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. [1]
Dunedin Technical did not apply for re-entry to the league, so the resumption of play-offs for league places was simply between the winners of the northern, central, and southern leagues (Auckland University, Stop Out, and Rangers respectively). [2] Auckland University were victorious, entering the national league for the first time.
Gisborne City produced a marked improvement on their previous efforts, becoming the first team from outside Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch to take the title. The win was a very popular one, and was in large part due to the work of Kevin Fallon. The side were only defeated once all season, by Manurewa, and followed that loss up with a string of six victories which produced an aggregate goal tally of 18-0. The side amassed a total of 59 goals, second only to Wellington's runaway 1979 performance. Papatoetoe were also a popular side, and their second season in the league saw them in title contention until a form slump in the latter part of the season. They still held on to finish second, ahead of Christchurch United, whose title run was also badly hampered by poor late-season form. Manurewa showed little of the form that they had displayed in their championship-winning 1983 campaign. The team was in the league's basement for the early p[art of the season, and never fully recovered, though they did pull themselves up into the top third of the table by season's end. [3]
Capital city rivals Miramar Rangers and Wellington Diamond United filled out the remainder of the top half of the table. Both could be satisfied with their position, though WDU had a chance to finish higher but failed to win any of its last five games. The team's home form was poor, with only two wins all season. Dunedin City finished seventh, pulling themselves together after a lacklustre early part to the season. A 0-6 loss to Gisborne City seems to have scared the side into performing well, turning their form around significantly from this mid-season point to win seven of their final ten fixtures. Napier City Rovers finished eighth for the third consecutive season, though their form was probably less consistent than in previous years. Their matches tended to be high scoring, with an aggregate of 91 goals for and against in their 22 fixtures. [4]
Hanimex North Shore United could not find the form which had seen them runners-up two seasons in a row, and fell to ninth. Their powerful home form deserted them, and they suffered five defeats at home — taking their aggregate over three seasons to six. The season's big surprise, however, was Mount Wellington who fell from their perennial perch near the top of the table to finish tenth with only one victory in its last 12 games. It could have been worse for the Mount, as they had, in the early part of the season, scraped to a 4-3 win over Auckland University when reduced to ten men, after trailing three times during the match. If that result had gone the other way, it would likely have seen the Mount finish the season at the foot of the table. Nelson United looked to be finishing last for much of the season, but a late rally was just enough to lift them off the basement. Auckland University proved to be the unlucky side to finish last — unlucky, in that it had played effectively during its first season in the league, winning heavily when it did win, and only losing by single goal margins. This led to it having an unlikely goal difference of just -5 at the season's end. [5] Despite finishing last, University won the 1985 play-off series and returned to the league.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gisborne City (C) | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 59 | 16 | +43 | 51 |
| 2 | Papatoetoe | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 35 | 26 | +9 | 37 |
| 3 | Christchurch United | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 37 | 32 | +5 | 35 |
| 4 | Manurewa | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 40 | 42 | −2 | 33 |
| 5 | Miramar Rangers | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 40 | 46 | −6 | 31 |
| 6 | Wellington United | 22 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 32 | 26 | +6 | 30 |
| 7 | Dunedin City | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 34 | 40 | −6 | 28 |
| 8 | Napier City Rovers | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 38 | 53 | −15 | 26 |
| 9 | North Shore United | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 27 | 31 | −4 | 25 |
| 10 | Mount Wellington | 22 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 28 | 36 | −8 | 24 |
| 11 | Nelson United | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 25 | 42 | −17 | 21 |
| 12 | Auckland University (R) | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 31 | 36 | −5 | 19 |
The 1970 New Zealand National Soccer League was the inaugural season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. The league's initial sponsors were Rothmans (NZ) Ltd, and the league was thus commonly known as the Rothmans National League. Rothmans retained naming sponsorship rights until 1987 when Air New Zealand took over as principal sponsor.
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 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.
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 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.