The 1979 New Zealand National Soccer League was the tenth 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. It produced the biggest winning margin in the league's history, with Mount Wellington never being in serious danger of finishing anywhere but first.

Promotion and relegation

Promotion was automatic, with the three lowest placed sides in the 1978 league (

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 ...

, Waterside, and

Woolston WMC Cashmere Technical is an association football club based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was formed in early 2012 from the merger of two of the city's premier teams, Cashmere Wanderers and Woolston Technical. The two clubs had agreed to work to ...

) replaced by the winners of the northern, central, and southern leagues ( Manurewa,

Manawatu United Manawatu United (previously known as YoungHeart Manawatu) was a football club based in Palmerston North, New Zealand. It participated in the New Zealand Football Championship, and fielded a youth side in the National Youth League. Their home g ...

, and Dunedin City respectively).

Team performance

Mount Wellington produced an emphatic performance to win the league by an unprecedented 14 points, a bigger gap than that between second and last. They won all eleven of their home games, scoring 34 and only letting in four. They also only lost two games away, to Dunedin City and to Nelson united — United proving the Mount's nemesis for the third year in a row. The race for second proved tense, with

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 ...

heading off a pack of teams separated by only a couple of points.

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 lo ...

— who were to go under the sponsorship-related name of Hanimex United from this year until 1985 — finished third, level on points with newly promoted Manurewa and Dunedin City.Hilton (1991), p. 97-98 In mid-table,

Nelson United Nelson United was a New Zealand soccer club, based in the South Island city of Nelson. Their home ground was Guppy Park. The team was founded in 1968 through the amalgamation of Nelson Thistle (founded 1924) and Nelson Rangers (founded 1950 ...

improved one place on the previous season to finish sixth, its good home form buoying it up but its poor away record proving a major hindrance. They were followed by

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 ...

, who saw a late slump in their form after a good opening to the season which briefly had them in second place.

Blockhouse Bay Blockhouse Bay is a residential suburb in the south west of Auckland, in New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the northern coast of the Manukau Harbour, and is also close to the administrative boundary that existed between Auckland Cit ...

were fortunate to finish eighth, a late rally moving them off the foot of the table.

Stop Out Stop Out Sports Club, commonly known as Stop Out, is an association football club in Lower Hutt, New Zealand is based at Hutt Park, Moera in Lower Hutt. History The Stop Out organisation started in 1919 with the aim of providing recreation to T ...

also narrowly avoided the drop, staying up by virtue of a better goal difference than

's first season in the league proved to be their last until

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

. A dreadful start to the season left them languishing with just four points from their first 11 matches, and despite a greatly improved second half to the season the gap was too much to bridge. They were joined in relegation by

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 their ...

, who started the season brightly but then had a poor run of form which saw only one win in their last 17 games. Last of all were

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

champions

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 ...

, whose gradual progress down the table since that year finally saw the seam at the foot of the table.

League table

References

Sources

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