2023 New Zealand National League

This article is about the men's season. For the women's season, see 2023 New Zealand Women's National League.

New Zealand National League

Season	2023
Dates	24 March – 26 November 2023
Champions	Wellington Olympic
OFC Champions League	Auckland City Wellington Olympic
Matches played	46
Goals scored	189 (4.11 per match)
Top goalscorer	Gianni Bouzouzkis Garbhan Coughlan (11 goals each)
Biggest home win	Wellington Olympic 7–1 Napier City Rovers (30 September 2023)
Biggest away win	Napier City Rovers 0–5 Eastern Suburbs (11 November 2023)
Highest scoring	Manurewa 4–6 Wellington Phoenix Reserves (8 October 2023)
Longest winning run	7 matches Auckland City
Longest unbeaten run	9 matches Wellington Olympic
Longest winless run	9 matches Petone
Longest losing run	6 matches Petone
← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 New Zealand Men's National League was the third season of the National League since its restructuring in 2021. ^[1] 32 clubs compete in the competition, with four qualifying from the Northern League, three qualifying from the Central League and two qualifying from the Southern League for the National Championship phase. ^{[2] [3]} Each team can field a maximum of four foreign players as well as one additional foreign player who has Oceania Football Confederation nationality. ^[4] Over the course of the season, each team must also ensure players aged 20 or under account for 10% of available playing minutes. ^[5]

Qualifying leagues

2023 Northern League

Northern League

Season	2023
Dates	24 March 2023 - 2 September 2023
Champions	Auckland City
Relegated	Takapuna Manukau United
Matches played	132
Goals scored	480 (3.64 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ryan de Vries Derek Tieku (19 goals each)
Biggest home win	Auckland City 7–0 Manurewa (28 June 2023)
Biggest away win	Manukau United 0–7 Birkenhead United (1 April 2023)
Highest scoring	Birkenhead United 4–4 Hamilton Wanderers (2 September 2023)
← 2022 2024 →

Auckland City won the title for the third consecutive season on the final day beating Manukau United 6–1. ^[6] This was Auckland City's third season in the Northern League, winning the title each of those seasons. Both Auckland City and Eastern Suburbs completed the Northern League season undefeated. ^{[6] [7]} This was the first season two clubs had gone undefeated in the Northern League. It was only the second time a team had gone undefeated since Eastern Suburbs did so in 1965, the first season of the NRFL Premier League. ^[8]

Heading into the final day of the season, no team had been mathematically relegated. The matchday started with Bay Olympic and Manukau United in the relegation zone with Takapuna three points ahead in the last safe spot. Bay Olympic bettered Takapuna's goal difference by three and Manukau's by ten. ^[9]

Manukau lost 6–1 away to Auckland City and were subsequently relegated. Takapuna, the only side to have their fate completely in their own hands, lost 3–2 at West Coast Rangers. Bay Olympic, hosting Manurewa equalized from the spot in the 84th minute and were looking like going down until, they found a winner in the first minute of stoppage time. This meant they relegated Takapuna on goal difference after finishing level on points. ^[6]

Northern League teams

Twelve teams are competing in the league – the top ten teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the 2022 NRFL Division 1. The promoted teams are West Coast Rangers and Manurewa. ^[10] It is Manurewa's first and West Coast Rangers second season (after relegation in 2021) in the National League. They replaced Waiheke United (relegated after their debut season on the Northern League) and North Shore United (relegated after a two-year Northern League spell).

Team	Home ground	Location	2022 season
Auckland City	Kiwitea Street	Sandringham, Auckland	1st
Auckland United	Keith Hay Park	Mount Roskill, Auckland	3rd
Bay Olympic	Olympic Park	New Lynn, Auckland	8th
Birkenhead United	Shepherds Park	Beach Haven, Auckland	2nd
Eastern Suburbs	Madills Farm	Kohimarama, Auckland	10th
Hamilton Wanderers	Porritt Stadium	Chartwell, Hamilton	5th
Manukau United	Centre Park	Māngere East, Auckland	7th
Manurewa	Jellicoe Park	Manurewa, Auckland	2nd in Division 1 (promoted)
Melville United	Gower Park	Melville, Hamilton	4th
Takapuna	Taharoto Park	Takapuna, Auckland	9th
West Coast Rangers	Fred Taylor Park	Whenuapai, Auckland	1st in Division 1 (promoted)
Western Springs	Seddon Fields	Westmere, Auckland	6th

Northern League personnel

Team	Manager	Captain
Auckland City	Albert Riera [11]	Cam Howieson [12]
Auckland United	José Figueira [11]	Ross Haviland [13]
Bay Olympic	Rudy Mozr [14]	Callum McNeill [15]
Birkenhead United	Paul Hobson [11]	Luke Jorgensen [16]
Eastern Suburbs	Kane Wintersgill [17]	Adam Thomas [18]
Hamilton Wanderers	Joseph Hinds [11]	Derek Tieku [18]
Manukau United	Tashreeq Davids [19]	Hayden Johns [20]
Manurewa	Paul Marshall [21]
Melville United	Jarrod Young [22]	Aaron Scott
Takapuna	Chris Milicich [23]	Connor Cahil-Fahey [24]
West Coast Rangers	Chad Coombes [25]	Dev Pokhrel [26]
Western Springs	Scott Hales [27]	Oscar Ramsay [24]

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in the table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Eastern Suburbs	Hoani Edwards	End of contract		Pre-season	Kane Wintersgill [17]
Western Springs	Chris Zoricich [28]	Mutual consent	1 October 2022		Scott Hales [27]	5 January 2023
Bay Olympic	Liam Mulrooney [29]	Stepped down	26 October 2022		Rudy Mozr [30]	10 November 2022
Manukau United	Rudy Mozr [14]	Signed by Bay Olympic	10 November 2022		Juan Roman [31]	14 December 2022
Manurewa	Rhys Ruka [32]	Resigned [upper-alpha 1]	19 March 2023 [upper-alpha 2]		Paul Marshall [21]	20 March 2023 [upper-alpha 2]
Manukau United	Juan Roman	No reason given	May 2023	11th	Thabiso Tleane [19]	May 2023
Manukau United	Thabiso Tleane [19]	No reason given	26 June 2023	12th	Tashreeq Davids [19]	26 June 2023

Northern League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Auckland City (C)	22	19	3	0	64	9	+55	60	Winner of Northern League and qualification to National League Championship
2	Eastern Suburbs	22	17	5	0	51	17	+34	56	Qualification to National League Championship
3	Auckland United	22	13	4	5	50	24	+26	43
4	Manurewa	22	11	3	8	46	37	+9	36
5	Western Springs	22	10	3	9	39	35	+4	33
6	Hamilton Wanderers	22	8	6	8	39	49	−10	30
7	West Coast Rangers	22	8	2	12	33	49	−16	26
8	Birkenhead United	22	7	4	11	46	44	+2	25
9	Melville United	22	6	5	11	30	47	−17	23
10	Bay Olympic	22	4	3	15	33	55	−22	15
11	Takapuna (R)	22	4	3	15	23	50	−27	15	Relegation to NRFL Championship
12	Manukau United (R)	22	3	3	16	26	64	−38	12

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Goals against; 5) Head to head; 6) Disciplinary record; 7) Coin toss [33]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Northern League results table

Home \ Away	AC	AU	BO	BU	ES	HW	MAN	MR	MEL	TP	WC	WS
Auckland City	—	2–1	5–1	5–1	0–0	2–0	6–1	7–0	3–1	4–0	1–1	4–0
Auckland United	0–2	—	4–1	3–3	0–1	4–0	3–0	1–1	4–0	1–0	4–0	1–1
Bay Olympic	0–1	1–2	—	2–4	2–4	1–3	3–2	2–1	1–1	2–3	4–2	2–3
Birkenhead United	0–2	0–3	3–0	—	0–2	4–4	2–3	2–4	2–0	5–0	2–0	1–2
Eastern Suburbs	2–2	2–2	1–1	2–0	—	6–1	1–0	4–3	2–1	1–0	2–1	2–0
Hamilton Wanderers	0–2	0–1	3–1	2–2	1–1	—	2–1	3–3	1–1	1–0	3–2	3–2
Manukau United	0–5	1–4	3–3	0–7	0–6	2–2	—	0–1	2–1	0–2	3–4	1–2
Manurewa	0–2	0–2	1–0	1–3	0–3	4–1	3–0	—	5–0	0–0	5–1	1–0
Melville United	0–1	1–5	3–2	1–1	0–1	2–4	1–0	5–2	—	1–1	3–1	2–1
Takapuna	0–2	3–4	1–2	3–2	2–5	2–3	2–2	0–4	0–1	—	2–1	0–3
West Coast Rangers	0–3	1–0	2–1	2–1	1–2	3–1	1–3	0–4	5–2	3–2	—	1–1
Western Springs	1–3	4–1	3–1	3–1	0–1	3–1	3–2	1–3	3–3	3–0	0–1	—

Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Northern League scoring

Northern League top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals [34] [35]
1	Derek Tieku	Hamilton Wanderers	19
	Ryan de Vries	Auckland City
3	Monty Patterson	Manurewa	13
4	Joshua Redfearn	Auckland United	12
5	Allan Pearce	West Coast Rangers	11
6	Nicolas Bobadilla	Manurewa	10
	Martín Bueno	Eastern Suburbs
	Ibrahim Nadir	Bay Olympic
9	Luke Jorgensen	Birkenhead United	9
10	Reid Drake	Western Springs	8
	William Gillion	Auckland City
	Jacob Mechell	Eastern Suburbs

Northern League hat-tricks

Round	Player	For	Against	Home/Away	Result	Date
7 [36]	Nicolas Bobadilla	Manurewa	Hamilton Wanderers	Away	3–3	29 April 2023
7 [36]	Derek Tieku	Hamilton Wanderers	Manurewa	Home	3–3	29 April 2023
12 [37]	Joshua Redfearn	Auckland United	Takapuna	Away	3–4	3 June 2023
13 [38]	Monty Patterson	Manurewa	West Coast Rangers	Away	0–4	10 June 2023
11 [39]	Ryan de Vries	Auckland City	Manukau United	Away	0–5	14 June 2023
14 [40]	Allan Pearce	West Coast Rangers	Manukau United	Away	3–4	14 June 2023
10 [41]	Ryan de Vries	Auckland City	Manurewa	Home	7–0	28 June 2023
15 [42]	Martín Bueno	Eastern Suburbs	Hamilton Wanderers	Home	6–1	1 July 2023
22 [43]	Ryan de Vries	Auckland City	Manukau United	Home	6–1	2 September 2023

2023 Central League

Central League

Season	2023
Dates	25 March 2023 – 2 September 2023
Champions	Wellington Olympic
Relegated	Whanganui Athletic
Matches played	90
Goals scored	419 (4.66 per match)
Top goalscorer	Matthew Brazier (18 goals)
Biggest home win	Wellington Olympic 7–0 North Wellington (29 April 2023)
Biggest away win	Miramar Rangers 0–7 Wellington Olympic (10 June 2023) Whanganui Athletic 0–7 Wellington Olympic (1 July 2023)
Highest scoring	Wellington Olympic 8–3 Western Suburbs (2 September 2023)
← 2022 2024 →

Central League teams

Ten teams are competing in the league – the top nine teams from the previous season and the one team promoted from the 2022 play-off between the winners of the Central Federation League and the Capital Premier. The winner of the play-off was Stop Out. This is their first season in the Central League, since New Zealand football’s restructuring in 2021. They replaced Havelock North Wanderers (relegated to the Capital Premier League after one season in the Central League). Wellington United was entered as one of the originally 10 teams to play the 2023 season but withdrew in 2022. ^[44] They were replaced by Whanganui Athletic who had originally missed out on promotion to Stop Out.

Team	Home ground	Location	2022 season
Miramar Rangers	David Farrington Park	Miramar, Wellington	2nd
Napier City Rovers	Bluewater Stadium	Napier	4th
North Wellington	Alex Moore Park	Johnsonville, Wellington	7th
Petone	Memorial Park	Petone, Lower Hutt	6th
Stop Out	Hutt Park	Lower Hutt	1st in Capital Premier (promoted via play-offs)
Waterside Karori	Karori Park	Karori, Wellington	5th
Wellington Olympic	Wakefield Park	Wellington	1st
Wellington Phoenix Reserves	Fraser Park	Lower Hutt	3rd
Western Suburbs	Endeavour Park	Porirua	9th
Whanganui Athletic	Wembley Park	Whanganui East, Whanganui	Replaced Wellington United after they withdrew

Central League personnel

Team	Manager [45]	Captain
Miramar Rangers	Kale Herbert [46]	Sam Mason-Smith
Napier City Rovers	Bill Robertson	Jim Hoyle [47]
North Wellington	Davor Tavich	Gavin Hoy [48]
Petone	Ryan Edwards [49]	Hami Paranihi-Nuku
Stop Out	Aston Hughes	Maxim Johnson
Waterside Karori	Sam Morrissey [50]	Harry Fautley
Wellington Olympic	Rupert Kemeys	Ben Mata [51]
Wellington Phoenix Reserves	Chris Greenacre	Isaac Hughes
Western Suburbs	Alan Koch [52]	Malik Smith [52]
Whanganui Athletic	Matty Calvert	Ryan Holden

Central League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Wellington Olympic (C)	18	15	1	2	79	29	+50	46	Winner of Central League and qualification to National League Championship
2	Wellington Phoenix Reserves [lower-alpha 1]	18	12	1	5	47	29	+18	37	Qualification to National League Championship
3	Napier City Rovers	18	10	3	5	50	32	+18	33
4	Petone	18	10	2	6	45	33	+12	32
5	Western Suburbs	18	8	4	6	40	34	+6	28
6	Waterside Karori	18	7	3	8	44	40	+4	24
7	Miramar Rangers	18	8	0	10	37	43	−6	24
8	Stop Out	18	7	3	8	37	47	−10	24
9	North Wellington	18	2	1	15	21	63	−42	7
10	Whanganui Athletic (R)	18	1	2	15	19	69	−50	5	Relegation to Capital Premier/Central Federation League

Source: Capital Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Goals against; 5) Head to head; 6) Disciplinary record; 7) Coin toss ^[33]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Wellington Phoenix Reserves gain automatic entry into the National League Championship phase due to the A-League Men requirements. ^[2]

Central League results table

Home \ Away	MR	NC	NW	PT	SO	WK	WO	WP	WS	WA
Miramar Rangers	—	1–3	3–0	2–3	3–0	3–4	0–7	0–4	1–0	5–1
Napier City Rovers	1–2	—	3–1	2–2	4–1	5–0	1–4	2–3	2–2	1–1
North Wellington	2–5	1–3	—	0–5	3–3	1–4	0–5	0–4	1–3	2–3
Petone	4–3	4–2	3–0	—	2–1	2–2	4–0	1–3	2–3	2–0
Stop Out	4–2	1–3	3–1	2–1	—	1–4	3–2	3–3	0–4	3–1
Waterside Karori	1–2	0–3	5–1	4–3	2–3	—	1–2	1–3	2–2	3–1
Wellington Olympic	3–1	6–3	7–0	4–2	6–3	2–2	—	3–2	8–3	6–1
Wellington Phoenix Reserves	3–1	1–4	2–3	3–1	2–0	3–2	1–2	—	0–1	4–1
Western Suburbs	3–1	1–3	2–0	0–1	3–3	2–1	2–5	1–2	—	7–1
Whanganui Athletic	0–2	1–5	0–5	2–3	1–3	1–6	0–7	3–4	1–1	—

Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Central League scoring

Central League top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals [53] [54]
1	Matthew Brazier	Petone	18
2	Deri Corfe	Napier City Rovers	15
3	Jack-Henry Sinclair	Wellington Olympic	14
4	Joshua Tollervey	Wellington Phoenix Reserves	13
	Hamish Watson	Wellington Olympic
6	Tomas Alvarado	Waterside Karori	11
	Kailan Gould	Wellington Olympic
	Benjamin Mata	Wellington Olympic
9	Kairo Coore	Western Suburbs	10
	Ryan Feutz	Western Suburbs
	Jonathan McNamara	Napier City Rovers

Central League hat-tricks

Round	Player	For	Against	Home/Away	Result	Date
2 [55]	Joshua Tollervey [lower-alpha 1]	Wellington Phoenix Reserves	Whanganui Athletic	Away	3–4	2 April 2023
4 [56]	Merlin Luke-Miny	Wellington Olympic	Whanganui Athletic	Home	6–1	15 April 2023
5 [57]	Josh Rudland	Wellington Phoenix Reserves	North Wellington	Away	0–4	22 April 2023
5 [58]	Jack-Henry Sinclair	Wellington Olympic	Petone	Home	4–2	22 April 2023
6 [59]	Hamish Watson	Wellington Olympic	North Wellington	Home	7–0	29 April 2023
7 [60]	Matthew Brazier	Petone	North Wellington	Away	0–5	6 May 2023
8 [61]	Hamish Watson	Wellington Olympic	Napier City Rovers	Home	6–3	20 May 2023
10 [62]	Gianni Bouzoukis [lower-alpha 1]	Wellington Olympic	Miramar Rangers	Away	0–7	10 June 2023
	Hamish Watson
11 [63]	Nathan Simes	Miramar Rangers	North Wellington	Away	2–5	24 June 2023
12 [64]	Jared Cunniff	Stop Out	Miramar Rangers	Home	4–2	1 July 2023
14 [65]	Jack O'Connor	Petone	Wellington Olympic	Home	4–0	22 July 2023
18 [66]	Joshua Tollervey	Wellington Phoenix Reserves	Miramar Rangers	Away	0–4	2 September 2023
18 [67]	Gavin Hoy	Wellington Olympic	Western Suburbs	Home	8–3	2 September 2023
18 [67]	Muse Abrahaberhe	Western Suburbs	Wellington Olympic	Away	8–3	2 September 2023

1. Player scored 4 goals

2023 Southern League

Southern League

Season	2023
Dates	24 March 2023 - 3 September 2023
Champions	Christchurch United
Relegated	Green Island
Matches played	90
Goals scored	392 (4.36 per match)
Top goalscorer	Samuel Phillips (29)
Biggest home win	Nelson Suburbs 7–1 Selwyn United (11 June 2023) Christchurch United 6–0 Selwyn United (14 July 2023)
Biggest away win	Green Island 3–15 Christchurch United (27 August 2023)
Highest scoring	Green Island 3–15 Christchurch United (27 August 2023)
Longest winning run	8 matches Christchurch United
Longest unbeaten run	17 matches Christchurch United
Longest winless run	11 matches Selwyn United
Longest losing run	9 matches Selwyn United
← 2022 2024 → All statistics correct as of 3 September 2023.

Southern League teams

Ten teams are competing in the league – the top nine teams from the previous season and the winner of the Southern League play-offs. The promoted team is FC Twenty 11. This is their first season in the Southern League. They replaced Mosgiel (relegated after their debut season in the Southern League).

Team	Home ground	Location	2022 season
Cashmere Technical	Garrick Memorial Park	Woolston, Christchurch	2nd
Christchurch United	United Sports Centre	Spreydon, Christchurch	1st
Coastal Spirit	Linfield Park	Linwood, Christchurch	6th
Dunedin City Royals	Football Turf	Dunedin North	4th
FC Twenty 11	Avonhead Park	Avonhead, Christchurch	1st in Mainland Premier League (promoted via play-offs)
Ferrymead Bays	Ferrymead Park	Ferrymead, Christchurch	5th
Green Island	Sunnyvale Park	Green Island, Dunedin	8th
Nelson Suburbs	Saxton Field	Nelson	3rd
Nomads United	Tulett Park	Casebrook, Christchurch	7th
Selwyn United	Foster Park	Rolleston	9th

Southern League personnel

Team	Manager	Captain
Cashmere Technical	Dan Schwarz [68]	Andrew Storer
Christchurch United	Paul Ifill [69]	Matt Tod-Smith
Coastal Spirit	Robbie Stanton [70]	Dominic McGarr
Dunedin City Royals	Richard Murray	Jared Grove
FC Twenty 11	Cvetan Ivanov [71]	Harrison Rowe
Ferrymead Bays	Alan Walker [72]	James Deehan
Green Island	Jamie Whitmarsh [73]	Thomas Milton
Nelson Suburbs	Ryan Stewart	Alex Ridsdale [74]
Nomads United	Matthew Jansen [75]	Jacob Anderson
Selwyn United	Lee Padmore	Jack Allatt

Southern League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Christchurch United (C)	18	16	1	1	72	12	+60	49	Winner of Southern League and qualification to National League Championship
2	Cashmere Technical	18	13	3	2	66	27	+39	42	Qualification to National League Championship
3	Coastal Spirit	18	10	1	7	30	36	−6	31
4	Dunedin City Royals	18	8	5	5	44	29	+15	29
5	Ferrymead Bays	18	9	2	7	35	36	−1	29
6	Nelson Suburbs	18	7	4	7	48	46	+2	25
7	Nomads United	18	7	2	9	32	35	−3	23
8	Green Island (R)	18	5	1	12	33	58	−25	16	Relegated to the FootballSouth Premier League /Mainland Premier League [lower-alpha 1]
9	Selwyn United	18	3	1	14	21	53	−32	10
10	FC Twenty 11	18	2	0	16	11	60	−49	6

Source: Mainland Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Goals against; 5) Head to head; 6) Disciplinary record; 7) Coin toss ^[33]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

1. Green Island were relegated due to withdrawing from the 2024 Southern League.

Southern League results table

Home \ Away	CT	CU	CS	DC	FT	FB	GI	NS	NU	SU
Cashmere Technical	—	1–1	2–3	2–3	6–1	2–2	2–1	5–4	7–3	3–1
Christchurch United	1–3	—	2–0	5–2	1–0	3–0	3–0	4–0	1–0	6–0
Coastal Spirit	1–1	0–4	—	1–0	2–0	1–3	3–2	2–3	2–1	3–1
Dunedin City Royals	1–4	1–3	5–0	—	3–0	2–1	4–2	3–3	3–0	1–1
FC Twenty 11	0–6	0–5	1–4	0–7	—	3–0	0–3	0–6	0–2	0–1
Ferrymead Bays	2–6	0–6	3–0	4–1	6–1	—	2–1	1–1	0–2	1–0
Green Island	0–7	3–15	0–1	1–1	2–0	1–2	—	3–4	1–2	4–1
Nelson Suburbs	1–4	1–6	5–0	1–1	3–1	2–1	4–5	—	1–1	7–1
Nomads United	1–3	1–4	1–4	1–1	0–2	1–2	6–2	4–1	—	3–1
Selwyn United	1–2	0–2	2–3	0–5	3–2	3–5	1–2	4–1	0–3	—

Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Southern League scoring

As of 3 September 2023

Southern League top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals [76] [77]
1	Sam Philip	Christchurch United	29
2	Garbhan Coughlan	Cashmere Technical	28
3	Eoghan Stokes	Christchurch United	15
4	Connor Neil	Dunedin City Royals	12
5	Benjamin Stanley	Dunedin City Royals	11
6	Stefan Milidrag	Green Island	9
7	Aidan Barbour-Ryan	Cashmere Technical	8
	Omar Cameron	Coastal Spirit
	Liam Cotter
	Daniel MacLennan	Christchurch United
	Ben Polak	Nelson Suburbs
	Alex Ridsdale

Southern League hat-tricks

Round	Player	For	Against	Home/Away	Result	Date
1 [78]	Garbhan Coughlan [lower-alpha 1]	Cashmere Technical	FC Twenty 11	Away	0–6	25 March 2023
2 [79]	Sam Philip	Christchurch United	Coastal Spirit	Away	0–4	2 April 2023
3 [80]	Garbhan Coughlan [lower-alpha 1]	Cashmere Technical	Nomads United	Home	7–3	7 April 2023
6 [81]	Sam Philip	Christchurch United	Ferrymead Bays	Away	0–6	29 April 2023
	Eoghan Stokes
9 [82]	Connor Gillespie [lower-alpha 1]	Nelson Suburbs	FC Twenty 11	Away	0-6	28 May 2023
10 [83] [84]	Aidan Barbour-Ryan	Cashmere Technical	FC Twenty 11	Home	6-1	10 June 2023
	Connor Gillespie	Nelson Suburbs	Selwyn United	Home	7-1	11 June 2023
11 [85]	Garbhan Coughlan [lower-alpha 1]	Cashmere Technical	Nelson Suburbs	Home	5–4	24 June 2023
12 [86]			Green Island	Away	0–7	1 July 2023
13 [87]	Stefan Milidrag	Green Island	Nelson Suburbs	Away	4–5	15 July 2023
15 [88]	Daniel MacLennan	Christchurch United	Ferrymead Bays	Home	3–0	6 August 2023
16 [89]	Sam Philip		Nelson Suburbs	Away	1–6	13 August 2023
	Eoghan Stokes
17 [90]	Sam Philip [lower-alpha 2]		Green Island		3–15	27 August 2023
	Eoghan Stokes

1. Player scored 4 goals
2. Player scored 8 goals

Own goals

Round	Player	Club	Against
2 [91]	Jacob Anderson	Nomads United	Ferrymead Bays
15 [92]			Green Island
16 [93]	Cameron Brewitt	Green Island	Selwyn United
17 [94]	Alex Ridsdale	Nelson Suburbs	Nomads United
18 [95]	Jack Allatt	Selwyn United	Nomads United

Qualified clubs

There are 10 men’s National League Championship qualifying spots (4 for the Northern League, 3 plus Wellington Phoenix Reserves for the Central League and 2 for the Southern League). ^[2]

Auckland

Wellington

Napier City Rovers

Cashmere Technical

Christchurch United

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Location of clubs in New Zealand for the 2023 National League season

Auckland City

Auckland United

Eastern Suburbs

Manurewa

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Location of clubs in Auckland Region for the 2023 National League season

Petone

Wellington Olympic

Wellington Phoenix Reserves

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Location of clubs in Wellington Region for the 2023 National League season

Association	Team	Position in Regional League	App (last)	Previous best (last)
Northern League (4 berths)	Auckland City	1st	2nd (2022)	1st (2022)
	Eastern Suburbs	2nd	1st [lower-alpha 1]	Debut [lower-alpha 2]
	Auckland United	3rd	2nd (2022)	3rd (2022)
	Manurewa	4th	1st	Debut
Central League (3 berths)	Wellington Olympic	1st	2nd (2022)	2nd (2022)
	Napier City Rovers	3rd	2nd (2022)	8th (2022)
	Petone	4th [lower-alpha 3]	1st	Debut
Southern League (2 berths)	Christchurch United	1st	2nd (2022)	9th [lower-alpha 4] (2022)
	Cashmere Technical	2nd	2nd (2022)	7th (2022)
Wellington Phoenix (automatic berth)	Wellington Phoenix Reserves	Automatic qualification	2nd (2022)	6th (2022)

1. Debut under the new competition, but played the National League before as part of the New Zealand National Soccer League
2. Previously won the National League when playing in the New Zealand Football Championship
3. Wellington Phoenix Reserves finished second but have automatic qualification.
4. Previously won the National League when playing in the New Zealand National Soccer League

Championship phase

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Wellington Olympic (C)	9	7	2	0	34	15	+19	23	Qualification to Grand Final and Champions League National play-offs
2	Auckland City	9	7	0	2	19	12	+7	21
3	Christchurch United	9	5	1	3	18	16	+2	16
4	Eastern Suburbs	9	4	3	2	23	11	+12	15
5	Cashmere Technical	9	4	1	4	24	24	0	13
6	Manurewa	9	4	1	4	16	20	−4	13
7	Auckland United	9	2	4	3	15	17	−2	10
8	Wellington Phoenix Reserves [lower-alpha 1]	9	3	0	6	19	24	−5	9
9	Napier City Rovers	9	2	1	6	13	26	−13	7
10	Petone	9	0	1	8	6	22	−16	1

Source: New Zealand Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals for; 4) Goals against; 5) Head to head; 6) Disciplinary record ^[33]
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Wellington Phoenix Reserves can not qualify for the Grand Final. ^[96]

Results table

Home \ Away	AC	AU	CT	CU	ES	MU	NC	PT	WO	WP
Auckland City		3–2	3–1	2–3		1–0			1–3
Auckland United				2–2	1–1		3–3		1–3	3–4
Cashmere Technical		1–2					4–2		3–3	2–1
Christchurch United			2–4			1–2	2–1	3–0		2–0
Eastern Suburbs	1–2		5–1	0–1		3–0		1–1
Manurewa		0–0	5–3						2–5	4–6
Napier City Rovers	2–4				0–5	0–1		3–0
Petone	0–2	0–1	1–5			1–2
Wellington Olympic				5–2	2–2		7–1	2–1		4–2
Wellington Phoenix Reserves	0–1				3–5		0–1	3–2

Source: New Zealand Football
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 3, but then postponed and played between rounds 6 and 7, it is added to the standings for round 6.

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Wellington Olympic	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	1
Auckland City	4	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	2
Christchurch United	4	2	3	4	3	3	3	4	3
Eastern Suburbs	7	7	8	7	8	7	5	5	4
Cashmere Technical	6	5	5	6	5	6	4	3	5
Manurewa	9	9	10	9	6	4	6	6	6
Auckland United	3	4	4	3	4	5	7	7	7
Wellington Phoenix Reserves	7	8	6	8	9	9	8	8	8
Napier City Rovers	2	6	7	5	7	8	9	9	9
Petone	10	10	9	10	10	10	10	10	10

	Leader and Grand Final
	Grand Final

Source: New Zealand Football

Grand Final

Sunday, 26 November 2023

13:00 NZDT

Wellington Olympic	2–0	Auckland City
Gould 58' Sinclair 90+5'	Report

Mt Smart Stadium , Auckland

Referee: Nick Waldron ^[97]

Statistics

As of 19 November 2023

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals [98] [99]
1	Gianni Bouzouzkis	Wellington Olympic	11
	Garbhan Coughlan	Cashmere Technical
3	Angus Kilkolly	Auckland City	7
4	Deri Corfe	Napier City Rovers	6
	Luis Toomey	Eastern Suburbs
6	Kingsley Sinclair	Eastern Suburbs	5
7	Gavin Hoy	Wellington Olympic	4
	Dylan Manickum	Auckland City
	Lyle Matthysen	Cashmere Technical
	Jack-Henry Sinclair	Wellington Olympic
	Joshua Tollervey	Wellington Phoenix Reserves
	Nicolas Zombrano	Auckland United

Hat-tricks

Round	Player	For	Against	Home/Away	Result	Date
2 [100]	Gianni Bouzoukis	Wellington Olympic	Napier City Rovers	Home	7–1	29 September 2023
	Jack-Henry Sinclair
7 [101]	Garbhan Coughlan	Cashmere Technical	Napier City Rovers	Home	4–2	5 November 2023
8 [102]		Christchurch United	Cashmere Technical	Away	2–4	10 November 2023

Discipline

Player

• Most yellow cards: 5 ^[99]
  • James Hoyle (Napier City Rovers)

• Most red cards: 1 ^[99]
  • 10 players

Club

• Most red cards: 3 ^[99]
  • Napier City Rovers

• Fewest red cards: 0 ^[99]
  • Auckland United
  • Eastern Suburbs
  • Petone
  • Wellington Phoenix Reserves

Awards

Goal of the Week

The goal of the week for the 2023 season included goals from the 2023 New Zealand Women's National League.

Goal of the Week
Week	Player	Club	Ref.
1	Edward Wilkinson	Christchurch United	[103]
2	N/A		[104]
3	Liam Schofield	Napier City Rovers	[105]
4	N/A		[106]
5	Nicolas Bobadilla	Manurewa	[107]
6	N/A		[108]
7	Lyle Matthysen	Cashmere Technical	[109]
8	Ashnarv Mustapha	Petone	[110]
9	Oliver Pickering	Petone	[111]

Annual awards

League	MVP [112]	Club	Top scorer	Club
Northern League	Derek Tieku	Hamilton Wanderers	Ryan de Vries Derek Tieku	Auckland City Hamilton Wanderers
Central League	Matthew Brazier	Petone	Matthew Brazier	Petone
Southern League	Garbhan Coughlan	Cashmere Technical	Sam Philip	Christchurch United
National League	Garbhan Coughlan [113]	Cashmere Technical	Gianni Bouzoukis [114] Garbhan Coughlan [115]	Wellington Olympic Cashmere Technical

Award	Winner	Club
Goal of the Season [116]	Oliver Pickering	Petone

Team of the season [117]
Goalkeeper	Scott Basalaj (Wellington Olympic)
Defenders	Jack-Henry Sinclair (Wellington Olympic)			Adam Thomas (Eastern Suburbs)			Ben Mata (Wellington Olympic)			Francis de Vries (Eastern Suburbs)
Midfielders	Luis Toomey (Eastern Suburbs)				Hideto Takahashi (Auckland United)				Cameron Howieson (Auckland City)
Forwards	Gianni Bouzoukis (Wellington Olympic)				Garbhan Coughlan (Cashmere Technical)				Deri Corfe (Napier City Rovers)

Notes

1. Official reasoning by Manurewa AFC.
2. Officially announced on 29 March 2023.

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