Western Football Association

While the Western Football Association was officially formed on June 30, 1880, the seeds were sown at a meeting held in Berlin (now Kitchener) on January 30 of that year.  On that occasion, soccer players from different parts of the county of Waterloo met to discuss the advisability of forming an association for the mutual benefit of the clubs then in existence, and also with the hope of largely increasing that number.  The meeting unanimously resolved to form such an association, to be known as the "Western Football Association of Ontario," all clubs west of Toronto playing Association Rules to be eligible for membership.  A subscription list was also started for the purpose of placing a challenge cup at the disposal of the committee for the annual competition.

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The following office bearers and members of the committee were elected at a second meeting held in Berlin on April 17, 1880: Hon. President, J.B. Hughes (Waterloo); President, J.W. Connor, B.A. (Berlin); Vice-President, T.W. Vardon, M.D. (Hawkesville); Secretary-Treasurer, D. Forsyth, B.A. (Berlin); Committee: E.N. Hughes (Berlin High School), C.T. Raffray (Berlin High School Juniors), George Steuernagel (Berlin Model School), William Chalmers (Berlin), S. Reist (Bloomingdale), J. Herald, B.A. (Dundas High School), H.C. Welliver (Elmira), A. Mantach (Galt), D.H. Waugh (Hawkesville), J.S. Bingemann (Mannheim), D.K. Erb (New Dundee), P. Baehr (New Hamburg), F. McKinney (Natchez), J. Dolph (Petersburg), L.R. Devitt (Agatha), William Scott (Washington), S.S. Herner (Washington Central School), S. Schwartz (Wilmot No.23) and M.S. Hallman (Wilmot Skirmishers).

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The annual meeting in 1881 took place on September 9 at Berlin, while at a meeting held on October 8 of that same year, the following secretaries and their clubs were duly registered: C.W. Wells (Waterloo), G.A. Kriles (Hespeler), W.E. Ellis (Galt Collegiate Institute), William Bryce (Brantford Thistle), T.C. Hughes (Berlin High School), V. Kirelmer (Bloomingdale), S. Alf Jones (Brantford Collegiate Institute), W.S. Brown (Haylesville), T.C. Hughes (Berlin High School Juniors), James Lockie (Waterloo Central School), G. Rebelski (Bloomingdale Juniors), James Dickson (Seaforth High School), Charles Dickson (Clinton High School), W.J. Northwood (Chatham)

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The W.F.A. operated in an area from Guelph west to the shores of Lake Huron and from London north to Owen Sound. Every little town and village seemed to have a soccer team.

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Starting in 1892, the annual meeting of the W.F.A. was held every Good Friday. The association elected an honorary president as well as a president, and an honorary secretary as well as a secretary-treasurer.