1983 New Zealand National Soccer League
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The 1983 New Zealand National Soccer League was the 14th 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.
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 ...
comfortably won the league for the first time, finishing eight points clear of second-placed Hanimex
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 ...
. This was the first season in which a win scored three points; prior to this they were worth only two.Hilton (1991), p. 180


Promotion and relegation

Promotion was automatic, with the three lowest placed sides in the 1982 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 ...
, East Coast Bays, and
Invercargill Thistle Invercargill Thistle also known as Thistle FC is an established football club based in the South Island city of Invercargill. The team was founded in 1936 and currently have 13 teams from Men's premier, Women's, and Junior divisions. During the ...
) replaced by the winners of the northern, central, and southern leagues (
Papatoetoe Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau Central, and 18 kilometres southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe has the unofficial title of Auckland ...
, Nelson United, and
Dunedin Technical Dunedin Technical (known locally as Tech) is a semi-professional association football club in Dunedin, New Zealand. They compete in the ODT FootballSouth Premier League and were the 2018 ODT FootballSouth Premier League champions. Club history ...
respectively). From 1983 play-offs for promotion and relegation returned, with the bottom side in the league playing off with the three regional champions for a solitary league place. This was thus the last season in which the top teams from the regional leagues would automatically enter the league. In the event bottom-placed
Dunedin Technical Dunedin Technical (known locally as Tech) is a semi-professional association football club in Dunedin, New Zealand. They compete in the ODT FootballSouth Premier League and were the 2018 ODT FootballSouth Premier League champions. Club history ...
withdrew from the league at the end of the season, meaning that the three regional champions would play off for the vacancy.Hilton (1991), p. 104


Team performance

It was Auckland's year, with all of the top four places filled by teams from the Queen City. The league was very close with teams who had led early ending in the bottom half of the table and vice versa. As the second half of the season started only two points separated second from ninth, and at the end of the season fourth and seventh place were separated on goal difference alone.
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 ...
were by far the league's strongest side in 1983, and would have finished first by either the old or new points system. They scored five more goals than the second highest scoring team, and conceded fewer than any other side as well on their way to the title. Their season was topsy-turvy, and after three matches they were bottom of the league with just one point. Their remaining 19 matches contained only two further losses, however. Their team was bolstered by the twin acquisitions of Steve Sumner and Mark Armstrong, who between them scored 30 goals. Sumner was the league's top scorer with 18, and the inaugural winner of the league's Golden Boot award. Hanimex
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 ...
repeated 1982's second placing, and did so in a similarly unorthodox fashion. As with their 1982 performance, they could not repeat their home form away. At home they were invincible, with ten wins and a single draw from their eleven matches. Away, they were a different side, drawing five, losing six, and failing to pick up a single win. Newcomers
Papatoetoe Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau Central, and 18 kilometres southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe has the unofficial title of Auckland ...
impressed with their third placing. unlike North Shore, it was the reds' away form which saw them reach the heights, with seven wins on the road. Mount Wellington had a lacklustre season by their high standards, finishing fourth. They led in the first half of the season, but their later form was inconsistent and the league at the halfway mark was too close for that to go unpunished. Fifth-placed
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 ...
had also headed the table mid-season, but a series of bad results saw them drop to the lower reaches of the table.
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 ...
was another team briefly in title contention after an undefeated string of eight matches. A mid-season break did them no favours, and they found it impossible to replicate this early form on the resumption. Early competition leaders Miramar Rangers also found their early good form elusive to repeat, and their last seven matches included just two wins.
Napier City Rovers Napier City Rovers is a football team based in Napier, New Zealand, competing in the Central Premier League. Club history The team was founded in 1973 via a merger of Napier Rovers and Napier City. Napier City Rovers have won New Zealand's ...
' season was the opposite of this; they started very poorly but produced an excellent second half to the season to rise out of relegation danger. Dunedin City was another team to have a mid-season change of fortune. With five games to go they were second on the table, but their final five games produced only one point.Hilton (1991), pp. 104-105
Gisborne City Gisborne City AFC was an association football club in Gisborne, New Zealand. Founded in 1939 as Eastern Union, the club changed its name to Gisborne City after winning the Central Districts League at the first attempt in 1967. As Eastern Union, ...
had a consistently poor season, never being far from the foot of the table. Nelson United finished one point below Gisborne, a far cry from the brief spell they had at the top of the table after the opening round of matches. Neither they nor Gisborne was in any real danger of relegation, however, as
Dunedin Technical Dunedin Technical (known locally as Tech) is a semi-professional association football club in Dunedin, New Zealand. They compete in the ODT FootballSouth Premier League and were the 2018 ODT FootballSouth Premier League champions. Club history ...
found the step up from the regional leagues simply too great. They set records of the wrong sort with 59 goals scored against them and a gap of 20 points between them and eleventh placed Nelson.Hilton (1991), pp. 105-106


League table


Records and statistics

;Golden Boot Award (Top scorer) * Steve Sumner (Manurewa) – 18 goals


References


Sources

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