How it all Began
How did the Waikato Sunday Soccer League (WSSL) start?
The beginnings of the WSSL is also mirrored by the beginnings of the team PSL (Petroleum Services, formerly Telecom Techs and before that Post Office Techs).
The reason for this is that a Post Office Technician by the name of Harry Gilcrist, got the ball rolling.
In 1967 when it all began, Harry was President of the Hamilton Junior Football Association. As such, he had the task of providing results to Radio Station 1XH. The broadcaster at that time was Dylan Tate.
To settle things, they decided on a friendly match between Technicians from the Post Office and staff from Radio 1XH. Result of match conveniently forgotten.
Harry also moonlighted on a second job during the evenings at Plastic Products. After hearing about the friendly game between Post Office Techs and Radio 1XH, Plastic Products wanted a friendly game, which was duly played.
Word was getting out around
Over the next few years, several more teams, mainly Government Departments, joined in. At this stage, games were organised by word of mouth.
In 1976, some of the teams got together, notably Hamilton Taxis, and decided to get things organised. Hamilton Businesshouse Soccer League was formed. The league at this stage consisted of 12 teams – Post Office Technicians, Police, RNZAF, Ministry of Works,
After playoffs, Post Office Techs won the inaugural Hamilton Businesshouse Soccer League.
As the years went by, more and more teams entered the league.
In 1982, the New Zealand All Whites made it to the World Cup Soccer in
In the mid 1980s, most of the Government Departments went through restructuring as they were turned into State Owned Enterprises. This had the effect of huge staff reductions. As a result, many of the teams sourced their players from outside the business, and clubs were formed. Because of this the name of the league was changed to Hamilton Sunday Soccer League.
During this time, the league remained quite static, with between 15 to 20 teams.
Clubs from out of Hamilton (Matamata, Morrinsville, Thames,
The WSSL is not affiliated to any soccer association, and because of this the cost of running the league is kept to a minimum. It is fitting that after all this time, that the founders of Sunday Soccer (Post Office Techs – now PSL) now organise and maintain the league voluntarily, and have done so for many years.
The object of the League is to promote and play friendly but reasonably competitive games of soccer with the object of being very sociable, so that the whole family can participate.
Below are some historical photos of the Telecom Techs (known now as PSL)
