1927 Chatham Cup

1927 Chatham Cup

Tournament details
Venue(s)	Newtown Park, Wellington
Dates	24 September 1927;96 years ago (1927-09-24)
Final positions
Champions	Ponsonby (1st title)
Runner-up	Northern
←  1926 1928  →

The 1927 Chatham Cup was the fifth annual nationwide knockout football competition in New Zealand.

The competition was run on a regional basis, with five regional associations (Auckland, Wellington, Manawatu, Canterbury, and Otago) each holding separate qualifying rounds.

Teams taking part in the final rounds included Ponsonby (who defeated Auckland Thistle in the Auckland regional final), ^[1] St. Andrews (Manawatu), Northern (Dunedin), Nomads (Christchurch), and Wellington Marist (who defeated YMCA in the Wellington regional final). ^[2]

Teams

Auckland

Waro Wanderers, Ponsonby, Northcote, Royal New Zealand Navy, Auckland Thistle, Auckland YMCA, Onehunga., Tramways, North Shore, Huntly, Huntly Thistle, Rotowaro, Pukemiro.

Wellington

Hospital, Welgasco, Wellington Marist, Diamond, Wellington YMCA, Swifts, Johnsonville, South Wellington, Institute Old Boys', Petone FC, Wellington Thistle.

Canterbury

Nomads, Christchurch Thistle, Western, Christchurch Technical Old Boys.

Manawatu

St. Andrews, Palmerston North Athletic

Otago

Northern

Sunnyside

The 1926 champions Sunnyside, as a result of a disagreement with the Canterbury Football Association (C.F.A.) regarding fixtures, withdrew from all competitions in April 1927. A request was made to the C.F.A. to schedule three home games a month for Sunnyside owing to an allowance of only one Saturday per month leave for staff from the hospital, it was explained by the secretary of Sunnyside, Mr. Iain McLeod in a letter to the Christchurch Star. McLeod reinforced to the paper that the purpose of the team was for entertainment of the patients and now the hospital had begun negotiations with the rugby football union to switch codes. A £41 payment to Sunnyside by the N.Z.F.A via the C.F.A. was also clarified by McLeod after reimbursement of 3s 8d had been received by the champion players after an expense of £4/player to travel to Dunedin and Wellington in 1926. The sum forward to the club by the N.Z.F.A for the Chatham Cup win, raised questions in the papers prior to McLeod disclosing a considerable deduction of more than £32 by the C.F.A. due to prior arrangement. A number of Sunnyside players joined alternate association clubs in Christchurch after the decision to withdraw. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

The 1927 final

The final was played at Newtown Park, Wellington - the second of three finals to be held at that venue. In 1928 the final moved to the Basin Reserve, a venue which was used regularly until the 1970s; Newtown Park was not to host the final again until 1989.

In the final, which was noted by contemporary sources as being a dour match, Ponsonby made good use of a stiff Wellington wind in the first half, with goals from Gerry Hunter, Bob Innes, and J. Adshead. In the second half, the wind favoured Northern, who pulled two goals back through A. McDowell and A. McTavish. Northern pressed for the equaliser, spending long periods close to Ponsonby's goalmouth, but the Auckland side's defence held and the survived to win 3–2. ^{[6] : 68}

Northern protest

On returning to Dunedin from Wellington, the Northern club officials made the decision to protest the result of the final, on the grounds of an oversight of the rules regarding player eligibility and was not prepared to accept the N.Z.F.A. decision. It was also agreed by the Northern club that unless the matter was reconsidered by the N.Z.F.A. the case and the whole facts governing it would be set in motion to be placed before the Football Association in England. A football contributor to the Otago Daily Times had even gone so far as to claim the "Ponies" sportsmanship was poor. New Zealand representative Tom McCormack had travelled with the Northern side to Wellington, but prior to the match commencing McCormack was deemed injured. A twelfth player selected by the Otago Association, Tom Ruddiman, a member of Northern for the last decade, was available to replace McCormack, but the N.Z.F.A. declared this a breach of the cup rules. The captain of Ponsonby Bob Innes stated he was bound by the cup rules and did not have any power to agree to any infringement. The rule in question read as follows, "In the competition proper each player, except a player who has played for his club in the previous season, and has never played for any other club, must have played twice for his club in the current season seven days at least previous to the match.” Ruddiman had not met these stipulations, though he had played for Northern in the 1927 season. To file the protest with the N.Z.F.A. cost Northern a £2 2s fee, a reply was received late in 1927 dismissing the protest and retaining the fee. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Results

Auckland Qualifiers

3 June 1927

Auckland Round One

Ponsonby	2-1	Northcote
Bell, Hunter	Report	Williams

Blandford Park , Auckland

Referee: Mr. G.T. Lee

4 June 1927

Auckland Round One

Auckland Thistle	4-1	Auckland YMCA
Kay 2, og W. Lewis, D. Stewart,	Report	Humphreys

Blandford Park, Auckland

Referee: Mr. J. S. McMillan

4 June 1927

Auckland Round One

Onehunga	5-3	Navy
Cheeseman, Miller, Rivers, Knott, Terry	Report	Gilmore, Walker, Nimmo

Onehunga, Auckland

Referee: Mr. A. Parkinson

4 June 1927

Auckland Round One

Tramways	1-1	North Shore
Spencer	Report	Baxter

Blandford Park, Auckland

Referee: Mr. J. Low

Replay

18 June 1927

Auckland Round One

Tramways	0-1	North Shore
	Report	Simpson (og)

Blandford Park, Auckland

16 July 1927

Auckland semi-final

Auckland Thistle	2-0	North Shore
J. Stewart, Gerrard og.	Report

Victoria Park, Auckland

Referee: Mr. L. W. Tuttle

16 July 1927

Auckland semi-final

Ponsonby	4-3	Onehunga
Hunter, Ahern, Mooney, Wright	Report	Mellor 2, Cheeseman

Victoria Park, Auckland

Referee: Mr. J. Low

6 August 1927

Auckland Final

Auckland Thistle	0-1	Ponsonby
	Report	Tomilty

Blandford Park, Auckland

Referee: Mr. J. T. Jennings

25 June 1927

South Auckland Qualifier

Pukemiro	0-1	Huntly Thistle
	Report

Pukemiro

Referee: Mr. J. Wallace

25 June 1927

South Auckland Qualifier

Rotowaro	4-2	Huntly
McCullum 2, P. Hunter, Dodds	Report	Evans, Hall

Rotowaro

Referee: Mr. J. Bate

30 July 1927

South Auckland District Final

Huntly Thistle	0 - 2	Rotowaro
	Report

Recreation Park, Huntly

Referee: Mr. Jas. Wallace

20 August 1927

Auckland - North Auckland District Final

Ponsonby	5-0	Waro Wanderers
Innes 2, Bell, Tomilty, Hunter	Report

Blandford Park, Auckland

Attendance: 1000

27 August 1927

Auckland-South Auckland Final

Rotowaro	0-4	Ponsonby
	Report	Innes 2, Adshead, Hunter

Recreation Park, Huntly

Wellington Qualifiers

11 June 1927

Wellington Round One

Hospital	7-1	Welgasco
	Report

Porirua Hospital, Wellington

Referee: Mr. G. Jackson

11 June 1927

Wellington Round One

Wellington Marist	4-2	Diamond
Condon 2, McElligott, Thomas	Report	Hearne 2

Basin Reserve, Wellington

Referee: Mr. G.V. Hills

11 June 1927

Wellington Round One

Wellington YMCA	8-0	Swifts
Ballard, Rigby, Trott, Worth. (unknown individual scorers)	Report

Kelburn Park, Wellington

Referee: Mr. E. Watts

Wellington teams: Institute, Thistle, Petone, Johnsonville and South Wellington first round byes. ^[10]

18 June 1927

Wellington Round Two

Institute Old Boys	3-1	Wellington Thistle
	Report

Basin Reserve, Wellington

Referee: Mr. E. Ormrod

18 June 1927

Wellington Round Two

Hospital	0-6	Petone
	Report

Porirua Hospital, Wellington

Referee: Mr. G. Goffin

18 June 1927

Wellington Round Two

Wellington Marist	1-0 Match abandoned	Johnsonville
	Report

Kelburn Park, Wellington

Referee: Mr. G. V. Hill

Match abandoned due to weather * ^[11]

18 June 1927

Wellington Round Two

Wellington YMCA	8-0	South Wellington
	Report

Basin Reserve, Wellington

Referee: Mr. C. Ward

6 August 1927

Wellington semi-final

Wellington YMCA	3-1	Petone
Rigby 2, ?	Report	Cordinor

Basin Reserve, Wellington

6 August 1927

Wellington semi-final

Wellington Marist	5-0	Johnsonville
Condon 2, McElligott, Hickey, Thomas	Report

Basin Reserve, Wellington

Referee: Mr. E. Watts

27 August 1927

Wellington Final

Wellington Marist	8-0	Wellington YMCA
Barton 3, McElligott, Cudby 2, Marshment 2	Report

Basin Reserve, Wellington

Referee: Mr. G. Jackson

20 August 1927

Manawatu District Final

St. Andrews	6-2	Palmerston North Athletic
Birch, Brookfield, McNab, Davis, Coombs 2	Report	Whitehouse 2

North Street Park, Palmerston North

Referee: Mr. H. Crouch

3 September 1927

Manawatu-Wellington Final

Wellington Marist	4–0	St. Andrews
Marchment, Condon 2, McElligott	Report

Basin Reserve, Wellington

Referee: Mr. G. Goffin

Canterbury Qualifiers

16 July 1927

Canterbury Round One

Nomads	5-0	Christchurch Thistle
Wilson, Trotter, Bryan, Speirs, Thompson	Report

Richmond Park, Christchurch

Referee: Mr. M. Thornley

16 July 1927

Canterbury Round One

Technical Old Boys	2-0	Western
Harbutt, Barwell	Report

English Park, Christchurch

Referee: Mr. H. Smyth

30 July 1927

Canterbury Final

Nomads	3-1	Western
Trotter 2, J. Thompson,	Report	Clements

English Park, Christchurch

Referee: Mr. M. Thornley

Semi-finals (Island finals)

North Island Final

10 September 1927

Ponsonby	2-1	Wellington Marist
Innes, Tomilty	Report	Thomas

Blandford Park , Auckland

South Island Final

27 August 1927

Nomads	1-2	Northern
Trotter	Report	McTavish, McLean

English Park , Christchurch

Referee: Mr. Thornley

Final

Teams

Ponsonby: H. Watts, M. Williams, T. Pickett, John Morrison, George Wright, J. Mooney, Gerry Hunter, Clem Bell, Bob Innes, J. Tomilty, J. Adshead

Northern: A. McQuarrie, L. Coates, Jim Scoular, Alex Perry, Hugh Munsie, Reg Cherry, A. McDowell, Tom McHugh, A. McTavish, Tom McCormack, Rab McLean

1927 Final

24 September 1927

Ponsonby	3 – 2	Northern
Hunter, Innes, Adshead	Report	McDowell, McTavish

Newtown Park , Wellington

Referee: G. Jackson

References

1. "Thistle minus sting". NZ Truth. No. 1132. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 11 August 1927. p. 15. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
2. "Charity Cup". NZ Truth. No. 1133. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 18 August 1927. p. 14. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
3. "C.F.A. & Sunnyside". Papers Past . 17 June 2021. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021.
4. "Sunnyside Withdraws". Papers Past . 17 June 2021. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021.
5. "C.F.A. and Sunnyside". Papers Past . 17 June 2021. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021.
6. Hilton, Tony; Smith, Barry (1991). An Association with Soccer: The NZFA Celebrates Its First 100 Years. New Zealand Football. ISBN   978-0473012915.
7. "Chatham Cup Final Otago's Soccer Wail Ponsonby "Poor Sports"". Papers Past . 20 June 2021.
8. "Soccer Dispute". Papers Past . 20 June 2021.
9. "Chatham Cup Dispute". 20 June 2021. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021.
10. "Association". Papers Past . 15 June 2021. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021.
11. "A Surprise". 15 June 2021. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021.

• Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation New Zealand 1927 page