North Wellington Say Goodbye to Long Standing President and Chairman

North Wellington - is sadened to announce the depature of our long standing President Grant Stephen and Chairman David Rayner. both have given a huge amount of time and dedication to their respective tenures with the club, The Club will never be able to thank them for all the work they have put in over the years, we wish them the best in footballing retirement, and hope to see them at Alex Moore as supporters  in the upcoming season 

Grant Stephen

The Independent Herald front page article on 21/09/2023 referred to Exceptional Service when highlighting the recent award that Grant had been presented with at the NWFC prizegiving.

Greg O’Connor, our local MP referred to Grant as an Omnipotent and effective leader. Greg said it well when he said “He’s the bloke who arrives early to make sure everything is ready for the weekend, ensures the coaches and teams have what they need, watches and writes up the games, is back in the clubrooms afterwards, making sure that everyone is fed and acknowledged etc”

There is no doubt that the club is a 12 month business across the year and significant effort goes on to ensure that the playing season can be as well organized and successful as possible. This involves many meetings across the week, late nights and much time away from family or his work. Grant has contributed massively in a selfless way for a long time. He also makes the effort to be available to provide advice or to attend required meetings.

Both of these phrases describe someone who has dedicated significant amount of his time over many years to NWFC. Grant has been President of NWFC for 13 years and prior to that was President of the Junior Club for around 9 years. So 23 years of amazing commitment for the benefit of the club and its members.

The Club has grown and changed significantly under Grant’s stewardship. Some of the key achievements include:

• The merger of the junior and senior clubs
• The development of this facility at Alex Moore Park (both of these initiatives took more than 10 years effort)
• The sale of Phillip Street clubrooms and creation of Charitable Trust as a fund to support local sporting activity over the long term
• Having the top 4 teams in the Club represented in the top 4 leagues for Capital Football
• Creating the very successful Talent Development Programme

In summary, moving the club forward in many ways to truly be regarded as one of the best and largest in the region.

Grant leaves large shoes to fill as he retires from this role as Club President. His contribution, advice and support have been truly valued and he has had a significant impact on many players and others associated with the Club.

David Rayner

David has been on the management committee for 10 years and has been Chairman all of that time.

When he first started, our top side was in Cap 1 and it was through his connections that Charlie Howe came on board as coach and our rise up the ranks to Prems and ultimately Central League for both men and women all came from there.

Along the way we worked together to bring in a Director of Football, secure funding lines to allow expansion and bring on what the club needed – a professional administrator.

David has steered us through modernising the club, litigation to sell the old clubrooms, becoming a foundation member of Alex Moore Park, refreshing the constitution, amalgamating with the junior club and formation of the NWAFC Trust.