A meeting was held in late 1964 in regards to establishing a permanent soccer presence in the Wyong area to accommodate the increasing popularity of the sport. And so Wyong Soccer Club was born and first joined the Central Coast Association the following year in 1965 fielding two Junior teams, an U10 and U12’s as well as a Senior team that comprised mostly of players from Transfield, the construction company based in Pollock Avenue at the time. The club colours of red and black were chosen as they were the colours worn by Transfield teams who had played a number of non competitive matches prior to 1965. There were quite a few players of Italian heritage in those sides who favoured the Italian giants A.C. Milan, hence the adoption of the red and black stripes!!
Mr Gerry Rieman was elected as first club President and playing strips were all hand sewn by a dedicated mum, Mrs Wagner! The Senior team in that first season were to go on and win the League Championship on a “first past the post” basis, one of only two seasons this was in place. The first Junior success came the following year in 1966 when the Wyong U12B’s finished as League Champions while the U8’s were to go on and win their Grand Final.
Our very first home ground was Kanwal Oval although Tuggerah Oval was also used for a few seasons in the early 1970’s. Current home of the Emus, Baker Park first became available full time in 1973 and has been great place to play football over the years. Baker Park was the first venue outside of Adcock Park in West Gosford to host a Grand Final as part of an improved promotion of soccer on the Coast at the time and was also chosen as the first Association Cup Final venue. Floodlights were installed in 1975, part of the reason being Wyong were organising an exhibition match between a team of Central Coast Select players v St George Budapest, one of the powerhouse Sydney sides at the time who were coached by Aussie football legend, Manfred Schaefer and managed by the one and only Johnny Warren!
The club has grown in numbers from 3 teams in 1965 to around 35 teams and 430 players in 2017 and we have had many players over the years who have gone on to play higher level football such as Dale Eggleton who was a big part of the Central Coast Association sides from their beginning in 1982. Matt Garland also represented nationally in 1983 as an Australian Schoolboy and like Dale, played for Central Coast Caosties rep sides. Matty also proved himself a very astute and successful coach for the Emus in 1994/1995 winning a Treble of League, Association Cup and Grand Final and backing up the following season with a League and GF Double!!
Our Mens First Grade have one of the most successful records local competition having won the Premier League Championship 10 times as well as the second tier Division 1 competition once. We have also been Grand Final Winners on 7 occasions and Runners Up the same amount of times while we have secured the Association Cup 5 times and been Runners Up 8 times.
In regards to Womens football, Wyong were part of the pioneer league set up in 1976 but have been only part time participants since then. The biggest driving force for the Emus in getting involved in Womens football was Marilyn Milson in the 1990’s. Marilyn had a lot of success with the teams of the day winning back to back Grand Finals of the top comp in 1998 and 1999.
The club celebrated 50 years of participation in the Central Coast Football community in 2015 and look forward to continuing our rich history in the local competitions. A fully detailed history of Wyong Soccer Club is available in a booklet entitled Wyong Emus Soccer Club : The First 50 Years which is available from the Baker Park canteen for only $5.00. This is a bargain for any player, parent or supporter of our great club who would like to know more about how, where why we are what we are.
