The new National League kicks off this weekend with the first round of the men’s Northern League and Central League competitions taking place throughout the North Island.

The 2021 Northern League is made up of 12 clubs: Auckland City FC; Auckland United FC; Bay Olympic FC; Birkenhead United AFC; Eastern Suburbs AFC; Hamilton Wanderers; Manukau United FC; Melville United Association Football Club; North Shore United AFC; Northern Rovers FC; West Coast Rangers FC; and Western Springs AFC. Over the 132 games to be played in the Northern League, four clubs will qualify for the National League Championship.

The 2021 Central League is made up of 10 clubs: Lower Hutt City Association Football Club; Miramar Rangers AFC; Napier City Rovers Association Football Club; North Wellington Football Club; Petone Football Club; Wainuiomata Association Football Club; Wairarapa United; Waterside Karori; Wellington Olympic AFC; and Western Suburbs. Over the 90 games to be played in the Central League, three teams will qualify for the National League Championship. They will also be joined by the Wellington Phoenix Reserves.

The 2021 Southern League begins later in the winter season, from which two teams will qualify for the National League Championship.

The 2021 season sees a number of clubs taking part in National League football for the first time. Newcomers from the Northern League are Auckland United FC; Manukau United FC; Northern Rovers FC; West Coast Rangers FC; and Western Springs AFC. From the Central League, Lower Hutt City Association Football Club; Petone; Wainuiomata Association Football Club; Wairarapa United; Waterside Karori and Wellington Olympic will be making their National League bow.

Eastern Suburbs and Western Suburbs were members of the inaugural National League in 1970, with Eastern Suburbs finishing runners up that first season, and winners the following season. They wouldn’t win another national title until 2019, in the ISPS Handa Premiership. Fellow 2020/21 ISPS Handa Men’s Premiership clubs, Hamilton Wanderers and Auckland City FC, are also returning to national competition in the Northern League.

Several Northern and Central League clubs or their predecessors have been involved in previous incarnations of the national league. From the Northern League, Bay Olympic’s predecessors Blockhouse Bay were the inaugural winners of the 1970 National League and finished runners up in 1972, North Shore United won the National League in 1977 and the Superclub Championship in 1994, and Melville United contested the 1996/97 and 1997/98 National Summer Soccer League. From the Central League, Napier City Rovers won the national league in 1989, the Superclub Championship in 1993, National Summer Soccer League in 1998 and the National Club Championship in 2000. Miramar Rangers won the National Club Championship in 2002 and 2003.

The National League is New Zealand Football’s biggest ever football league competition. It is part of the Delivery and Sustainability project commissioned by New Zealand Football in May 2020 to address challenges long faced by football in Aotearoa New Zealand, many of which have been exacerbated by COVID-19. 

Full fixture lists and league tables for these competitions can be viewed here.

Lists of players Northern League and Central League teams can select from can be viewed here. Please note that these are subject to change.

Article added: Friday 26 March 2021