The Central League is an amateur status league competition run by

Capital Football Capital Football is the trading name for the ACT Football Federation Incorporated, the state governing body for association football, soccer in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), but also has affili ...

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 southern and central parts of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

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 ...

. From 2021 it is at the second level of

New Zealand Football New Zealand Football is the governing body for the sport of association football in New Zealand. It oversees the seven New Zealand Football federations, as well as the New Zealand national football team (nicknamed the "All Whites"), the nationa ...

below the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

, which has replaced the national association based ISPS Handa Premiership.

League history

The premier league was initially set up as one of the three feeder leagues to the

New Zealand National Soccer League The New Zealand National League is the name given to the current New Zealand top football competition. Originally set up as the New Zealand National Soccer League there has been many versions of the competition as well as many different names. Th ...

in 1992, and continued in this form until being disbanded at the end of the 1999 season. The league was reinstated in 2005 as the top club league for the central region of New Zealand football, and the current strength of the league is demonstrated by it providing the past

Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier 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 Auckland City, who defeated Eastern ...

winners in 2009 ( Wellington Olympic), 2010 (

Miramar Rangers Miramar Rangers AFC is an amateur New Zealand association football club in the Wellington suburb of Miramar. The club is one of the most successful in New Zealand having won the Chatham Cup four times and the National League title twice. Over t ...

), 2011 (

Wairarapa United Wairarapa United is a Association football, football club based in Masterton, New Zealand and are currently competing in the Central Premier League, Central League. Club history The club was formed by the merger of Masterton (soccer), Masterton ...

) and 2015 (

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 p ...

Renaming and restructuring of leagues in the country

In March 2021,

announced a change to the structure of both the premiership and the top regional leagues around the country. The four top regional leagues (

NRFL Premier The Northern League is a semi-professional New Zealand association football competition. It is a top-tier competition during the winter season, and sits at step two overall. The Northern League includes football clubs located in the northern pa ...

Central Premier League The Central League is an amateur status league competition run by Capital Football for Association football clubs located in the southern and central parts of the North Island, New Zealand. From 2021 it is at the second level of New Zealand Footb ...

Mainland Premier League The Mainland Premier League is a league competition run by Mainland Football for association football clubs located in the northern half of the South Island, New Zealand. It is currently regarded by the New Zealand footballing community as the s ...

and the

FootballSouth Premier League The Southern Football Premier League (known as the ODT Southern Men's Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is a New Zealand association football league competition administered bSouthern Footballinvolving clubs from the lower half of the Sout ...

) would be formed into the Northern League, Central League, and the Southern League. These leagues would allow local clubs to qualify for the premiership season (now known as the National League Championship), with the top 4 teams from the Northern League, the top 3 teams from the Central League, and the top 2 teams from the Southern League making up the competition, alongside the Wellington Phoenix Reserve side. All teams that qualify plus the Phoenix Reserves, would then play a single round-robin competition between September and December.

League format

The league currently comprises 10 teams, who play each other twice in the season on a home-and-away basis. At the conclusion of the season the winner are crowned champions and with the next two sides proceed to the National League. The bottom side is relegated automatically to their regional league (either Capital Premier or the Federation League), with the top eligible sides from each of those leagues playing a two-legged playoff for promotion.

Current clubs

''As of the 2022 season.''

was entered as one of the originally 10 teams to play the 2022 season but withdrew with just two weeks to go before the start of the season. They were replaced by

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 ...

who had originally missed out on promotion to Havelock North Wanderers.

Past clubs

Top scorers

The following list is from the 2021 season onwards after

changed the football league system in New Zealand. From 2021, the Central League has acted as a qualifier league to the

Records

The following records are from the 2021 season onwards after

changed the football league system in New Zealand. From 2021, the Central League has acted as a qualifier league to the

. The records are up to date as of the end of the 2022 season. * Most wins in a season: 15 – Wellington Olympic (

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

) * Fewest defeats in a season: 1 – Wellington Olympic (

& 2022) * Most goals scored in a season: 71 – Wellington Olympic
2022
* Fewest goals conceded in a season: 15 – Wellington Olympic
2022
* Most points in a season: 47 – Wellington Olympic (

) * Fewest points in a season: 4 –

Wainuiomata Wainuiomata () is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, in the Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island. Origin of name The word 'Wainui-o-mata' is a Māori name made up of the words Wai = water, Nui = big, O = of, and Mata – which could refer ...

(

) * Highest goal difference: 56 – Wellington Olympic
2022
* Biggest home win: –

Lower Hutt City Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most ...

12–1

(26 June 2021) * Biggest away win: –

Western Suburbs FC Western Suburbs Football Club is an association football club in Porirua, New Zealand. They play their home matches at Endeavour Park in the Porirua suburb of Whitby and compete in the Central Premier League. Western Suburbs is in partnership ...

1 - 11 Wellington Olympic (14 August 2022) * Highest scoring match: 13 goals –

12–1

(26 June 2021)

MVP Winners

Past Champions

Source: *1992 – Wanganui East Athletic *1993 – Manawatu *1994 – Tawa *1995 –

*1996 – Western Suburbs *1997 –

*1998 – Western Suburbs *1999 –

Island Bay United Island Bay United is a football club in the southern suburb of Island Bay in Wellington, New Zealand. The club was founded in 1931 as Wellington Technical College Old Boys. In 1966 the name was changed to Island Bay United. Island Bay United ...

*2000–2004 – ''no competition'' *2005 – Western Suburbs *2006 –

*2007 – Western Suburbs *2008 –

*2009 – Western Suburbs *2010 – Wellington Olympic *2011 –

*2012 –

*2013 –

*2014 –

*2015 –

*2016 – Wellington Olympic *2017 – Western Suburbs *2018 –

*2019 – Western Suburbs *2020 –

– Wellington Olympic *

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

– Wellington Olympic

References

External links

National League official website

Capital/Central Region official website
{{NZ fb general 2