The Glenora Bears club rooms in Harold Moody Park, Glen Eden
The club was established in 1931 when the Auckland Rugby League Junior Management Committee accepted their application for membership in June of that year whereby they would enter a team in the Third Grade intermediate competition.[1] Clubs had previously existed in the Glen Eden and New Lynn areas and played under those names and in 1929 the two clubs amalgamated to form Glen Lynn. Glenora lost their first ever match versus Akarana 0–16 at Glen Eden.[2] The club is based at Harold Moody Park in Glen Eden.[3]
Their first ever grade win came in 1935 when they won the Hospital Cup for winning the 4th grade competition. In 1962, Glenora tied with Eastern United in the Fox Memorial Grand Final. In 1975, the club controversially signed All BlackJoe Karam, then one of the All Black's major players.[3]
The first time the club won the Fox Memorial outright was in 1997.[3] Glenora repeated this in 1998 and 1999. Between 2000 and 2005 they competed in the national Bartercard Cup.
They won the Fox Memorial in 2017, 18 years since their last title.[4] In 2022 Glenora lost the final to Point Chevalier Pirates 14-12.
Notable players
The following is a list of Glenora Bears players who went on to represent New Zealand and the years in which they did so.[5]
Bill Sorensen (1951-52-53-54-55-56-57-60) Hall of Fame Legend of League
The Bears competed in the Bartercard Cup between 2000 and 2005.
The Bears were probably the least successful of all the Auckland stand alone clubs in the competition, only making the play-offs in 2000 and never really posing a serious threat to the championship in their six-year Bartercard Cup history.
They were the only Waitakere City team in the competition and were replaced by the Waitakere Rangers, a franchise that represented all five Waitakere clubs.
Glenora Bears Senior Team Records (1931-33, 1982, 1988-90, 1992-94, 2000-05 & 2020-2024)
The season record for the most senior men’s team in the club including lower grade teams.
^"League Replay". Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 133. 8 June 1931. p. 12. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
^ abcLogan, Innes (2009). "Game On". In Macdonald, Finlay; Kerr, Ruth (eds.). West: The History of Waitakere. Random House. p. 418. ISBN9781869790080.
