Cashmere Wanderers

Cashmere Wanderers

Full name	Cashmere Wanderers Association Football Club
Nickname(s)	Wanderers, The elephants
Founded	1951
Home colours

Cashmere Wanderers is a New Zealand association football club based in Christchurch. The club was formed in 1951 as Atlantis AFC, named for its origins among emigrants to New Zealand aboard the Shaw Savill Line ship Atlantis, which arrived in Lyttelton in 1950. The club's initial colours of gold with black trim were chosen to match the colours of Shaw Savill, and the club gained the nickname of "Wanderers" due to the similarity of these colours to the English team Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.. In 1961, the club changed its name to Christchurch Wanderers to reflect this nickname, and also to reflect the fact that the remaining links with the Atlantis and with Shaw Savill were by now tenuous.

A further name change to the current name of Cashmere Wanderers, reflecting the club's location in the Christchurch suburb of Cashmere came about in 1967. At the same time the black trim of the club's strip was changed to maroon to reflect the colours of Cashmere High School, a near neighbour of the club. The club also changed its badge, the new logo prominently featuring an elephant.

Cashmere Wanderers is one of the oldest continually active football clubs in Canterbury. It supports numerous club sides, with over 500 junior players. Its senior men's team plays in the qualification grade immediately below the Mainland Premier League. The team's best performance in the Chatham Cup came in 1984, when they reached the Fifth Round (last 16)

Notable former players

• Alun Evans
• Richard Wilson

Ryan Nelsen, arguably New Zealand's most well-known player, started his football career in one of Cashmere Wanderers' junior teams.

External links

• Club website
• Mainland Football Cashmere Wanderers page