Northern Lights is a women's football team representing the

Northern Football Federation The Northern Football Federation (NFF) was an association football organisation, responsible for local growth and developing the game in West Auckland, North Shore and Northland, New Zealand. In 2020 it was merged with Auckland Football Federa ...

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 ...

. They currently play in the

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) The National League ( ...

, the top level of women's football in New Zealand. The team was previously known as Northern Football, until they were re-branded in 2018

History

Originally known as Northern Football, the team made their debut in the National Women's League in 2010-11, qualifying for the playoffs unbeaten, but losing 10–1 to Waikato-Bay of Plenty in the semi-final. The team have won the New Zealand Championship three times, firstly in 2011-12, beating Waikato-Bay of Plenty in the play off final 3–0, and then again the following season, this time going undefeated and beating Auckland Football 2–0 in the final. They were unable to make it a hat trick of championships in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

however, losing 4–2 to Mainland Pride in the final, despite topping the regular season table. In

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the team failed to make the playoffs, finishing sixth in the regular season, winning only two of their seven games. They then won their third title in the

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, finishing second after the regular season, they went on to beat the NZ Development Squad 4–3 in the semi-final before going on to beat first place Mainland Pride in the final 3–4 away from home, denying their opponents a three-peat of competition titles. On 28 August 2018, it was decided that the women's teams from

would be re-branded as the Northern Lights to provide an identity for the teams, players, staff and supporters and to help build on the growth of the Female game within the region.

Final Appearances

*2011: Northern Football* vs Waikato-Bay of Plenty (3-0) *2012: Northern Football* vs

Auckland Football Federation The Auckland Football Federation was an association football organization, responsible for the local growth and development of the game in Auckland, New Zealand. In 2020 it was merged with Auckland Football Federation into the Northern Region Fo ...

(2-0) *2013: Northern Football* vs Mainland Pride (2-4) *2015: Northern Football vs Mainland Pride* (4–3) *2018:

Canterbury United Pride Canterbury United Pride is a semi-professional women's association football team based in Christchurch, New Zealand. The team was established in 2002 as Mainland Pride by Mainland Football as the regional federation's representative in the Natio ...

* v Northern Lights (3–2) *Home team for final.

References

{{Association football in New Zealand Women's association football clubs in New Zealand