FC Nelson should not be confused with Nelson Suburbs FC.
| Clubname: | FC Nelson |
| Fullname: | Football Club Nelson |
| Nickname: | FC, The Stripes |
| Founded: | 2011 (amalgamation of clubs which trace their origin to 1968) |
| Ground: | Guppy Park, Nelson |
| Manager: | Paul Brydon |
| Chairman: | Phil Thompson |
| Website: | https://www.fcnelson.co.nz/ |
| League: | Nelson Premiership Division 1 |
| Season: | 2023 |
| Position: | Nelson Premiership Division 1, 1st of 8 (champions) |
| Pattern La1: | _black_stripes_thin1 |
| Pattern B1: | _nikestripeddiv4wb |
| Pattern Ra1: | _black_stripes_thin1 |
| Leftarm1: | FFFFFF |
| Body1: | 000000 |
| Rightarm1: | FFFFFF |
| Shorts1: | 000000 |
| Socks1: | 000000 |
FC Nelson is an amateur football club, based in Nelson, New Zealand. The club's home ground is Guppy Park
The team was founded in 2011 through the amalgamation of Nelson United (founded 1968), Nelson Metro (founded 1975), Nelson City (founded 1977) and Tahuna Juniors[1] [2] At the time of merging the clubs had over 900 members across junior, youth, men's and women's grades, making FC Nelson the largest club in the Nelson/Marlborough region.[1]
Nelson United played in the old New Zealand National Soccer League top flight 1977–80, 1983–88, and 1991–93.[3] They were winners of the 1977 Chatham Cup,[3] and were finalists in 1978.[3] Nelson Metro's best run in the Chatham Cup was in 1976 progressing to the fourth round before losing to Waterside Karori.[4] Nelson City's best run was in the 1977 Chatham Cup, making it through to the third round before losing to local rivals Nelson Suburbs.[5]
FC Nelson has continued the tradition of playing in the Chatham Cup, entering each year since the club was formed.[2] [6] Although the team frequently exit the competition in the first[7] [8] [9] [10] or second round,[11] [12] [13] [14] the club advanced to the third round in 2016, its best ever finish (in its current form).[15] The club also entered a women's team for the first time in the Kate Sheppard Cup in 2013, beating University of Canterbury AFC 1–0 before going out in the second round.[16] [17]
FC Nelson has won the Nelson Division One trophy a number of times, including 2012,[18] 2013, 2017 (where a 10-0 victory against Wakefield FC saw Richmond Athletic pipped on the final day), 2019 and 2023.[19] [20] The latter year saw the FC First XI go unbeaten, with FC teams also winning the 2nd and 3rd Senior Mens divisions, completing a historic first for Mainland football. The club has also won the Nelson Women's league in 2014.[21] FC Nelson's success regionally makes it a consistent contender for the Southern League.[22]
In 2020, FC Nelson formed a partnership with Nelson College to give school players equal access to resources and opportunities: allowing Nelson College players wear the black and white stripes of FC during the winter season, and the school blue during tours and competitions.[23] [24] This connection to local schools was bolstered with a second Memorandum of Understanding with Nelson College for Girls in February the following year.[25] 2021 saw the opening of the FC Nelson academy, providing high quality coaching for the player base.[26] Since 2022, FC Nelson has been a partner of Wellington Phoenix FC, running a Pre-Academy for Youth and Juniors. Since the beginning of this relationship, four players have gone on from FC to join the Phoenix in Wellington.[27]
With a strong community presence, FC has a range of Men's teams representing ethnic and cultural groups, such as the Chin, Karen, and Karenni people of Myanmar. There is also consistent Columbian, Somali, Brazilian, and Indian presence throughout all grades.[28] The club works in partnership with Sport Tasman, Multicultural Nelson Tasman and the Nelson City Council to host annual Multicultural football tournaments.[28]