Ponsonby Ponies

Ponsonby Ponies

Club information
Full name	Ponsonby United Rugby League Football Club
Colours	blue and black
Founded	1908; 113 years ago (1908)
Website	http://www.ponies.kiwi/
Current details
Ground(s)	Victoria Park
Competition	Auckland Rugby League
2018	2nd
Records
Premierships	1917, 1918, 1919, 1926, 1929, 1930, 1952, 1954, 1958, 1967, 1972, 1973
Minor premiership	1952, 1954, 1958, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1973
Roope Rooster	1917, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1930, 1944, 1952, 1953, 1972, 1973
Stormont Shield	1925, 1926, 1952, 1967, 1972
Sharman Cup	1990
Phelan Shield	2007

The Ponsonby Ponies are a rugby league club based in Ponsonby, New Zealand. The club was founded in 1908 and was originally named Ponsonby United. The Ponies compete in the Auckland Rugby League competition and are the oldest rugby league club in NZ.

History[]

The Ponsonby United side which won the 1929 Auckland Rugby League championship.

The club was founded in August 1908 by two returning All Golds, Billy Tyler and Charlie Dunning.^[1] Victoria Park hosted Auckland's first representative rugby league match, between Auckland and Wellington.

The 1912 Ponsonby squad included: Arthur Carlaw, Alf Chorley, Charlie Dunning, W Hooper, B Kean, Charles Webb, V Hunter, Tom Lynch, Scotch MacDonald, Harry Oakley, M Stanaway, Syd Riley, Billy Tyler and J Warner.^[2]

In 1920 Ponsonby won the Thacker Shield.^[3]

1952 saw the club win the "treble" of the Fox Memorial, Roope Rooster and Stormont Shield all in one year. This feat was to be repeated in 1972.

In 1979 the club merged with Maritime to form Ponsonby-Maritime however this merger only lasted until 1983.

They were relegated in 1992, and have not regained a position in the first division since then.

The club celebrated its centenary in 2008.

In 2015 the Ponies entered back into the Sharman Cup & the rebuild began with a number of former players returning. 2017 was a great season for the Ponsonby Ponies with an outstanding team of former juniors assembled during pre season under coach John Mana. A new committee & chairman was voted in, giving a breath of fresh air into the club. The 2021 season saw the club fail to field a male team in any Auckland senior grade competition though they did send a team to play in the Otago competition late in the season which they had also done in 2020.

Notable players[]

Between the years 1909 and 1986 Ponsonby developed 45 players that gained New Zealand representative status. Brackets indicates the year that they first represented New Zealand.

• Arthur Carlaw (1909)
• Ronald Amelioran MacDonald (1909)
• Alfred Chorley (1910)
• Charles Dunning (1910)
• George Arthur Gillett (1911)
• Charles Savory (1911)
• Arthur Hardgrave (1912)
• Charles Albert Edward Webb (1912)
• James Clark (1913)
• Samuel Arthur Lowrie (1919)
• Thomas Allen McClymont (1919)
• Bill Walsh (1919)
• Horace Neal (1919)
• Frank August Delgrosso (1921)
• Joe Meadows (1921)
• Ivan Littlewood (1925)
• Hector Cole (1926)
• George Gardiner (1926)
• Lou Hutt (1928)
• Tim Peckham (1928)
• Arthur Kay (1933)
• Brian Riley (1935)
• Frank Halloran (1937)
• Travers Hardwick (1946)
• Len Jordan (1946)
• Roy Nurse (1946)
• Des White (1950)
• Douglas Richards-Jolley (1951)
• Bill Sorensen (1951)
• Joe Ratima (1952)
• Len Eriksen ((1954)
• Rex Percy (1955)
• Keith Bell (1957)
• Bill Snowden (1959)
• Roger Bailey (1961)
• Jack Fagan (1961)
• Brian Lee (1961)
• Graham Mattson (1964)
• (1967)
• Don Mann (1971)
• John O'Sullivan (1971)
• Brian Tracey (1972)
• (1974)
• Tom Conroy (1975)
• Joe Ropati (1986)

Ponsonby Senior Team Records (1910-1940)[]

The season record for the most senior men’s team in the club.

References[]

External links[]

• Official Website