Western Springs AFC is an association football club in Westmere, Auckland. Western Springs AFC is one of New Zealand's largest clubs. Both the Senior Women's and Senior Men's teams currently play in the Northern League.
The Western Springs' home ground is at Seddon Field on Meola Road in Westmere and also play home games at Cox's Bay, Walker Park and Eastdale Reserve.[1]
History
The current club was formed in 1989,[1] but its history stretches back to 1924 and the foundation of Comrades FC.[2] This team amalgamated with Grey Lynn FC in 1952,[2] briefly becoming Grey Lynn Comrades United, before renaming to Grey Lynn United in 1954.[2] In 1986 this team combined with the New Zealand branch of the Celtic Supporters Club to form Grey Lynn Celtic.[citation needed] It was this team which combined with Point Chevalier AFC (founded 1949)[3] to become Western Springs Association Football Club in 1989.[1]
Controversies
In May 2023, the women's team had a game postponed[4][5][6] and played several games in kits with no logos[7] due to ongoing disputes with the club. Players said they felt "completely disrespected" by the "highly misogynistic behaviour" of the predominantly male board.[8]
The women's team decided not to play their match on 19 May in solidarity with their former manager Ryan Faithful who was sacked a week earlier. Faithful had supposedly stood with the players in their fight for equality.[9] Players said they were constantly pushed to the side to accommodate the men's team.[8][10] The women's team were also unhappy with the men getting paid up to 8 times the women's team[8] and having double the funding despite not qualifying for the national league like their female counterparts.[11]Football FernClaudia Bunge said it was "sad to see the lack of support they're getting" and that in the lead up to a FIFA Women's World Cup, "it's not good enough". Bunge said "clubs need to be doing more."[6][12]
As part of the women's teams frustrations with the club, the players were unhappy with the "phallic like" logo[13] requesting it to be replaced.[14] The New Zealand Herald states an artist was called in to refresh the logo.[13] Jim Jacobs, the designer of the original logo, said he was surprised to hear the claims of the "phallic like" logo, which was based on Tottenham Hotspur's logo.[14]
Reports by the New Zealand Herald state targets were set by the club in December 2022 after receiving $461,755 for upgrades as a 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup training base.[15][16]
This includes females having equal access to facilities and support from the club. The club also set out to have "equal representation of genders in imagery used by the club".[15]
Independent mediators were called in to help settle an agreement between the club and the women's first starting on 30 May.[17][18] In June 2023 an agreement was reached between the women's first team and the club.[9][19][20] The club agreed to increasing the women's team expenses to match the men's expenses, recruit a new head of girl's and women's football, while also engaging an independent advisor to develop the club's programme development strategy. Western Springs also agreed a commitment to "equality, diversity and player representation on club committees".[9] Players were "relieved" and "proud" to have reached an agreement with the club.[19][20]
