1936 Chatham Cup

1936 Chatham Cup

Tournament details
Venue(s)	Basin Reserve, Wellington
Dates	29 August 1936
Defending champions	Hospital
Final positions
Champions	Western (1st title)
Runner-up	Auckland Thistle
←  1935 1938  →

The 1936 Chatham Cup was the 14th annual nationwide knockout football competition in New Zealand.

The competition was run on a regional basis, with regional associations each holding separate qualifying rounds.

The 26 entries that had been received by the NZFA by 1 June were ^[1] Southland: Corinthians and Southern. Westland: Taylorville, Marist and Runanga. Buller: All Blacks. Otago: Maori Hill, Mosgiel and Roslyn Wakari. Canterbury: Western A, Western B, Thistle and Nomads. Wellington: Hospital, Marist, Waterside, Scottish Wanderers, Petone, Diamond. South Auckland: Hamilton Wanderers, Rotowaro and Starr Town. Auckland: Ponsonby, Thistle, Mount Albert Grammar Old Boys and Abels.

Ashburton, an unaffiliated club, applied for entry to the 1936 competition via the Canterbury Football Association who requested the club affiliate with the association before accepting the entry. [2] After affiliation to the Canterbury Football Association Ashburton FC then decided to withdraw its entry to the Chatham Cup. ^[3]

Teams taking part in the final rounds are known to have included Auckland Thistle, Waterside (Wellington), Western (Christchurch), and Maori Hill (Dunedin).

The 1936 final

The final was the first in which two separate players (Bill White and Fred Angus) both scored two goals. One of White's goals was the first penalty to be scored from in a final. White scored first from the spot after just 12 minutes, and doubled his tally quarter of an hour later. Angus reduced the deficit to one before the break, and it was only through having a second strike disallowed that the Aucklanders were still behind at the interval. Injury to L. Williamson reduced Thistle to ten men for the majority of the second half (this being in the days before substitutes were allowed). Angus managed to score an equaliser for the northerners, however, but the scores were only to remain level briefly, with Geoff Ellis adding a third for Western. Williamson limped back on for the last few minutes, and though Thistle applied the pressure, Western held on to the lead. ^[4]

Results

25 July 1936

Waterside	3 - 1	Hospital
Thompson, Atkinson, Jane	Report	Stanbridge

Basin Reserve, Wellington

Referee: Mr. G. Forbes

1 August 1936

Starr-Town	1 - 10	Auckland Thistle
Deakin	Report	Wright, Kay 3, Woods 4, Angus 2

Huntly Recreation Ground, Huntly

Referee: Mr. J. Baillie

1 August 1936

Western	w/o Western won by default	Mosgiel
	Report

English Park, Christchurch

1 August 1936

Runanga	2 - 3	Millerton All Blacks
Crowe, White	Report	Taylor, G. Orman, J. Blythe

Victoria Park, Greymouth

Semi-finals ("Island finals")

North Island Final

15 August 1936

Auckland Thistle	5 - 1	Waterside
Angus 2, Wood, Wiseman, Kay	Report	Longbottom

Blandford Park , Auckland

Referee: Mr. R. C. Brighton

South Island Final

22 August 1936

Western	2 - 1	Millerton All Blacks
G. Smith, E. Hall	Report	P. Taylor

English Park , Christchurch

Referee: Mr. E. B. Harris

Final

1936 Chatham Cup Final

29 August 1936

Western	3 – 2	Auckland Thistle
B. White 2 (1 pen.), Ellis	Report	Angus 2

Basin Reserve, Wellington

Attendance: 4000

Referee: Mr. N. D. Brian

1937 Chatham Cup

There was no competition in 1937.

Several factors were taken into consideration in the decision to suspend the competition, of which two were significant. A visit by the England amateur side and a major South African rugby tour led to a conflict of possible competition dates, which would have made the organisation and scheduling of matches difficult. ^[5] The NZFA had also decided that the final should be held in the South Island for the first time; ^[6] this led to a substantial reduction in the number of contestants, with only twelve teams confirming their entries by the close-off date, none of which were from Auckland.

In truth, the competition had been struggling for several years with the difficulty of arranging dates for matches. Given the entirely amateur nature of the competition, matches were played solely at weekends, and therefore any Chatham Cup matches ate into the available time for local league competitions. There is some indication that not everyone involved in the organization of regional football was entirely unhappy with the suspension of the competition, though many were, ^[7] and the remit to suspend it was greeted, according to one contemporary report with "a mixture of apathy and hostility by clubs and followers of the game." ^[8]

Teams who had expressed their willingness to take part in the 1937 competition were: Pukemiro, Wellington Marist, Seatoun, Petone, Scottish Wanderers, Western, Nomads, Christchurch Thistle, Millerton All Blacks, Runanga, Northern, and Invercargill Thistle. A provisional entry from Hamilton Wanderers was also received, but this was later withdrawn.

References

1. "26 Entries For Chatham Cup Soccer Contest". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
2. "The Association Game - Ashburton Club's Affiliation". Ashburton Guardian. 21 May 1936. p. 2. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
3. "Association Code". Press. 3 June 1936. p. 9. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
4. Hilton, T. (1991) An association with soccer. Auckland: The New Zealand Football Association. ISBN   0-473-01291-X . p.69
5. Papers Past — Evening Post — 15 June 1937 — CHATHAM CUP
6. Papers Past — Evening Post — 20 March 1937 — CHATHAM GUP
7. Papers Past — Evening Post — 19 June 1937 — Association Football
8. Papers Past — Evening Post — 28 July 1937 — AS OTHER PEOPLE SEE US

• Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation New Zealand 1936 page