ROSLYN WAKARI Association Football Club was founded on 5th July 1888 as Wakari AFC and is thus the second oldest club in New Zealand, Northern AFC being the first by a matter of weeks. The first club president was then premier of New Zealand, Sir Robert Stout. Its name was changed to Roslyn AFC in 1890.

In 1898 the club was divided into two associations – Roslyn AFC and Wakari AFC – in an acrimonious split. The bitter rivalry was finally put aside in 1909 with both club committees agreeing to reform as Roslyn Wakari AFC.

The club’s first ground was a farmer’s paddock in Wakari, thought to be where the Halfway Bush electricity substation is now. It moved to the Asylum Ground (now Otago Boys’ High School) in 1897, before moving to Ellis Park in 1929.