Waterside was a successful club at a national level in New Zealand in the 1930s and 1940s, winning the Chatham Cup in 1938, 1939, 1940 and 1947.

However, the club was damaged by the wider effects of the 1951 waterfront strike and took years to recover.

[1] At the time of the merger, Waterside had sponsorship and was playing in the National League, but had a relatively small player base.

Swifts, on the other hand, had a large player base, both senior and junior, but lacked top-level success.

[1] In 2004 it became one of the founding principal clubs of the Team Wellington franchise in the New Zealand Football Championship.