The Mainland Premier League is a league competition run by Mainland 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 northern half of the
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
,
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 regarded by the New Zealand footballing community as the strongest football league in the South Island of New Zealand and features current and former
New Zealand Football Championship
The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...
players.
The competition currently runs between March and August each year, and consists of seven teams based in Christchurch, and one team in Nelson. There are 21 rounds where teams play each other three times. The winner of the league qualifies for the South Island Championship, a one-off game against the winner of 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 ...
, which is hosted by the two federations in alternate years.
By statute, the winners of the Canterbury Championship League and Nelson Bays Division One play in a home and away play-off, with the winner of the tie receiving promotion to the Premier League. However, due to potential extra travel costs, the winner of the Nelson Bays Division One title usually forgoes the right to a play-off. This effectively means that the winner of the Canterbury Championship League title is normally promoted to the Premier League.
In 2012,
Woolston Technical
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 ...
and
Cashmere Wanderers
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 t ...
merged to become
Cashmere Technical
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 t ...
; they replaced the Woolston side that had finished sixth in the 2011 competition. Recently merged teams
Coastal Spirit (Established between
New Brighton AFC
New Brighton Association Football Club is the name of two football clubs from the seaside resort of New Brighton, in Wallasey, Merseyside in England. The original club founded in 1921 were members of the Football League from 1923 until 1951, p ...
and
Rangers AFC in 2008), and
FC Twenty 11 (Established between
Avon United and
Burnside AFC in 2011) entered the Premier League through promotion from the Division One competition.
Mainland Premier League clubs
''As of 2023 season.''
:(2) — Denotes club's second team
Winners
*1998 -
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 ...
*1999 -
Halswell United
Halswell United is an amateur association football club based in Christchurch, New Zealand in the suburb of Halswell. They will compete in the New World Mainland Premier League.
The club was founded in 1964 as Halswell United Soccer, changing i ...
*2000 -
Halswell United
Halswell United is an amateur association football club based in Christchurch, New Zealand in the suburb of Halswell. They will compete in the New World Mainland Premier League.
The club was founded in 1964 as Halswell United Soccer, changing i ...
*2001 -
Halswell United
Halswell United is an amateur association football club based in Christchurch, New Zealand in the suburb of Halswell. They will compete in the New World Mainland Premier League.
The club was founded in 1964 as Halswell United Soccer, changing i ...
*2002 -
Ferrymead Bays
*2003 -
Nomads United
Nomads United is an association football club based in Casebrook, Christchurch, New Zealand. The club competes in the Southern League, the second tier of New Zealand football. Club history
Nomads were a prominent team in early New Zealand footb ...
*2004 -
Nelson Suburbs
Nelson Suburbs FC is a football club in Nelson, New Zealand. They compete in the Mainland Premier League.
They have won the Mainland Premier League three times. Nelson Suburbs FC has strong ties with the region's most successful football scho ...
*2005 -
Nelson Suburbs
Nelson Suburbs FC is a football club in Nelson, New Zealand. They compete in the Mainland Premier League.
They have won the Mainland Premier League three times. Nelson Suburbs FC has strong ties with the region's most successful football scho ...
*2006 -
Ferrymead Bays
*2007 -
Nomads United
Nomads United is an association football club based in Casebrook, Christchurch, New Zealand. The club competes in the Southern League, the second tier of New Zealand football. Club history
Nomads were a prominent team in early New Zealand footb ...
*2008 -
Nelson Suburbs
Nelson Suburbs FC is a football club in Nelson, New Zealand. They compete in the Mainland Premier League.
They have won the Mainland Premier League three times. Nelson Suburbs FC has strong ties with the region's most successful football scho ...
*2009 -
Woolston Technical
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 ...
*2010 -
Woolston Technical
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 ...
*2011 -
Ferrymead Bays
*2012 -
Ferrymead Bays
*2013 -
Cashmere Technical
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 t ...
*2014 -
Cashmere Technical
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 t ...
*2015 -
Cashmere Technical
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 t ...
*2016 -
Cashmere Technical
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 t ...
*2017 -
Ferrymead Bays
*2018 -
Cashmere Technical
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 t ...
*2019 -
Cashmere Technical
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 t ...
*2020 -
Cashmere Technical
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 t ...
*2021 -
Cashmere Technical
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 t ...
*2022 -
FC Twenty 11
Mainland Premier Football League Winners
*Cashmere Technical's MPL titles in 2009 and 2010 were won by Woolston Technical, which was later merged in 2012.
References
External links
Mainland Premier Football League Table
{{NZ fb general
2
Sports leagues established in 1998
1998 establishments in New Zealand