The 1976 Chatham Cup was the 49th annual nationwide knockout football competition in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Early stages of the competition were run in three regions (northern, central, and southern), with the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

teams receiving a bye until the later stages of the competition. In all, 146 teams took part in the competition - a record for the time. Note: Different sources give different numberings for the rounds of the competition: some start round one with the beginning of the regional qualifications; others start numbering from the first national knock-out stage. The former numbering scheme is used in this article.

The 1976 final

Christchurch United Christchurch United is an amateur association football club in Christchurch, New Zealand. They compete in various Mainland Football competitions at Junior and Senior level. The club has won six National League titles and six Chatham Cup trophi ...

, coached by Terry Conley, became only the second team (after Waterside in 1938-40) to win the cup on three successive occasions. Seven players played on all three winning sides, among them future New Zealand captain Steve Sumner. Three of these players ( Graham Griffiths,

Brian Hardman Brian Hardman is a former association football player who represented New Zealand at international level. Hardman made his full All Whites debut in a 2–4 loss to New Caledonia on 18 July 1971 and ended his international playing career with 9 ...

, and Ian Park) had also played in Christchurch United's winning side in the 1972 final. The final against

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

was a one-sided affair (United had had a harder task in their semi-final against Blockhouse Bay). The South Island side scored four, though the first of these was an own goal by Suburbs' Tom Bell. Norman Moran picked up a brace before the scoring was completed by Mark McNaughton. pp. 77-78

Results

Third round

* Won on penalties by Whangarei (5-2) and Petone (3-0)

Fourth round

* Won on penalties by Mt. Wellington (4-2)

Fifth round

* Won on penalties by Blockhouse Bay (4-3), New Brighton (4-3), and North Shore United (4-3)

Sixth Round

Semi-finals

Semi-final replay

Final

References

Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation New Zealand 1976 page
{{Chatham Cup seasons Chatham Cup

Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are 2022 winners Auck ...

September 1976 sports events in New Zealand