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Kōrero: Football

Devonport North Shore football team, about 1895

A group of ten male players standing and sitting together under a tree, many with moustaches, wearing uniforms that do not match

Football began to be played in New Zealand in an organised way in the 1880s. The Devonport North Shore Club was founded in 1886 and – now North Shore United – is widely recognised as the oldest surviving club in the country. This is an early team, probably from 1895. The lack of standardised uniforms suggests that the game was still relatively informal.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Auckland Council Libraries − Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero o Tāmaki Makaurau, Sir George Grey Special Collections

Reference: 4-3065

by James D. Richardson

Permission of Auckland City Libraries Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Neill Atkinson, Steve Watters rāua ko Alida Shanks, Football – Football in New Zealand, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/40912/devonport-north-shore-football-team-about-1895 (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Neill Atkinson, Steve Watters rāua ko Alida Shanks, i tāngia i te 27 February 2013, reviewed and revised 7 June 2023 me te āwhina o Alida Shanks.