1980's

​​​​​​​As the 1970’s come to a close, it was important for the club to establish a Senior team so that Burwood Juniors who now formed one of the biggest Junior clubs in Christchurch had some form of club continuity. In 1980 this came to fruition with 1 Senior team and 1 Youth grade team (although we had a youth team in 1978). The CFA rules deemed that any new club must comprise solely of players who had not previously played Senior football in the Christchurch area, which was a daunting task. The task of recruiting new players fell onto the shoulders of Mike Robinson who ended up in that first year as coach, player, manager and mentor rolled into one. In 1981 we had 2 Senior men’s teams and the ball was rolling. Many consider Senior football within our club came of age in 1983. That year we had Derick Johnson as our first “proper coach” and also in 1983 our first Women’s team was started. Gradually both genders firmly establishing themselves in their respective competitions. We were fortunate to have the services of Derick Johnson for a period of 4 years (1983-1987). The highlight of this time was the 1st Men’s team winning the CFA Division 2 League and Cup double in 1985.

In 1982-1983 plans and fundraising were started for the building of the new clubrooms on the 2nd storey of the existing changing sheds. Gary Parker the Club Treasurer got the project rolling. Construction began in 1984 and was in the main completed during the 1984-1985 summer to the point of being usable at the start of the 1985 season. The vast majority of construction was completed by club members on a voluntary basis. It would not have been possible without the consistent work done on nearly every Sunday morning by Rick Lees, Steve Petch, Murray Ralfs, Chris Johnson, Gary Cambus and Dave Cambus. Numerous other willing club members and supporters also contributed to the project.

The Junior section had of course carried on its merry way. Their numbers were consistently high (usually near 200). Competition winners becoming more frequent, as were the number of Juniors gaining Canterbury representative honours.