The 1982 New Zealand National Soccer League was the 13th season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. Mount Wellington comfortably won the league for a fifth time, finishing seven points clear of second-placed Hanimex North Shore United. This was the last season in which a win scored two points; from 1983 wins were worth three points. [1]
Promotion was automatic, with the three lowest placed sides in the 1981 league (Takapuna City, Woolston WMC, and Rangers) replaced by the winners of the northern, central, and southern leagues (East Coast Bays, Napier City Rovers, and Invercargill Thistle respectively). [2]
The league's top five positions were filled by the same teams which had finished in the top five in the 1981 league, though those five teams finished in a different order. The league overall was marked by a high proportion of drawn games (39 out of 132 fixtures), and was severely disrupted by New Zealand's participation in the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. [3]
Mount Wellington comfortably finished top, remaining undefeated at home and only losing one away game. The Mount's Keith Nelson was the league's top scorer with 15 goals, the fourth time he had achieved that feat. Seven points back were Hanimex North Shore United, who had remarkably different home and away records. They won 10 of their 11 home games, but only won one on the road, drawing seven. Dunedin City held on to third place from Gisborne City. The Dunedinites' season was marked with a large number of low-scoring games, over half of their matches finishing either 1–0 or 1–1. As in the 1981 season, Gisborne were badly affected by the World Cup, which left it with a severe backlog of games. Despite this, they still managed to finish fourth. [3]
1981 Champions Wellington Diamond United were let down by their poor away form. Only one away win meant they could finish no higher than fifth. The team lacked striking power which further hampered their chances. Miramar Rangers started the season slowly, but improved in form as the season progressed to finish two places higher than in their debut season of 1981. Christchurch United's season was marked by a plethora of draws. It managed to recover from the danger of relegation mid-season through a nine-match unbeaten run at the end of the campaign. Napier City Rovers' first match in the top flight saw them docked a point for fielding an unregistered player—the 1–1 result (against Manurewa) was subsequently amended to a 1–0 win to the Aucklanders. This was the first time such a point deduction had been made in the league's history. Despite this, Napier had a satisfactory debut season, only losing one home game and scoring more goals than several higher-finishing teams. [4]
Manurewa was, like Gisborne, badly affected by the New Zealand World Cup campaign, and its backlog of matches left it struggling to avoid relegation. A run of four straight wins aided its cause, and even a late-season slump was not enough to see it go down. After several seasons in the lower reaches of the table, Hamilton's luck finally ran out and they were consigned to the drop along with league newcomers East Coast Bays and Invercargill Thistle. Bays' season started with five straight losses, and despite a brief rally after that they soon slipped back down with a run of poor results. The final position went to the league's southernmost ever participant. Thistle's season started and ended with good results, but between these was a dreadful succession of results gaining the club just six points in 19 fixtures. [5]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mount Wellington (C) | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 52 | 15 | +37 | 36 |
| 2 | North Shore United | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 44 | 25 | +19 | 29 |
| 3 | Dunedin City | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 30 | 21 | +9 | 27 |
| 4 | Gisborne City | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 39 | 31 | +8 | 27 |
| 5 | Wellington United | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 29 | 23 | +6 | 24 |
| 6 | Miramar Rangers | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 30 | 32 | −2 | 22 |
| 7 | Christchurch United | 22 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 27 | 26 | +1 | 21 |
| 8 | Napier City Rovers | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 36 | 40 | −4 | 21 [lower-alpha 1] |
| 9 | Manurewa | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 31 | 33 | −2 | 21 [lower-alpha 1] |
| 10 | Melville United (R) | 22 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 21 | 39 | −18 | 13 |
| 11 | East Coast Bays (R) | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 23 | 44 | −21 | 12 |
| 12 | Invercargill Thistle (R) | 22 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 18 | 51 | −33 | 11 |
The 1971 New Zealand National Soccer League was the second season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. The league was expanded at the end of the inaugural season, so there was no relegation from the 1970 league season. Hungaria, who had competed in the inaugural season, combined with Miramar Rangers to form a new composite league team, Wellington City. Though Miramar withdrew from the team after the 1971 season, the team continued to use the new name.
The 1972 New Zealand National Soccer League was the third season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football.
The 1973 New Zealand National Soccer League was the fourth season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football.
The 1974 New Zealand National Soccer League was the fifth season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football.
The 1975 New Zealand National Soccer League was the sixth season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football.
The 1976 New Zealand National Soccer League was the seventh season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football.
The 1977 New Zealand National Soccer League was the eighth season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. An expansion by two teams meant that it was the first year in which twelve teams took part. Prize money was significantly increased for the top three clubs, and the number of teams relegated increased from one to three, these being automatically replaced by the winners of the three regional leagues.
The 1978 New Zealand National Soccer League was the ninth season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. A change was made from previous years, with the replacement of goal average by goal difference as a means for ranking teams equal on points.
The 1979 New Zealand National Soccer League was the tenth season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. It produced the biggest winning margin in the league's history, with Mount Wellington never being in serious danger of finishing anywhere but first.
The 1980 New Zealand National Soccer League was the 11th season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. Mount Wellington became the first club to win back-to-back titles and also the first club to win the league four times, though their winning margin was significantly smaller than in 1979.
The 1981 New Zealand National Soccer League was the 12th season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. Wellington Diamond United won the league for a second time, having previously been champions in 1976. The league was the closest until this point, with only four points separating the top five teams.
The 1983 New Zealand National Soccer League was the 14th season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. Manurewa comfortably won the league for the first time, finishing eight points clear of second-placed Hanimex North Shore United. This was the first season in which a win scored three points; prior to this they were worth only two.
The 1984 New Zealand National Soccer League was the 15th season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. Gisborne City finally wrestled the trophy away from the major centres, taking it to a provincial city for the first time.
The 1985 New Zealand National Soccer League was the 16th season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. Wellington Diamond United finished as champions, three points clear of 1984 title-holders Gisborne City.
The 1986 New Zealand National Soccer League was the 17th season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. Mount Wellington finished as champions, one point ahead of Miramar Rangers.
The 1987 New Zealand National Soccer League was the 18th season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. It was the first season in which 14 teams competed in the league, up from 12 in the previous season, and was also the first season with new sponsors Air New Zealand, leading to it being called the Air New Zealand Soccer League. Christchurch United finished as champions, seven points clear of Gisborne City.
The 1988 New Zealand National Soccer League was the 19th season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. Christchurch United finished as champions for the second season running, three points clear of traditional rivals Mount Wellington.
The 1989 New Zealand National Soccer League was the 20th season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. Napier City Rovers had their debut championship win over Mount Maunganui, in doing so taking the title away from the main centres for only the second time.
The 1990 New Zealand National Soccer League was the 21st season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. Waitakere City won the league for the first time, by two points over Auckland neighbours Mount Wellington.
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