The 1978 New Zealand National Soccer League was the ninth season of a nationwide round-robin club 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 ...

football. A change was made from previous years, with the replacement of goal average by goal difference as a means for ranking teams equal on points.

Promotion and relegation

Promotion was automatic, with the three lowest placed sides in the 1977 league ( New Brighton, Dunedin City, and Caversham) replaced by the winners of the northern, central, and southern leagues (

Courier Rangers Courier Rangers, known prior to 1968 as Otahuhu Rangers, is a former New Zealand football club based in the suburb of Otahuhu, Auckland. The team was a member of the New Zealand National Soccer League in 1978 and 1979, finishing fifth on the ...

, Waterside, and Woolston WMC respectively).

Team performance

The 1978 league saw a return of the traditional top-of-the-table rivalry between Trans Tours

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 ...

and Mount Wellington, with the Christchurch side narrowly finishing top. The Mount led the league for long periods of the season, but this was largely due to Christchurch having played less games. The outstanding matches saw results go in the southerners' favour, and they became the first side to record a third league title. Nelson United were the Mount's bogey team again, holding on for a draw in the last game of the season to leave the Aucklanders in second place. They had previously upset the odds by beating Mount Wellington in the

1977 Chatham Cup The 1977 Chatham Cup was the 50th annual nationwide knockout football competition in New Zealand. Early stages of the competition were run in three regions (northern, central, and southern), with the National League teams receiving a bye until ...

final.Hilton (1991), p. 95 Both Blockhouse Bay and Eastern Suburbs greatly improved on their 1977 league performance to finish in the top four. In the case of Suburbs this was largely through the importation of English players Bryn Gunn and Steve Elliot from

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. Elliot made the most of his stint with Suburbs, scoring 17 times in just 12 matches. Newly promoted

from Otahuhu in Auckland finished fifth, followed by

North Shore United North Shore United Association Football Club is an amateur football club based in the North Shore, Auckland. They compete in the Northern League, where they last won the competition in 2019. Their home ground is Allen Hill Stadium, which is l ...

. Rangers played excellently at home, but had difficulty finding the net away, leaving them with a mid-table finish. Loss of squad members from the previous season weighed against Shore, who were unable to mount any substantial bid to retain their title. Nelson United finished seventh for the second year in a row, hampered by a seeming inability to score goals. Stop Out trailed them in eighth, largely a result of a dreadful away season which saw them win just one from eleven games on the road. Just two years after being crowned champions,

Wellington Diamond United Wellington United AFC is an association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand, that competes in the Central League. History Wellington Diamond United Wellington Diamond United was the result of the merger of Diamond and Zealandia/Well ...

only narrowly avoided the drop. A poor run of two wins in their final twelve games was a substantial indication of their peril.

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

returned to the regional leagues, despite having the league's top scorer, and they were joined in relegation by newly promoted Waterside and Woolston WMC. The Wharfies seemed to make a habit of losing matches where they seemed comfortably in control, losing six matches they had led and missing several penalties during the season. Woolston were outclassed throughout the season and never looked likely to avoid the drop.

League table

Records and statistics

;Top scorer * Keith Nelson (Hamilton)Hilton (1991), p.96

References

Sources

*Hilton, T. (1991) ''An association with soccer.'' Auckland: The New Zealand Football Association. . {{NZNSL New Zealand National Soccer League seasons 1