The New Zealand Men's National League is a men's
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
league at the top of the
New Zealand football league system The New Zealand league system is the structure of leagues nationally and regionally, newly updated for the 2021 season. The system previously had a path from grassroots to the top flight but that stopped in 2004 with the New Zealand Football Champio ...
. Founded in 2021, the New Zealand National League is the successor to the
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 ...
. The league will be contested by ten teams, with teams qualifying from their regional leagues. Four teams qualify from the
Northern League, three qualify from 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 consist ...
, two qualify from the newly formed
Southern League and the
Wellington Phoenix Reserves are automatically given a spot each year.
The regional leagues runs from March through to September, with each league having a varying number of games. The Championship phase runs after the completion of the regional phase with each team playing each other once, followed by a grand final. Each season, two clubs gain qualification to the
OFC Champions League
The OFC Champions League, also known as the O-League, is the premier men's club soccer competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. Beginning as the Oceania Club Championship (1987–2006), it has been ...
, the continental competition for the
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
region.
Competition format
![New Zealand Football regional leagues](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/New_Zealand_Football_regional_leagues.svg)
There are two stages to the competition: the regional phase, in which each team plays each other twice in their respective regions; and the championship phase, in which the top teams in each region play a single round-robin competition, followed by a grand final in order to determine the champion.
Each team can field a maximum of four foreign players as well as one additional foreign player who has
Oceania Football Confederation
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. It ...
nationality.
Each team must also have at least two players aged 20 or under.
Qualification to OFC Champions League
Two teams from the National League qualify for the
OFC Champions League
The OFC Champions League, also known as the O-League, is the premier men's club soccer competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. Beginning as the Oceania Club Championship (1987–2006), it has been ...
each season: those two teams being the two finalists of the championship phase.
History
In March 2021,
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 ...
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
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 consist ...
, 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 October and December. The top two placed teams will then progress to the Grand Final.
In November 2021, during the
first edition
The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants.
First edition
According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...
of the National League,
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 ...
announced the National League had been cancelled for that season due to
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 COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Qualified teams from
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
and
Waikato
Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...
were unable to participate due theier
alert levels. New Zealand Football replaced this with a one-off competition, the South Central Series, for teams qualifying from the Central League and Southern League.
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 ...
were both the premiers and champions for this stand alone competition.
The
2022 New Zealand National League
The 2022 New Zealand Men's National League is the second scheduled season of the National League since its restructuring in 2021; the 2021 National League was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in northern regions. 32 clubs compete in the ...
Championship phase will kick off on 1 October 2022.
Current clubs
These are the current clubs for the 2022 season:
Past winners
Qualifying leagues
Championship
Top scorers
Records
''These records will begin from the
2022 New Zealand National League
The 2022 New Zealand Men's National League is the second scheduled season of the National League since its restructuring in 2021; the 2021 National League was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in northern regions. 32 clubs compete in the ...
. As the 2021 season was cancelled, the
2021 South Central Series was not officially part of the National League.
''
* Biggest home win: –
* Biggest away win: –
* Highest scoring match: –
* Most goals scored in a season:
* Most goals scored in a season (including final): –
* Fewest goals conceded in a season: –
* Highest points in a season: –
Related competitions
OFC Champions League
The OFC Champions League, also known as the O-League, is the premier football competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. It has been organised since 2007 under the current format, following its successor, the Oceania Club Championship. Two teams from the New Zealand National League participate annually. Four O-League titles have been won by teams from New Zealand.
Charity Cup
The Charity Cup was introduced in 2011 and is contested between the winner of the National League Grand Final and the winner of the
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 ...
.
See also
*
Football in New Zealand
Association football, also known as football or soccer, is a popular recreation sport in New Zealand. The sport is administered in New Zealand by the governing body New Zealand Football (NZF). It is the third-most popular men's team sport after ...
*
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 ...
*
National Women's League National Women's League may refer to:
* National Women's League (Canada), a women's rugby union league in Canada
* National Women's League (Ghana), a women's football league in Ghana
* National Women's League (New Zealand), a women's football le ...
References
External links
National League official websiteNorthern Region official websiteCapital/Central Region official website
{{NZ fb general
New Zealand National League
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 ...
1
Summer association football leagues
National championships in New Zealand
Sports leagues established in 2021
2021 establishments in New Zealand
Professional sports leagues in New Zealand