jim Hondros, President of the Club said “Our club has a wonderful heritage in the local community, and we are looking forward to this weekend of football, when we can celebrate the fact that we are the oldest club in the area, and that we are fielding teams that can compete in the foundation round from Under 10 age group through to All Age.”
Both clubs have a great history of working together to support the development of football. Mr Kougias noted that a great example of this has been the co-operation between the clubs that allowed Hurlstone Park Wanderers teams to train on Lees Park in the run up to the season. Mr Hondros said “the key to the long history of our clubs is the fact that we can work together.”
The Foundation Round will be celebrated across both days. Councillors will be in attendance to toss the coin for the two senior Foundation Round games.
