Church Cricket Competition Names
Williamstown District Church Sunday School Cricket Association
(1893/1894 to 1900/1901, 1902/1903 to 1905/1906)
This association began churches cricket in the West of Melbourne in the 1893/1894 season being played in the Williamstown area. The original six teams that played this first season were Primitive Methodists, North Williamstown Presbyterians, United Methodists, Williamstown Baptists, Congregational and Newport Wesleyans. No competition was played during the 1901/1902 season.
Williamstown & Newport Sunday School Cricket Association
(1905/1906 to 1909/1910)
With teams from the Newport area playing in the competition it can be assumed that a more appropriate name change take place to truly reflect the different teams now playing in the area. This name change only lasted 5 short seasons.
Footscray & Williamstown District Churches Cricket Association
(1910/1911 to 1915/1916, 1918/1919 to 1922/1923)
The Williamstown and Newport competition showed an increase in the number of clubs coming from the Footscray area and therefore an association name change took place to acknowledge an expanding area of the Western Suburbs of Melbourne. This competition ran for several years only being interrupted for two seasons in 1916/1917 and 1917/1918 due to the First World War. This proved to be the last time church cricket did not play in one form or another.
Williamstown & Newport District Churches Junior Association
(1919/1920 to 1922/1923)
This junior association was set up after the First World War to cater for the increasing number of juniors who wanted to play cricket. It was played as an Under 18 competition and the clubs were aligned with senior teams currently playing in the Footscray & Williamstown District Church Cricket Association.
Footscray Local Churches Cricket Association
(1919/1920 to 1923/1924)
A new association was formed called the Footscray Local Churches Cricket Association designed to cater for clubs only in the Footscray area. This association was short lived and was in direct competition with the more established Footscray and Williamstown Competition.
Williamstown District Churches Cricket Association
(1923/1924 to 1944/1945)
With the declining numbers of Footscray based clubs in the Footscray & Williamstown competition it took until the end of the1922/1923 when an association name change was needed. By this time there were no Footscray clubs playing that last season so therefore it was inevitable that the association be renamed the “Williamstown District Churches Cricket Association”.
Footscray District Protestant Churches Cricket Association
(1926/1927 to 1964/1965)
With renewed interest within the Footscray area to play church cricket four clubs, those being Footscray Church of Christ, Hyde Street Methodists, Maidstone Methodists and St Pauls Church of England (Kingsville) started the Footscray District Protestant Churches Cricket Association and was well led by its founding President George Williams. The association grew as it became more established and eventually amalgamated with the Williamstown Churches in the 1965/1966 season.
Footscray Sunday School Hardwicket Cricket Association
(1931/1932 to1939/1940, 1944/1945)
The Footscray Sunday School competition as it is more commonly known as were junior teams with clubs that had senior teams playing with the Footscray District Protestant Churches Cricket Association. It was run by George Williams the President of the Footscray Churches but by all accounts the two associations even though they were very closely aligned were run independently.
Williamstown District Protestant Churches Cricket Association
(1945/1946 to 1964/1965)
After the Second World War the Williamstown District Churches Cricket Association made a change in name only to include the word “Protestant”. Which it carried until the eventual amalgamation with the Footscray Churches in 1965/1966 season.
Western Suburbs United Protestant Churches Cricket Association
(1965/1966 to 1975/1976)
This association came about with the amalgamation between Footscray Churches and Williamstown Churches and first played under this name in the 1965/1966 season.
Western Suburbs United Churches Cricket Association
(1976/1977 – 2013/2014)
A minor name change taking out “Protestant” and adding “United” into the association’s name is the only change that has been made since the amalgamation in the 1965/1966 season.
Western Suburbs Churches & Community Cricket Association
(2014/2015 – current)
A minor name change taking out “United” and adding “Community” into the association’s name is the second change that has been made since the amalgamation in the 1965/1966 season. “Community” was added to symbolise the growing diverse multiculturalism development of the league.