This will be a long post but since I have finally reached 1900 I wanted to report on every club from the 19th century
Northern (1888 - Present)
The oldest club of Dunedin. Founded on the 11th of April 1888 they were instrumental when it came to association football in Dunedin. It had existed for a few years but never had a dedicated club until this point. They were also a stable presence when a number of clubs struggled to stay afloat, always having relatively positive AGM's each year. As for on pitch success though they struggled quite a bit. Most titles in this period are considered disputed since so many games went unreported but even then they took some heavy losses. 3-10, 0-12, 0-14 are all real results they ended up on the wrong end of and yeah, they lossed quite a lot. They do have one undisputed title though in 1899 in which they were able to win a game 12-1 so they had their moments.
Southern (1888 - 1891)
The second oldest club founded a day after Northern on the 12th of April 1888. Obviously they were the parallel club intended so that more than one area could be represented and so Northern actually had a team to play. They won the first three games with Northern with an aggregate of 5-0 which should just about tell you everything They also played Roslyn (Wakari at the time) twice also but these games weren't recorded. They weren't able to win an undisputed title and obviously didn't exactly stick around very long. There was a club that popped up later under the same area and playing at a similar ground but I don't consider them a phoenix club so the story ends with their last season in 1891. Biggest win was 5-1 to Northern in 1889 and a 7-1 loss to Northern in 1890.
Roslyn (1888 - 1914 / 1924 - Present)
Technically they were called Wakari when they first formed but renamed to Roslyn in 1890. These guys were the premier team in Dunedin during the 19th Century. They won 3 undisputed titles which is by far the most. To put into perspective how strong Roslyn was at the time - In an effort to grow the game Rangers and Roslyn sent people off to found new clubs. The ex-Roslyn players founded Wakari who immediately became on of the stronger sides in Dunedin and Roslyn still won a disputed premiership. In match day reports it is regularly commented that large crowds would turn up (200+ based on paper language). You'll see as you read bellow why they were the premier team haha. Also want to quickly say r.i.p to Rab Smith, legend both to Roslyn and Otago football...
Thistle (1888 - 1890 / 1894 - 1895)
Thistle played up in Sewyers Bay and weren't really that noteable. Never really came close to winning anything and was average at best of times. They were able to get players to represent Otago a few times but that's about it. Was pretty excited in my research to see them return but unfortunately they weren't able to stick around long enough to make an impact. Biggest win was 5-2 against Roslyn, biggest loss was 0-5 to Northern
Burnside (1890 - 1893)
Dunedin's fifth club that was kind of a precurser to Green Island. They were somewhat competitive and based on AGM's seemed stable but just weren't able to hang on very long. When you look them up you're brought to a Christchurch team wiki. Biggest wins were 4-0 against against Rangers AFC and 5-1 over Northern. Biggest losses were 0-7 to Roslyn twice.
Rangers (1891 - 1898)
Honestly I was pretty surprised to see them dissapear all of a sudden. They appeared out of nowhere and left the same way. In all honesty I'm still not entirely certain which suburbs they represented but they lasted quite a bit compared to other clubs and even helped found another club, Southern 2.0, in 1898. Unlike Roslyn though this seemed to be at their own detriment and they performed worse than Southern, then dissapeared the following year. They were never able to win an undisputed title but were a strong presence in Dunedin football for the time they were around and were probably the biggest rivals to Roslyn during this period, even if they rarely actually won. Their biggest win was 12-0 against Northern, and their biggest loss was 0-7 to Roslyn.
Queens Park (1894 - 1897)
Sadly there's not a whole lot to report on. Factory team that seemed to represent the East of sorts, roughly where Logan Park is today. Their last season wasn't recorded unfortunately (Most of 1897 is gone from the ODT records). Biggest win was 7-1 against Green Island and biggest loss was 1-9 and 0-8 to Roslyn.
Zealandia (1894 - 1896)
Same issue with Zealandia honestly, not much to really report on since they weren't around for very long. At the very least they hold the record for shortest live senior team which is something I guess? Biggest win was 4-1 against Northern and biggest loss was 0-11 to Roslyn. (Noticing a pattern here)
Mornington (1888 - Present)
As you may have seen in an earlier post their senior debut was 1894 and their first recorded match was in 1895. They had a pretty respectable debut winning 5 confirmed matches and positioning themselves comfortably as the 3rd strongest club in Dunedin in 1895 (3rd minimum). That's been their best season though and so far they have finished at the bottom twice. Considering how long they've been around though I'm certain things will improve. Biggest win was a 7-1 win over Northern, and their biggest loss has been a 0-12 loss to Northern (What comes around comes around as they say)
Green Island (1896 - 1940 / 1947 - Present)
So far they haven't been the strongest but evidence to them still being around they are at the very least one of the healthier clubs. I can't really speak on them much since they haven't been around for long as of where I am at in my research but I'll have more to say later. They did have roughly 300 specators to a game against Queens Park, there was also this amusing match report in which, allegedly, on of the GI players who was fairly experienced seemed more concerned with killing Northern players rather than playing the game. Biggest win so far has been a 6-1 win over Mornington, and their biggest loss has been 0-6 to Rangers and 1-7 to Queens Park.
Southern 2.0 (1898 - TBC)
I've debated whether to view this as a phoenix club to the OG Southern but will call it it's own enitity since it's technically an offshoot of Rangers. Pretty solid debut finishing 2nd in 1898 and third in 1899, so overall they are a force to be reckoned with so far. They play at St. Kilda Park whereas the OG played at Tahuna, there's a chance a Union club had the ground locked down since Union and Association played on the same day. Biggest win has been a 6-3 over Northern, biggest loss has been 2-5 to Roslyn.
Wakari (1898 - 1909)
Wakari were an offshoot of Roslyn to represent the Kaikorai district. Obviously they would reunite with Roslyn only a few years later but they've been alright so far. Mostly mid table so far but they were third best in 1898. Largest win is 8-1 to Mornington, biggest loss has been 1-4 to Roslyn, which is pretty good compared to other clubs
Also just to be completely clear, undisputed title means either no other team could mathmatically topple them even with games unnacounted for, or the ODT confirmed it at a later date through an OFA report. Disputed simply means whoever is in first could mathemathically lose it to someone else if every unacounted game was a win for them. So far only Northern and Roslyn have won undisputed titles
Northern (1888 - Present)
The oldest club of Dunedin. Founded on the 11th of April 1888 they were instrumental when it came to association football in Dunedin. It had existed for a few years but never had a dedicated club until this point. They were also a stable presence when a number of clubs struggled to stay afloat, always having relatively positive AGM's each year. As for on pitch success though they struggled quite a bit. Most titles in this period are considered disputed since so many games went unreported but even then they took some heavy losses. 3-10, 0-12, 0-14 are all real results they ended up on the wrong end of and yeah, they lossed quite a lot. They do have one undisputed title though in 1899 in which they were able to win a game 12-1 so they had their moments.
Southern (1888 - 1891)
The second oldest club founded a day after Northern on the 12th of April 1888. Obviously they were the parallel club intended so that more than one area could be represented and so Northern actually had a team to play. They won the first three games with Northern with an aggregate of 5-0 which should just about tell you everything They also played Roslyn (Wakari at the time) twice also but these games weren't recorded. They weren't able to win an undisputed title and obviously didn't exactly stick around very long. There was a club that popped up later under the same area and playing at a similar ground but I don't consider them a phoenix club so the story ends with their last season in 1891. Biggest win was 5-1 to Northern in 1889 and a 7-1 loss to Northern in 1890.
Roslyn (1888 - 1914 / 1924 - Present)
Technically they were called Wakari when they first formed but renamed to Roslyn in 1890. These guys were the premier team in Dunedin during the 19th Century. They won 3 undisputed titles which is by far the most. To put into perspective how strong Roslyn was at the time - In an effort to grow the game Rangers and Roslyn sent people off to found new clubs. The ex-Roslyn players founded Wakari who immediately became on of the stronger sides in Dunedin and Roslyn still won a disputed premiership. In match day reports it is regularly commented that large crowds would turn up (200+ based on paper language). You'll see as you read bellow why they were the premier team haha. Also want to quickly say r.i.p to Rab Smith, legend both to Roslyn and Otago football...
Thistle (1888 - 1890 / 1894 - 1895)
Thistle played up in Sewyers Bay and weren't really that noteable. Never really came close to winning anything and was average at best of times. They were able to get players to represent Otago a few times but that's about it. Was pretty excited in my research to see them return but unfortunately they weren't able to stick around long enough to make an impact. Biggest win was 5-2 against Roslyn, biggest loss was 0-5 to Northern
Burnside (1890 - 1893)
Dunedin's fifth club that was kind of a precurser to Green Island. They were somewhat competitive and based on AGM's seemed stable but just weren't able to hang on very long. When you look them up you're brought to a Christchurch team wiki. Biggest wins were 4-0 against against Rangers AFC and 5-1 over Northern. Biggest losses were 0-7 to Roslyn twice.
Rangers (1891 - 1898)
Honestly I was pretty surprised to see them dissapear all of a sudden. They appeared out of nowhere and left the same way. In all honesty I'm still not entirely certain which suburbs they represented but they lasted quite a bit compared to other clubs and even helped found another club, Southern 2.0, in 1898. Unlike Roslyn though this seemed to be at their own detriment and they performed worse than Southern, then dissapeared the following year. They were never able to win an undisputed title but were a strong presence in Dunedin football for the time they were around and were probably the biggest rivals to Roslyn during this period, even if they rarely actually won. Their biggest win was 12-0 against Northern, and their biggest loss was 0-7 to Roslyn.
Queens Park (1894 - 1897)
Sadly there's not a whole lot to report on. Factory team that seemed to represent the East of sorts, roughly where Logan Park is today. Their last season wasn't recorded unfortunately (Most of 1897 is gone from the ODT records). Biggest win was 7-1 against Green Island and biggest loss was 1-9 and 0-8 to Roslyn.
Zealandia (1894 - 1896)
Same issue with Zealandia honestly, not much to really report on since they weren't around for very long. At the very least they hold the record for shortest live senior team which is something I guess? Biggest win was 4-1 against Northern and biggest loss was 0-11 to Roslyn. (Noticing a pattern here)
Mornington (1888 - Present)
As you may have seen in an earlier post their senior debut was 1894 and their first recorded match was in 1895. They had a pretty respectable debut winning 5 confirmed matches and positioning themselves comfortably as the 3rd strongest club in Dunedin in 1895 (3rd minimum). That's been their best season though and so far they have finished at the bottom twice. Considering how long they've been around though I'm certain things will improve. Biggest win was a 7-1 win over Northern, and their biggest loss has been a 0-12 loss to Northern (What comes around comes around as they say)
Green Island (1896 - 1940 / 1947 - Present)
So far they haven't been the strongest but evidence to them still being around they are at the very least one of the healthier clubs. I can't really speak on them much since they haven't been around for long as of where I am at in my research but I'll have more to say later. They did have roughly 300 specators to a game against Queens Park, there was also this amusing match report in which, allegedly, on of the GI players who was fairly experienced seemed more concerned with killing Northern players rather than playing the game. Biggest win so far has been a 6-1 win over Mornington, and their biggest loss has been 0-6 to Rangers and 1-7 to Queens Park.
Southern 2.0 (1898 - TBC)
I've debated whether to view this as a phoenix club to the OG Southern but will call it it's own enitity since it's technically an offshoot of Rangers. Pretty solid debut finishing 2nd in 1898 and third in 1899, so overall they are a force to be reckoned with so far. They play at St. Kilda Park whereas the OG played at Tahuna, there's a chance a Union club had the ground locked down since Union and Association played on the same day. Biggest win has been a 6-3 over Northern, biggest loss has been 2-5 to Roslyn.
Wakari (1898 - 1909)
Wakari were an offshoot of Roslyn to represent the Kaikorai district. Obviously they would reunite with Roslyn only a few years later but they've been alright so far. Mostly mid table so far but they were third best in 1898. Largest win is 8-1 to Mornington, biggest loss has been 1-4 to Roslyn, which is pretty good compared to other clubs
Also just to be completely clear, undisputed title means either no other team could mathmatically topple them even with games unnacounted for, or the ODT confirmed it at a later date through an OFA report. Disputed simply means whoever is in first could mathemathically lose it to someone else if every unacounted game was a win for them. So far only Northern and Roslyn have won undisputed titles