UNSW Raiders History

The Raiders are the oldest team in Australia and were formed in 1979 by Stephen Jones. Steve was a Gridiron fanatic and started Gridiron in Australia even before regular competitions were introduced. Steve pioneered the Raiders by convincing his work mates and friends to play. In 1979 the Waverly Raiders were formed, and they basically had play offs against themselves and or whomever else they could rally up a challenge to. In the those preliminary days there was no protective equipment available and so most players wore tracksuit pants and old foam pads that were constructed from unused or old couches. In 1984 the Australian American football Conference was formed, containing 7 teams participating in the first ever American Football competition. The Raiders have won a total of 12 Championships in NSW from 1987 to 2024.