Melville United have won WaiBOP Football's "2025 Best Club Programme or Publication" at a federation awards evening and 25th anniversary celebration, for their 13 editions this season of Melville Magic.

The winning programmes can be viewed online HERE

The award was collected by Melville Magic editor Seamus Marten along with star programme columnist and Melville women's coach Tarena Ranui.

Other programme finalists were Papamoa and Tauranga City. The judging criteria was: "Recognises a modern club programme that captures people, stories, and values while acknowledging supporters and preserving the matchday spirit in an easy, accessible format".

Marten said the programme was a labour of love which served an important purpose in keeping club members and wider Melville diaspora in touch with life at Gower Park, while also adding a cultural and literary flavour to our football.

"It is always nice to gain recognition for these things, but we are humble in victory," he said. "As Tarena would say, the kumara does not boast of its own sweetness."

While Marten wrote a lot of the feature articles himself, he said Ranui's thoughtful columns were always a feature of Melville Magic, while he also appreciated the contributions of chairman Wayne Bates, which gave a helicopter view, and the occasional musings of club statistician, Ron Anorak.

Melville has a proud tradition of producing matchday programmes and magazines dating back to 1983, as can be seen from some of the covers below, but this was the first time they have won an award.

(More Melville news from the WaiBOP awards evening to follow.)

Article added: Wednesday 22 October 2025