New Zealand National Football Leagues

The New Zealand National League is the name given to the current New Zealand top football competition. Originally set up as the New Zealand National Soccer League there has been many versions of the competition as well as many different names. The most common format saw club teams play each other, at least two times, on a home and away basis. At the completion of those games, the best-performing team was declared as the New Zealand champion. The latest version has the clubs play in their regional leagues with the top teams qualifying for the Championship phase to then play each other for the champion.

Leagues structures

The national competition has had many different formats: ^{[1] : 6  [2]}

Structure	Format	Participation	Season	Entry
Provincial Champions 1892–1968	Provincial	Club	Winter	Promotion/Relegation
Regional Leagues 1966–1969	Regional	Club	Winter	Promotion/Relegation
National Soccer League 1970–1992	National	Club	Winter	Promotion/Relegation
Superclub League 1993–1995	Regional leading to National finals	Super Club	Winter	Promotion/Relegation
National Summer League 1996–1998	National	Club	Summer	Participation criteria
New Zealand Island Leagues 1999	North Island/South Island leagues North Island v South Island play-off	Club	Winter	Participation criteria
National Soccer League 2000–2003	Regional leading to National finals	Club	Winter	Promotion/Relegation
New Zealand Football Championship 2004–2021	National with playoff series	Franchise	Summer	Participation criteria
New Zealand National League 2021–	Regional leading to National finals	Club	Summer	Participation criteria

1892–1968

Canterbury

1905 Christchurch Celtic	1906 Christchurch Club	1907 Burnham IS & Christchurch Celtic [shared]	1908 Christchurch Club	1909 Burnham IS	1910 Burnham IS
1911 Burnham IS	1912 Christchurch Nomads	1913 Sydenham Christchurch	1914 Sydenham Christchurch	1915 Christchurch Club	1916 Christchurch Rangers
1917 Linwood Christchurch	1918 Excelsior Christchurch	1919 Linwood Christchurch & Excelsior Christchurch [shared]	1920 Nomads Christchurch	1921 Corinthians	1922 Rangers
1923 Sunnyside	1924 Sunnyside	1925 Sunnyside	1926 Sunnyside	1927 Nomads	1928 Western
1929 Thistle	1930 Thistle	1931 Rangers & Nomads [shared]	1932 Thistle	1933 Thistle	1934 Thistle
1935 Western	1936 Western	1937 Technical OB & Western [shared]	1938 Nomads	1939 Western	1940 Western
1941 Western	1942 Western	1943 Western	1944 Thistle	1945 Western	1946 Western
1947 Western	1948 Western	1949 Technical OB	1950 Technical OB	1951 Technical OB	1952 Technical OB
1953 Western	1954 Western	1955 Western	1956 Western	1957 Western	1958 Western
1959 Western	1960 Western	1961 Technical OB	1962 Western	1963 Nomads	1964 Christchurch City
1965 Christchurch City	1966 Christchurch City	1967 Christchurch City

1965–1970

Northern League

1965 Eastern Suburbs

1966 Eastern Suburbs

1967 Ponsonby AFC (Auckland)

1968 Mount Wellington

1969 Mount Wellington

Central League

1966 Kiwi United (Western League)

1967 Eastern Union (Central Districts League)

1968 Western Suburbs

1969 Western Suburbs

Southern League

1968 Christchurch City

1969 Christchurch Technical

1970–1992

When the National Soccer League was launched in 1970, it became the first national league for any sport in New Zealand. ^{[1] : 6} It involved clubs playing each other two times, on a home and away basis. Two points were awarded for a win, and one point was awarded for a draw. The club with the greatest number of points was declared the champion. The league was open and clubs could be relegated from it and promoted to it.

The National Soccer League continued until 1992 when the League was disbanded due to financial reasons. ^{[2] : 39}

Season results

Year	League size	Matches per team	Winner	Relegated	Promoted	Notes
1970 [3]	8	14	Blockhouse Bay	-	Mt Albert-Ponsonby, Caversham	First season of the competition
1971 [4]	10	18	Eastern Suburbs	Western Suburbs FC	New Brighton	Hungaria joined with Miramar Rangers to form Wellington City, while Caversham, Maori Hill and Dunedin Technical joined to form Dunedin Suburbs
1972 [5]	10	18	Mt Wellington	Auckland City	Wellington United Diamonds	Dunedin Technical and Maori Hill withdrew support of Dunedin Suburbs and left the position to Caversham, while Miramar Rangers withdrew support of Wellington City. Mt Albert-Ponsonby changed name to Auckland City
1973 [6]	10	18	Christchurch United	Caversham	North Shore United
1974 [7]	10	18	Mt Wellington	Wellington Diamond United	Caversham
1975 [8]	10	18	Christchurch United	Wellington City	Wellington Diamond United
1976 [9]	10	18	Wellington Diamond United	Gisborne City	Hamilton, Nelson United, Dunedin City	Christchurch United was known as Trans Tours United from 1976 to 1978
1977 [10]	12	22	North Shore United	New Brighton, Dunedin City, Caversham	Courier Rangers, Waterside, Woolston WMC	League expanded to 12 teams and promotion and relegation changed to 3 up, 3 down with a team from each regional league
1978 [11]	12	22	Christchurch United	Hamilton, Waterside, Woolston WMC	Manurewa, Manawatu United, Dunedin City
1979 [12]	12	22	Mt Wellington	Manawatu United, Courier Rangers, Eastern Suburbs	Hamilton, Gisborne City, Rangers
1980 [13]	12	22	Mt Wellington	Stop Out, Blockhouse Bay, Nelson United	Takapuna, Miramar Rangers, Woolston WMC
1981 [14]	12	22	Wellington Diamond United	Takapuna, Woolston WMC, Rangers	East Coast Bays, Napier City Rovers, Invercargill Thistle
1982 [15]	12	22	Mt Wellington	Hamilton, East Coast Bays, Invercargill Thistle	Papatoetoe, Nelson United, Dunedin Technical
1983 [16]	12	22	Manurewa	Dunedin Technical	Auckland University	Number of points for a win changed from 2 to 3
1984 [17]	12	22	Gisborne City	-	-	Auckland University finished 12th but retained their place in the league following a four-way play-off win versus the regional league winners
1985 [18]	12	22	Wellington Diamond United	Napier City Rovers	Manawatu United	Wellington Diamond United merged with Wellington City and became Wellington City Diamond United - then shortened the name to Wellington United
1986 [19]	12	22	Mt Wellington	-	Mount Maunganui, Napier City Rovers, Hutt Valley United	Despite finishing 9th, Auckland University were dropped because their ground did not meet the required league standard. [2] : 10  Manurewa who had finished last, were not relegated
1987 [20]	14	26	Christchurch United	-	Waikato United	League expanded to 14 teams. Dunedin City who had finished 12th, withdrew due to financial reasons meaning Miramar Rangers weren't relegated
1988 [21]	14	26	Christchurch United	Manawatu United	Waterside Karori	Nelson United, who finished 13th, were dropped because their ground didn't meet the required league standards. They were replaced by Waitakere City. Manawatu United was still relegated and replaced by Waterside
1989 [22]	14	26	Napier City Rovers	Papatoetoe	New Plymouth Old Boys
1990 [23]	14	26	Waitakere City	Waterside Karori	Nelson United
1991 [24]	14	26	Christchurch United	Gisborne City	Papatoetoe	Papatoetoe only played off against Central league winners Wellington Olympic as Southern league winners Dunedin City opted out due to costs
1992 [25]	14	26	Waitakere City	-	-	League disbanded and replaced by the Superclub competition. Hutt Valley United disbanded and Lower Hutt City took their place in the new competition

1993–1995

Further information: Superclub competition

Following the dissolution of the league a new competition, called Superclub Championship, was launched to decide the top club in the country. ^{[2] : 11} The top 10 clubs in each three regional groups (Northern, Central, Southern) would play each other home and away with $10,000 going to the team that finished first in their region, $7,000 for second and $5,000 for third. Then the country's top eight teams, being three teams from northern, and central regions, and two from the south, combine to play each other once. After that the top four teams then play each other once before culminating in a grand final between the top two from that round. For the team that finished first, they were paid $30,000, $15,000 went to the runner-up with $5,000 to third and fourth. ^{[2] : 39}

The winners in those years were as follows:

Year	Regional League sizes (N, C, S)	Regional matches per team (N, C, S)	National League size	Matches per team	Winners	Runners-up
1993 [26]	10, 10, 10	18, 18, 18	8	7	Napier City Rovers	Waitakere City
1994 [27]	10, 10, 10	18, 18, 18	8	7	North Shore United	Napier City Rovers
1995 [28]	10, 11, 10	18, 20, 18	8	7	Waitakere City	Waikato United

The increase in the number of teams participating for the championship, as well as lack of a true national league system, caused a strong drop in playing standards. It was clear that New Zealand not only needed a national league, but also one which was financially stable. ^{[2] : 43}

1996–1998

Further information: National Summer Soccer League

In 1996 a National League was launched for the second time in the history of New Zealand soccer. This time however, the league was (mostly) played during the summer months and did not feature relegation and promotion. Teams were invited to participate and the selection criteria involved the financial strength of the club and its location. The league also featured a championship play-off session at the end of the seasons, involving teams finishing high in the table.

To further upset the traditionalists, penalties followed matches which ended in a draw. The winners of the penalty shoot-out were awarded two points, the losers one point while winners in the regular 90 minutes were awarded four points (although this system as dropped in the last year of the National Summer Soccer League). The winners in those years were:

Year	League size	Matches per team	Winners	Runners-up
1996	10	18	Waitakere City	Miramar Rangers
1997	10	18	Waitakere City	Napier City Rovers
1998	11	20	Napier City Rovers	Central United

1999

Further information: 1999 New Zealand island soccer leagues

In 1999, the National Soccer League again took a break. The competition for determining the New Zealand champion was moved back to (mostly) winter months. Two leagues were created, the North Island Soccer League (NISL) and the South Island Soccer League (SISL). The winner of the NISL, Central United, defeated the winner of the SISL, Dunedin Technical, 3–1, in extra time, in the championship final.

2000–2003

The National Soccer League was launched for the third time in 2000 as the National Club Championship. Like the original in 1970, it was played during (mostly) winter months and a promotion and relegation system was used. In the first season, a bonus point was awarded for scoring four or more goals in one match but that system was dropped in subsequent seasons. The championship play-offs system at the end of the league was the major difference when compared with the competition launched in 1970.

Seven teams, participating in the first edition, came from the NISL (Central United, Waitakere City, Napier City Rovers, Mt Wellington, Miramar Rangers, Metro and Manawatu AFC) and three came from the SISL (Dunedin Technical, Nelson Suburbs, Woolston WMC).

Year	League size	Matches per team	Winner	Relegated	Promoted	Notes
2000	10	18	Napier City Rovers	Nelson Suburbs	Tauranga City United	Nelson Suburbs, who finished 7th, withdrew due to financial reasons. Metro, who finished 10th, retained their place following play-offs. Controversially, Tauranga City United, who finished third in the play-offs, were awarded Nelson's spot in the league, ahead of Caversham, who finished second.
2001	10	18	Central United	Metro	North Shore United
2002	10	18	Miramar Rangers	Waitakere City	Caversham
2003	10	18	Miramar Rangers	-	-

2004

2004 was the transition year between the National Soccer League and the New Zealand Football championship. Regional competitions were played but no New Zealand champion was determined.

2004–2021

Further information: New Zealand Football Championship

On 15 October 2004 the New Zealand Football Championship was launched (NZFC). It marked a turning point in the history of the game in New Zealand, as for the first time traditional clubs were not eligible to participate in the top league. They were replaced by eight franchise style entities.

2021–

Further information: New Zealand National League

In March 2021, New Zealand Football announced a change to the structure of both the premiership and the top regional leagues around the country. The four top regional leagues (NRFL Premier, Central Premier League, Mainland Premier League and the FootballSouth Premier League) would be formed into the Northern League, Central League, and the Southern League. These leagues would allow local clubs to qualify for the premiership season (now known as the National League Championship), with the top 4 teams from the Northern League, the top 3 teams from the Central League, and the top 2 teams from the Southern League making up the competition, alongside the Wellington Phoenix Reserve side. All teams that qualify plus the Phoenix Reserves, would then play a single round-robin competition between October and December. The top two placed teams will then progress to the Grand Final. ^[29]

Year	League size	Matches per team	Winners	Runners-up
2021 [a]	6	5	Miramar Rangers	Wellington Olympic
2022	10	9	Auckland City	Wellington Olympic
2023	10	9	Wellington Olympic	Auckland City
2024	10	9	Auckland City	Birkenhead United

1. Season was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. One off South Central series was played instead. Season does not count as official. ^{[30] [31] [32]}

Champions

Club	Wins	Winning years
Auckland City	10	2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2022, 2024
University-Mount Wellington	6	1972, 1974, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1986
Christchurch United		1973, 1975, 1978, 1987, 1988, 1991
Waitakere City #	5	1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1996–97
Waitakere United †		2007–08, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13
Napier City Rovers	4	1989, 1993, 1998, 2000
Wellington United	3	1976, 1981, 1985
Team Wellington †		2015–16, 2016–17, 2020–21
Miramar Rangers		2002, 2003, 2021 *
North Shore United	2	1977, 1994
Central United		1999, 2001
Eastern Suburbs		1971, 2018–19
Blockhouse Bay #	1	1970
Manurewa AFC		1983
Gisborne City †		1984
Wellington Olympic		2023

• ^†Disbanded teams
• ^#Club has since merged into a new team

See also

• Football in New Zealand
• National Women's League
• Chatham Cup
• Kate Sheppard Cup

References

1. "New Zealand Football National Competitions Review". New Zealand Football . September 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
2. Holloway, Bruce. The National League Debates. Hereford Publishing. ISBN   978-0-473-32931-0 . Retrieved 7 February 2021.
3. "Football in New Zealand 1970". RSSSF .
4. "Football in New Zealand 1971". RSSSF .
5. "Football in New Zealand 1972". RSSSF .
6. "Football in New Zealand 1973". RSSSF .
7. "Football in New Zealand 1974". RSSSF .
8. "Football in New Zealand 1975". RSSSF .
9. "Football in New Zealand 1976". RSSSF .
10. "Football in New Zealand 1977". RSSSF .
11. "Football in New Zealand 1978". RSSSF .
12. "Football in New Zealand 1979". RSSSF .
13. "Football in New Zealand 1980". RSSSF .
14. "Football in New Zealand 1981". RSSSF .
15. "Football in New Zealand 1982". RSSSF .
16. "Football in New Zealand 1983". RSSSF .
17. "Football in New Zealand 1984". RSSSF .
18. "Football in New Zealand 1985". RSSSF .
19. "Football in New Zealand 1986". RSSSF .
20. "Football in New Zealand 1987". RSSSF .
21. "Football in New Zealand 1988". RSSSF .
22. "Football in New Zealand 1989". RSSSF .
23. "Football in New Zealand 1990". RSSSF .
24. "Football in New Zealand 1991". RSSSF .
25. "Football in New Zealand 1992". RSSSF .
26. Ruane, Jeremy. "1993 Winfield Superclub Championship". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
27. Ruane, Jeremy. "1994 Winfield Superclub Championship". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
28. Ruane, Jeremy. "1995 Winfield Superclub Championship". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
29. "New National League competition details confirmed". New Zealand Football . Retrieved 31 March 2021.
30. "National League Championship cancelled, new interregional competition announced and Chatham Cup moved to 2022". New Zealand Football . Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
31. "NZ Football cancels National League championship; one-off inter-regional competition planned". Otago Daily Times.
32. "National League Championships cancelled; one-off South Central Series scheduled". Stuff.

External links

• New Zealand Football National Competition Review
• National League - The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website
• The National League Debates
• RSSSF.com - New Zealand - List of Champions - National Champions since 1970