The updated broadcast schedule has been released for the men’s and women’s National League Championship, with 85 games this season free to air via Sky Sport Next and the New Zealand Football YouTube channel. The remaining 18 games are broadcast live on Sky Sport 7. Highlights from every game are available to watch on Sky Sport NZ’s relaunched Kiwi Football Fix every Wednesday at 7:30pm on Sky Sport 7 as well as the New Zealand Football YouTube channel. 

View the full broadcast schedule

The National League Championship sees the best sides from across the country compete for national glory. Designed to be a sustainable competition model that champions youth development, the league is running in full for the first time in 2022 after the debut 2021 season had to be cancelled due to Covid-19.  

In the men’s competition, the top 10 qualified club sides from the Northern League (Auckland City FC, Auckland United, Birkenhead United and Melville United), Central League (Miramar Rangers, Napier City Rovers, Wellington Olympic and Wellington Phoenix Academy) and Southern League (Cashmere Technical and Christchurch United) come together to fight for the National League Championship title. The opening round of fixtures last weekend saw Cashmere Technical go top after a 4-0 win over Wellington powerhouse Miramar Rangers, with goals from Andrew Storer, Garbhan Coughlan, Lyle Matthysen and OFC U-19 Championship joint top scorer Kian Donkers. 

The women’s competition, driven by Ford as part of their ongoing commitment to women’s football in Aotearoa, sees qualified club sides from the Northern Region Football League (Auckland United, Eastern Suburbs, Northern Rovers and Western Springs) compete nationally alongside federations teams (Canterbury United Pride, Capital Football, Central Football and Southern United) for the first time. After three rounds of the competition, Eastern Suburbs are top with three wins from three powered by golden boot leader Tayla O’Brien’s 7 goals.

Article added: Friday 07 October 2022