Fencibles United AFC is an amateur

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club, they currently compete in the

Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Division 2 The Northern Regional Football League Division 2, currently known as Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Division 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a New Zealand amateur football league. The league is run by the Auckland Football Federation and includes foot ...

. The club is based in Howick/

Pakuranga Pakuranga is an eastern suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. Pakuranga covers a series of low ridges and previously swampy flats, now drained, that lie between the Pakuranga Creek and Tamaki River, two estuarial arms of the Hauraki Gul ...

, Auckland. The clubs roots go back to Pakuranga Town AFC and Howick AFC.

History

In 1995, two East Auckland clubs, Pakuranga Town AFC and Howick AFC, amalgamated to form Fencibles United AFC. The adoption of 'Fencibles United AFC' as the name for the club, has recognised the Fencibles as the historic link between the two clubs and identifies with the locality. The Fencibles were the first European settlers in the region. The name 'Fencibles' refers to the

Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps The Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps was formed in 1846, following the conclusion of the Northern War phase of the New Zealand Wars against Hone Heke. The Governor, George Grey, had requested military forces for the defence of the early settlers in ...

. '

Fencible The Fencibles (from the word ''defencible'') were British regiments raised in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and in the colonies for defence against the threat of invasion during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the Frenc ...

' is derived from the word 'Defencible', meaning capable of defence. The club 'playing strip' of red, blue with white trim also reflects the uniforms of the Royal New Zealand Fencibles Corps. In late 2016, Fencibles FC introduced a new kit by Nike. The new homekit consisted of two red stripes, and one blue stripe running down the center. It featured a Nike tick, and the Fencibles FC Crest. The clubs best run in the

Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are 2022 winners Auckland City, who defeated Eastern ...

, New Zealand's national knock-out cup competition, was in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. They made the made the last sixteen before losing to

Central United Central United Football Club is an amateur association football (soccer) club based in Sandringham, Auckland, New Zealand who complete in the NRF Championship. The team was officially called ''Central Soccer Club'' until 1996 when it changed ...

in the fifth round.

Senior Men

The senior men's team competes in the

Senior Women

Fencibles United competes in the NRFL Women's Premier League.

Notable players

Nik Viljoen Nicolas "Nik" Viljoen (born 3 December 1976) is a New Zealand footballer who represented New Zealand at the international level. Viljoen scored the winner after coming on as a substitute in his full All Whites debut, a 1-0 win over Oman on 29 S ...

Abby Erceg Abby May Erceg (born 20 November 1989) is a professional New Zealand footballer who plays as a defender. She is the captain of the North Carolina Courage in the National Women's Soccer League. She has previously played for Chicago Red Stars in ...

References

External links

Fencibles United
(Official website) {{NRFL Division 1 Association football clubs established in 1995 Association football clubs in Auckland 1995 establishments in New Zealand