Football was established anew at Sacred Heart College in 1969 when one team was fielded in the Senior B Grade, coached by New Zealand Representative Phil Traynor.
The sport lingered off the pace somewhat in the 1970s and '80s, despite the school being represented at national level by Old Boys Ian Gillies ('67) and Michael Ridenton ('86).
Promotion to the top division in the late 1980s saw the Schools 1st XI Football team gain its highest Senior League position finishing 2nd in 1990 under the tutelage of Coach Jim ODonnell.
Whilst still something of a minor sport at the College, the game was becoming more popular, and this was reflected in Gerard Davis (2000) becoming the third Sacred Heart Old Boy to represent New Zealand at a senior level where he made 23 full A International appearances.
Football started to take off in earnest around the time of the Colleges Centenary and having spent a number of years in the second and third divisions of Secondary School 1st XI Football, the College gained promotion to the second division_and then the top division over a three-year period. Mr Neil Penfold was instrumental in raising the standards in this area, and effectively began what would prove to be the Colleges most successful period in Senior Football to date.
In 2005, new Principal to the College Mr Jim Dale, began the formation of the Sports Institute. His passion for Football has been a significant factor in the recent success of Football at Sacred Heart College.
The beginnings of the Sports Institute were blessed with a small but talented group of players that would go on to form the basis of the 1st XI for the four years from 2009 to 2012. The first Sports Institute group included Thomas Doyle, who was selected for the NZSS squad that toured the UK in 2010. This recent group of players, under the expert tutelage of Football Institute Coach and former All White Mr Danny Hay, would succeed in making Football a major sport at Sacred Heart.
The team built_on the success of the previous years and after its_promotion to the top division, it_would go on to win every trophy available in Secondary School 1st XI Football, and set the standard for years to come. In 2014 the 1st XI won every single premier trophy that was available in one year, the first in the history of New Zealand School Boy Football.
New Zealand Secondary Schools Cup winners 2011 and 2014
Alex Harvey Cup, Auckland Secondary Schools Premier division 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015
Auckland Secondary Schools Knockout Cup winners 2012 and 2014
Bishop Patrick Dunn Cup (Catholic Challenge Cup) 2010 to 2012, 2014 and 2015
Recently a number of players have achieved national age-group honours: Stephen Carmichael, Reece Lambert and Tim Payne were all part of the New Zealand 2011 under 17 World Cup team that competed in Mexico. Notably, Tim Payne (2011) is recognised as being the standard-bearer of the sport at the school, having been chosen for full national representative honours before his 19th birthday. Tim was signed by the Blackburn Rovers in January 2012 and was a member of the New Zealand Men's Olympic Football team (London, 2012) and the All Whites in 2014. Thomas Doyle was signed by the Phoenix in late 2014. In 2015, three students were selected in the NZ FIFA Under 17 World Cup team that competed in Chile - Lucas Imrie, Connor Probert and Michaeld Woud. Danny Hay coached the team and Kane Wintersgill (student) was the Performance Analyst.
The challenge now is to build on this very successful period and extend the Institute programme further, to encourage more players to be involved with the sport and to improve the standard of Football through all age groups and levels.