View source for Western Suburbs FC

{{about|the football club in New Zealand|other uses|Western Suburbs (disambiguation){{!}}Western Suburbs}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox football club
| clubname    = Western Suburbs Football Club
| image       = Western Suburbs FC Logo.svg
| image_size  = 190px
| fullname    = Western Suburbs Football Club
| nickname    = Wests <!-- see discussion, and the club badge.-->
| founded     = 1906, as ''Mental Hospital AFC''
| ground      = Endeavour Park, [[Porirua]]
| manager     = Brian McInnes
| coach       = [[Alan Koch (soccer)|Alan Koch]]
| captain     = 
| league      = [[Central League (New Zealand)|Central League]]<br>[[New Zealand National League|National League]]
| season      = [[2024 New Zealand National League#2024 Central League|2024]]
| position    = [[Central League (New Zealand)|Central League]], 2nd of 10<br>[[New Zealand National League|National League]], 10th of 10
| website     = {{URL|https://westernsuburbs.co.nz}}
| pattern_b1  = _redpinstripes
| leftarm1    = 000000
| body1       = 000000
| rightarm1   = 000000
| shorts1     = 000000
| socks1      = FF0000
| pattern_la2 = 
| pattern_b2  = _redpinstripes
| pattern_ra2 = 
| leftarm2    = FFFFFF
| body2       = FFFFFF
| rightarm2   = FFFFFF
| shorts2     = FFFFFF
| socks2      = FF0000
| current     = 2022 New Zealand National League
}}

'''Western Suburbs Football Club''' is an association football club in [[Porirua]], New Zealand. They play their home matches at Endeavour Park in the Porirua suburb of [[Whitby, New Zealand|Whitby]] and compete in the [[Central Premier League]].

Western Suburbs is in partnership with [[Olé Football Academy]] who provide coaching for some of their junior and senior teams. They have won the [[Chatham Cup]] thrice, and the [[Central Premier League]] on seven occasions, most recently in 2019.

==History==

===Mental Hospital AFC===
Western Suburbs was established in 1906 as Mental Hospital AFC, initially as a recreational outlet for staff at Porirua Mental Hospital, winning the Chatham Cup in 1935, beating Christchurch's Western 2–0.<ref name=wshistory>[http://www.westernsuburbs.co.nz/history.html Western Suburbs Soccer Club History]</ref>

===Western Suburbs (1956–1973)===
In 1956 the name of the club changed to Western Suburbs, reflecting its player base from Porirua and Tawa. Led by Hungarian-born coach [[Imre Kiss (New Zealand footballer)|Imre Kiss]], who had represented [[New Zealand national football team|New Zealand]] for one official international in 1967, the club won the Central League First Division title in 1968 and again in 1969, qualifying for the inaugural season of the [[New Zealand National Soccer League|National League]] in 1970. That year they lost the [[Chatham Cup]] to [[Blockhouse Bay (soccer)|Blockhouse Bay]] after a replay, but achieved success for the second time in their history the following year, beating [[Wellington United|Wellington City]] 3–2 in the 1971 final. Western Suburbs were relegated from the National League at the end of the 1971 season.<ref name=wshistory />

===Porirua United===
The club name was changed to Porirua United in 1973 when Porirua gained city status. Shortly after, a faction within the club broke away to form rival club [[Tawa AFC]]. Porirua United won the Central League title in 1974<ref name=wshistory />

===Porirua Viard United===
At the end of the 1983 season Porirua United and Viard amalgamated to become Porirua Viard United.<ref name=wshistory /> The women's team were joint National Champions in 1987, drawing the grand final with Auckland's Eden. In 1992 Porirua Viard United amalgamated with Mana United, forming Western Suburbs.<ref name=wshistory />

===Western Suburbs (1992–present)===
Over the last 10 years, the club won two [[Central League (New Zealand)|Central League]] First Division titles, participated in the [[1999 New Zealand island soccer leagues|North Island]] League in 1999, finishing 8th.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Zealand 1999 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nz99.html |website=[[RSSSF]] |access-date=20 May 2021}}</ref> Wests also won the inaugural Capital Federation Championship in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Zealand 2000 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nz00.html |website=[[RSSSF]] |access-date=20 May 2021}}</ref>

The 2001 season was an up-and-down season under [[Kenny Cresswell|Ken Cresswell]]. After a poor start the team managed to get back on track finishing a respectable 3rd-place finish.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Zealand 2001 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nz01.html |website=[[RSSSF]] |access-date=20 May 2021}}</ref>

2002 brought a new coach, a new attitude and a few new faces to Wests. Ex-Wests captain, Martin Disley, took over as coach from Ken Cresswell, who had gone to Wellington United in the off-season. Wests scored 27 goals in their final 5 games of the season, conceding just 7. With just 2 games remaining, Wests took the lead from Lower Hutt and needed a win against Petone in the final game of the season to secure their 4th League title in six years.<ref name="NZ2002">{{cite web |title=New Zealand 2002 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nz02.html |website=[[RSSSF]] |access-date=20 May 2021}}</ref> Following their 2002 League Title, Wests went on to dispose of Havelock in the Regional Playoff 11–0 on aggregate. The National League Promotion Playoff was a mixed bag for Wests, picking up a win, a draw and a loss against Waitakere, Glenfield and Caversham respectively.<ref name="NZ2002"/>

In 2003 and 2004 the club performed well losing only 3 and 2 games in each season. However it was not good enough to win and only second and third placings were achieved in the Capital Premier Competition.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Zealand 2003 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nz03.html |website=[[RSSSF]] |access-date=20 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=New Zealand 20011|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nz04.html |website=[[RSSSF]] |access-date=20 May 2021}}</ref>

2005 saw the return of the Central League after the dissolution of the National League in favour of the [[New Zealand Football Championship]] competition. Western Suburbs became the first team to win the renewed competition, however the team was knocked out of the [[2005 Chatham Cup|Chatham Cup]] in the 3rd round for fielding an ineligible player.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Zealand 2005 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nz05.html |website=[[RSSSF]] |access-date=20 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="Chatham">{{cite web |title=New Zealand - List of Chatham Cup Finals |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nzcuphist.html |website=[[RSSSF]] |access-date=20 May 2021}}</ref>

In 2006, the centenary year of the club, the club failed to defend their Central League title, finishing runners up. However Wests managed to reach the [[2006 Chatham Cup|Chatham Cup]] final, winning the trophy after defeating Eastern Suburbs 3–0 on penalties after a scoreless draw.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Zealand 2006 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nz06.html |website=[[RSSSF]] |access-date=20 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="Chatham"/> Western Suburbs was officially recognised as Porirua City's Team of the Year.

The 2007 season saw Western Suburbs winning the Central Premier League title, however they failed to defend their [[2007 Chatham Cup|Chatham Cup]] title, losing to Central United 10–9 on penalties after a scoreless draw.<ref name="Chatham"/><ref>{{cite web |title=New Zealand 2007 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nz07.html |website=[[RSSSF]] |access-date=20 May 2021}}</ref>
==Current squad==
{{updated|11 April 2025}}<ref>{{cite web |title=2025 Western Suburbs FC Current Squad |url=https://us.soccerway.com/teams/new-zealand/new-zealand-western-suburbs-fc/33692/ |website=SoccerWay |access-date=11 April 2025}}</ref>

{{Fs start}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=GUY|pos=GK|name=[[Quillan Roberts]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=ENG|pos=GK|name=[[Matthew Calvert (New Zealand footballer)|Matthew Calvert]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=DF|name=[[Jamie Wildash-Chan]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=DF|name=[[Lewis Miller (New Zealand footballer)|Lewis Miller]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=DF|name=[[Lucas Finnigan]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=USA|pos=DF|name=[[Jonathan Robinson (footballer, born 2001)|Jonathan Robinson]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=DF|name=[[Rakshan Suresh]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=ENG|pos=DF|name=[[Tom Scott (footballer, born 1998)|Tom Scott]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=TON|pos=DF|name=[[Alifeleti Peini]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=USA|pos=DF|name=[[Sebastian Sanchez (footballer, born 2003)|Sebastian Sanchez ]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=DF|name=[[Hamish Clark (footballer)|Hamish Clark]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=DF|name=[[Jackson Bigwood]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=ENG|pos=MF|name=[[Harry Fautley]]}}
{{Fs mid}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=MF|name=[[Blake Inder]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=SAM|pos=MF|name=[[Malakye Paterson]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=MF|name=[[Alex Hawkes]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=MF|name=[[Anthony Jensen]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=MF|name=[[Max Tebbutt]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=MF|name=[[Caleb Hunt(footballer)|Caleb Hunt]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=MF|name=[[Finn Diamond]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=MF|name=[[Cameron MacKenzie (footballer, born 2001)|Cameron MacKenzie]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=MF|name=[[Noah Tipene-Clegg]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=MF|name=[[Dakota Brady]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=FW|name=[[Sebastian Barton-Ginger]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=NZL|pos=FW|name=[[Kaelin Nguyen]]}}
{{Fs player|other=|no= |nat=SWE|pos=FW|name=[[Alex Andersson]]}}
{{Fs end}}
==Season by season record==

== Honours ==

* [[Central Premier League]] (6): [[Central Premier League#Past champions|1996]], [[Central Premier League#Past champions|1998]], [[Central Premier League#Past champions|2005]], [[Central Premier League#Past champions|2007]], [[Central Premier League#Past champions|2009]], [[Central Premier League#Past champions|2017]], [[Central Premier League#Past champions|2019]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.westernsuburbs.co.nz/ Western Suburbs Official Site]
*[http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/Database/id1532.htm UltimateNZSoccer website's Western Suburbs  page]

{{s-start}}
{{s-sports|chat}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Auckland Thistle|Thistle]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Winner* |years=[[1935 Chatham Cup]] |as=Hospital}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Western A.F.C.|Western]]}}
{{succession box |title=Winner |before=[[Bay Olympic|Blockhouse Bay]] |after=[[Christchurch United]] |years=[[1971 Chatham Cup]]}}
{{succession box |title=Winner |before=[[Central United F.C.|Central United]] |after=[[Central United F.C.|Central United]] |years=[[2006 Chatham Cup]]}}
{{S-end}}
{{Center|<small>*As Hospital</small>}}

{{Central League (New Zealand)}}
{{twclubs}}

[[Category:Association football clubs in Wellington]]
[[Category:Sport in Porirua]]
[[Category:Association football clubs established in 1906]]
[[Category:1906 establishments in New Zealand]]