The 1978 Chatham Cup was the 51st 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

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teams receiving a bye until the Fourth Round of the competition. In all, 144 teams took part in the competition. 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.

Results

Third round

* Won on penalties by Metro (3-2), Nelson Suburbs (3-2), and Porirua United (4-2)

Fourth round

* Won on penalties by Nelson Suburbs (4-3). † Replayed match after Courier Rangers fielded ineligible player

Fifth round

Sixth Round

Semi-finals

The Final

The final was held outside one of the main centres for the first time, being played in

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

Manurewa Manurewa is a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand. It was part of Manukau City before the creation of the Auckland super city in 2010. It is located south of the Manukau City Centre, and southeast of Auckland CBD. The suburb is b ...

won the competition for the first time since

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, when they had played under the name "Tramurewa" (after a recent merger with Tramways FC). The gap of 47 years between trophies in this competition is still a record. Manurewa's side was coached by

John Adshead John Adshead (born 27 March 1942) is an English-born former head coach of New Zealand's national football team—the All Whites—whom he led to their first FIFA World Cup appearance in the 1982 tournament. Life and work Adshead is one of the ...

who four years later would steer New Zealand's national side to their first FIFA World Cup. The team included several top players, notably

Dave Bright David John Bright (born 29 November 1949 in England) is a former footballer who represented New Zealand gaining 8 A-international caps from 1979 to 1982. Born in England, Bright emigrated to New Zealand in 1974 and made his first appearance fo ...

and goalkeeper

Frank van Hattum Francesco van Hattum (born 17 November 1958 in New Plymouth) is a former New Zealand football player who was a goalkeeper during the country's first World Cup finals tournament in 1982. His international career started in 1980, and he played a ...

; they were opposed by the previous year's champions, Nelson United, a team which boasted the presence of Kenny Cresswell, Peter Simonsen and Keith Mackay, among others. The game's only goal came after 12 minutes. Nelson keeper Owen Nuttridge failed to completely clear a Dave Bright cross, only for the ball to be headed into the net by Bruce Foster. p. 78

Final

References

Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation New Zealand 1978 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 1978 sports events in New Zealand