New Zealand National Soccer League

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

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 league in 1970 involved eight teams. Three clubs came from the Northern League, three clubs came from the Central League while the four clubs from the Southern League (Christchurch City, Rangers, Shamrock and Christchurch Technical) decided to back a new club called Christchurch United in the league. The last place went to the winner of a play-off of the fourth placed Northern League team, North Shore United, and the fourth placed Central League team, Hungaria. Hungaria succeeded by beating their opponents 1–0 in North Shore, and by drawing the return leg 1–1 at home.

The eight teams that took part in the inaugural National Soccer League were:

• Northern: Blockhouse Bay, Eastern Suburbs, Mt Wellington
• Central: Stop Out, Gisborne City, Hungaria, Western Suburbs
• Southern: Christchurch United

The northern clubs enjoyed an excellent start to the league, finishing in the top four places. The central clubs, however, took all the bottom four.

The final standings in 1970 were: [3]

Blockhouse Bay thus became the competitions first winner and the New Zealand Champions.

Western Suburbs weren't relegated, as it was decided to expand the league to 10 teams with Mt Albert-Ponsonby from the Northern league and Caversham from the Southern league, getting the two places in the league following a promotion play-off.[3]

Eastern Suburbs won the competition in its second season, while Western Suburbs again finished bottom and this time were relegated, with their place going to New Brighton.[4]

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

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:

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

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:

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.

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).

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.

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.

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]

• 6 - University-Mount Wellington
• 6 - Christchurch United
• 5 - Waitakere City
• 4 - Napier City Rovers
• 3 - Wellington United
• 2 - North Shore United
• 2 - Miramar Rangers
• 2 - Central United
• 1 - Blockhouse Bay
• 1 - Eastern Suburbs
• 1 - Manurewa AFC
• 1 - Gisborne City

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

• 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