The Central Federation League is an amateur status league competition run by Central Football for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

clubs located in the central region of the North Island,

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 ...

. It is currently in the third level of the New Zealand football league system, below the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

administered by Capital Football and is entered by clubs from the

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

, Manawatū-Whanganui,

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region i ...

and Gisborne districts.

History

The league was launched in 2000 and began within the second tier of the New Zealand league system as a replacement for the disbanded triple division Central League, which had run in various forms since 1966.

Current clubs

''As of the 2023 season.'' (2) — Denotes club's second team

2022 League Table

2022 Central League place play-off

Aggregate score 5–4. Stop Out promoted to the 2022 Central League. In late 2022 Whanganui Athletic were also promoted to the 2023

after the withdrawal of

Wellington 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 ...

from the competition.

2021 League Table

2021 Central League place play-off

Aggregate score 6–6. Havelock North Wanderers win tie on away goal rule and are promoted to the 2022 Central League. Note - Wairarapa United withdrew from the 2022 Central League prior to the start of the season and were subsequently replaced by Wellington United.

Past Clubs

Records

Past Champions

*2000 – Manawatu *2001 –

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 ...

*2002 –

*2003 – Manawatu *2004 –

*2005 –

Gisborne Thistle Gisborne Thistle AFC is an association football club based in the city of Gisborne, in the North Island of New Zealand. For many years, the club played second-fiddle to neighbours Gisborne City (with whom they share the Childers Road Reserve gro ...

*2006 – Team Taranaki *2007–09 – ''not contested'' *2010 – Maycenvale United *2011–12 – ''not contested'' *2013 – Palmerston North Marist *2014 – Wanganui Athletic *2015 – Team Taranaki *2016 – Team Taranaki *2017 – Havelock North Wanderers *2018 – Palmerston North Marist *2019 – Havelock North Wanderers *2020 –

New Plymouth Rangers New Plymouth Rangers is an amateur association football club based in New Plymouth, New Zealand. They were founded as New Plymouth Old Boys in 1940, and have had a complex naming history. The team play at Merrilands Domain. The club has men's an ...

*2021 – Havelock North Wanderers *2022 – Whanganui Athletic *2023 – Palmerston North Marist

Central Federation Cup

The

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Central Federation Cup is the premier men's knock-out trophy of the Central Football Federation and is contested annually by clubs affiliated to the Central Football Federation. The cup competition in its current form began in 2009, with the exception of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

affected 2020 season when the first round of matches was initially scheduled then subsequently cancelled.

Central Federation Cup Champions

*2009 - Wanganui City AFC *2010 - Gisborne City AFC *2011 - Maycenvale United (2) *2012 - Napier City Rovers FC (2) *2013 -

Havelock North Wanderers AFC Havelock North Wanderers is a soccer club in Havelock North, New Zealand. The club was formed in 1947 as Hastings Wanderers, changing to their current name in 1968. They won promotion to the New Zealand Football Central League (New Zealand), Ce ...

*2014 - Gisborne United AFC *2015 - Hāwera FC *2016 - Napier City Rovers FC (2) *2017 - Massey University Football Club *2018 - Eltham AFC *2019 - Massey University Football Club *2020 - not contested *2021 - Massey University Football Club *2022 - Gisborne United AFC *2023 - Whanganui Athletic (2) *(2) denotes club's second team

References

{{Association football in New Zealand Association football leagues in New Zealand Sports leagues established in 2000 2000 establishments in New Zealand