Ponsonby Rugby Club

The early 1990s were among the worst times Ponsonby has ever endured and money, especially in the aftermath of the Funny Money era in the late 1980s, was the root cause. If it hadn't been for the outstanding work done by a small core group in extremely pressing circumstances, nobody would be around to tell this tale except in a history book somewhere.

Ponsonby wasn't the only organisation caught out by the collapse of the house of cards which was the New Zealand economy in 1987. A lot didn't survive the crash, and many more were changed for ever. Ponsonby was nearly one of the former, and endured to become one of the latter. As so many others found, debt servicing had become prohibitive (if you weren't there, try and consider servicing loans which were charging more, and often much more, than 20 percent interest) and if your debtors weren't prompt payers the bleeding could rapidly become terminal. We nearly got caught in that.

For several years the club showed large losses, particularly in the areas of bar turnover (these were the days when people finally started getting serious about drink driving) and soaring interest repayments, which were nudging $50,000 per annum. In addition, years like 1990 were hard as the accounts showed we owed creditors just under $20,000 at balance day but were waiting on nearly three times that in outstanding bills. It made balancing the books hard, and it wasn't a job for the squeamish.

Eventually the realisation came that the only way out was to sell Blake Street, clear the debts and start again somewhere else. It was a wrench and initially few wanted to face the unpleasand truth, but those running the ship knew it had to be done. While looking at a possible move to Cox's Bay, and in the face of some unexpectedly vitriolic opposition from residents, the penny dropped: moving and building was simply transferring the debt from one place to another. The club had already been making overtures to secure Western Springs as its home ground, and now the place became decidedly more attractive. Eventually a lease was negotiated and, in 1997, one of the city's oldest rate-payers moved home.

Former player and Ponsonby centurion Grant Rutherford, a tough nut in his playing days, put together the consortium which eventually bought Blake Street. It was none of our business if they made money or not, but the suspicion was that the club might have done better out of the deal than the developers. The debts were cleared, the remaining funds invested, and the Treasurer slept a lot more easily at night.

The 125th Jubilee was one of the earliest celebrations at the Springs, and it served to attract a lot of old members back to the club. Nobody knew what was about to happen on the playing fields, you couldn't have picked the decade of dominance on the horizon, but just having people who cared on hand was something that mattered.

Given everything that was swirling around the club, the players' ability to focus was remarkable. Three more Gallaher Shields were won in the decade, including two in the most dramatic fashion imaginable against star-studded Marist teams. The Fillies kept on keeping on until, shock horror, they finally lost a game in 1994 - eight years after beginning an 86-match winning streak. Ponsonby also had its usual ration of success in lower grades, so the on-field effort couldn't be faulted.

Safe to say the situation at the club was vastly better in December 1999 than it had been in January 1990.

The Manu Samoa Connection

1992 Items

1992 Stats

The Ponies Foundation Trust

1993 Items

1993 Stats

The Battle of the Bandages