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Chatham Cup

( National Association Football Cups )

History

The early years
Post-war competition

Sponsorship
Past winners

Bob Smith Memorial Troph..
Jack Batty Memorial Cup

Cup records

Most cup wins
Most appearances in fina..
Other records

Media coverage
Notes
References
External links

C O N T E N T S

Auckland Cup United Wellington

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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 Wellington Olympic, who defeated Auckland United in the 2025 final.

History

The Chatham Cup is contested by teams from throughout New Zealand, and has been held annually since 1923 with the exception of 1937, 1941–44 and 2020. Typically between 120 and 150 teams take part, with extra time and penalty shoot-outs used to decide matches which end in ties. In the past, replays were used, and in the early years of the competition the number of corners won during a game decided tied matches.

The cup itself was gifted to the then New Zealand Football Association by the crew of HMS Chatham as a token of appreciation for the hospitality they had encountered on a visit to New Zealand. The cup, which cost £150, was presented to NZFA President Sir Charles Skerrett by Captain Cecil Burnaby Prickett on board the Chatham on 14 December 1922.Houston, J., (1952) Association football in New Zealand. Wellington: A.H. & A. W. Reed. p. 33. The actual trophy is modelled on the FA Cup.

The most successful teams in the Chatham Cup have been Christchurch United and Mount Wellington (seven wins, two of them since amalgamation with Auckland University); North Shore United has won six times. Most of the competition's winners have come from the main centres of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, though teams from Dunedin, Gisborne, Hamilton, Masterton, Nelson, and Napier have also won the competition, while the inaugural champions were from the small settlement of Seacliff, with many of the team being staff from the nearby psychiatric hospital.

The competition has been held every year since 1923 with six exceptions: the 1937 competition was cancelled due to a lack of entrants (only 12 teams applied to take part), four competitions (from 1941 to 1944) were cancelled due to World War II, and the 2020 competition was cancelled because of COVID-19.

The early years

Many of the early winners of the competition no longer exist, as competition was not effectively organised in New Zealand until the advent of a national league in 1970, and still remains largely amateur to this day. Many early New Zealand clubs have amalgamated with their neighbours or disbanded.

Prior to 1970, the final was held between the winners of separate North Island and South Island tournaments, with national semi-finals often being referred to as "Island finals".

In the early years of the competition, each regional association found its own champion to represent that region in the Chatham Cup, leading to confusion in many of the early records with regional finals, island finals, and the national final all often simply being referred to in contemporary reports as "finals". Further confusion is caused by the incomplete nature of many of the early competition records. It is only since the first publication of an annual New Zealand football yearbook in 1965 that any systematic record-keeping began to take place; earlier match reports and statistics are complete only inasmuch as the vagaries of newspaper sports reporting allowed.

Early Chatham Cup competitions were not well supported by the clubs, and the regulations surrounding entry to the competition were often financially prohibitive. The clubs themselves received only a tiny percentage of the money made in gate takings, and often had to travel considerably further to play matches than they did in the provincial leagues in which they competed. Concerns as to the costs involved and the limited financial support from the NZFA for entrants in the competition led to some teams disbanding as a result of the debts incurred, notably early winners Harbour Board. The competition itself was so poorly supported by clubs as a result that it barely survived its first few seasons: only 30 clubs entered each of the first few years of the competition, despite over 450 clubs being registered with the country's football administration in 1924; South Island participation in particular was poor, with only a handful of teams entering in the first few years, and the 1937 Cup was cancelled altogether due to only twelve teams nationwide having entered.

Despite this, large crowds often came to watch the matches, indicating their popularity with the public. The Wellington regional final in 1924 was played before a crowd of 1500 spectators, one in sixty of Wellington's population at the time, and the 1928 national final was watched by a crowd of 6000.

(1991). 9780473012915, New Zealand Football. ISBN 9780473012915

Post-war competition

Support for the competition among clubs has gained momentum since travel has become easier around the country and the financial regulation of the competition have been eased. Since World War II, it has been typical for 100 to 150 teams to enter the competition.

Since the 1960s, tournaments have been organised with a preliminary round and (occasionally) a qualifying round, four or five rounds proper, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final. Competition begins in April, and the final is normally played in September. Early rounds are held on a regional basis, between teams within the country's three competition regions (northern North Island, southern North Island, South Island). Different publications often list different numbers for the rounds, making for some confusion as to whether the round before the quarter-finals is the fourth or fifth round in any particular year.

Between 1970 and 2003, when a national league was run between the country's top clubs, national league teams received byes to later stages of the cup competition. The current New Zealand Football Championship, which replaced this league, is contested between franchise teams rather than traditional clubs: these franchise teams do not compete in the Chatham Cup. There is currently no formal system of byes to later rounds (as there is, for example, in the FA Cup); several top sides do, however, gain byes through to the second round.

From 1986–1988, the final was contested on a two-match home and away series, but in other years the final has been a single match. In 1952, the final finished 1–1, and the title was shared. A replay was used to decide the 1970, 1972 and 1983 finals, and penalty shoot-outs decided the 1990 and 2001 finals.

Sponsorship

In 2025, Delivereasy was named as the naming partner for the Chatham Cup.

Past winners

1923 – Seacliff AFC (Otago)
1924 – Harbour Board (Auckland)
1925 – YMCA (Wellington)
1926 – Sunnyside (Christchurch)
1927 – Ponsonby
1928 – Petone FC
1929 – Manurewa AFC (Auckland)
1930 – Petone FC
1931 – Manurewa AFC (Auckland)
1932 – Wellington Marist
1933 – Ponsonby
1934 – Auckland Thistle (Auckland)
1935 – Hospital (Wellington)
1936 – Western (Christchurch)
1937 – competition cancelled due to lack of entries
1938 – Waterside Karori (Wellington)
1939 – Waterside Karori (Wellington)
1940 – Waterside Karori (Wellington)
1941–44 – no competition due to World War II
1945 – Western (Christchurch)
1946 – Wellington Marist
1947 – Waterside Karori (Wellington)
1948 – Christchurch Technical Old Boys
1949 – Petone FC
1950 – Eden (Auckland)
1951 – Eastern Suburbs (Auckland)
1952 – North Shore United and Western (Christchurch) (title shared)
1953 – Eastern Suburbs (Auckland)
1954 – Onehunga
1955 – Western (Christchurch)
1956 – Stop Out (Wellington)
1957 – Seatoun AFC
1958 – Seatoun AFC
1959 – Northern AFC (Dunedin)
1960 – North Shore United
1961 – Northern AFC (Dunedin)
1962 – Hamilton Technical Old Boys
1963 – North Shore United
1964 – Mount Roskill
1965 – Eastern Suburbs (Auckland)
1966 – Miramar Rangers
1967 – North Shore United
1968 – Eastern Suburbs (Auckland)
1969 – Eastern Suburbs (Auckland)
1970 – Bay Olympic
1971 – Western Suburbs (Wellington)
1972 – Christchurch United
1973 – Mount Wellington (Auckland)
1974 – Christchurch United
1975 – Christchurch United
1976 – Christchurch United
1977 – FC Nelson
1978 – Manurewa AFC
1979 – North Shore United
1980 – Mount Wellington (Auckland)
1981 – Dunedin City
1982 – Mount Wellington (Auckland)
1983 – Mount Wellington (Auckland)
1984 – Manurewa AFC
1985 – Napier City Rovers
1986 – North Shore United
1987 – Gisborne City
1988 – Waikato United
1989 – Christchurch United
1990 – Mount Wellington (Auckland)
1991 – Christchurch United
1992 – Miramar Rangers
1993 – Napier City Rovers
1994 – Waitakere City
1995 – Waitakere City
1996 – Waitakere City
1997 – Central United (Auckland)
1998 – Central United (Auckland)
1999 – Dunedin Technical
2000 – Napier City Rovers
2001 – University-Mount Wellington (Auckland)
2002 – Napier City Rovers
2003 – University-Mount Wellington (Auckland)
2004 – Miramar Rangers
2005 – Central United (Auckland)
2006 – Western Suburbs (Wellington)
2007 – Central United (Auckland)
2008 – East Coast Bays
2009 – Wellington Olympic
2010 – Miramar Rangers
2011 – Wairarapa United (Masterton)
2012 – Central United
2013 – Cashmere Technical (Christchurch)
2014 – Cashmere Technical (Christchurch)
2015 – Eastern Suburbs
2016 – Birkenhead United (Auckland)
2017 – Onehunga Sports (Auckland)
2018 – Birkenhead United (Auckland)
2019 – Napier City Rovers
2020 – competition cancelled due to Covid-19
2021 – Cashmere Technical (Christchurch)
2022 – Auckland City
2023 – Christchurch United
2024 – Wellington Olympic
2025 – Wellington Olympic

Bob Smith Memorial Trophy

The Bob Smith Memorial Trophy is traditionally awarded to the runners-up in the Chatham Cup, though this has not always been the case, notably in the years 1982 to 1997, when the trophy's location was unknown. Details of each year's runners-up can be found in the individual articles on each year's competition.

Jack Batty Memorial Cup

A Jack Batty Memorial Cup is presented annually to the player adjudged to have made the most positive impact in the Chatham Cup final. The trophy honours Jack Batty, who was both a member of the crew of HMS Chatham and also a three-time medallist in the early days of the tournament with Auckland Harbour Board, Manurewa AFC, and Manurewa AFC. The cup was donated by his son, John Batty, himself a Chatham Cup winner with Blockhouse Bay in 1970, and was first awarded to Greg Brown of Napier City Rovers in 1985.

1985 – Greg Brown (Napier City Rovers)
1986 – Duncan Cole (North Shore United)
1987 – Dave Reynolds (Gisborne City)
1988 – Steve Tate (Waikato United)
1989 – Michael McGarry (Christchurch United)
1990 – Michael McGarry (Christchurch United)
1991 – Dave Woodard (Wellington United)
1992 – Neal Cave (Miramar Rangers)
1993 – Paul Halford (Napier City Rovers)
1994 – Ivan Vicelich (Waitakere City)
1995 – Darren McClennan (Waitakere City)
1996 – Mark Foy (Mount Wellington)
1997 – Ivan Vicelich (Central United)
1998 – Terry Torrens (Central United)
1999 – Aaron Burgess (Dunedin Technical)
2000 – Jimmy Cudd (Napier City Rovers)
2001 – Paul Bunbury (University-Mount Wellington)
2002 – Leon Birnie (Napier City Rovers)
2003 – Kara Waetford (University-Mount Wellington)
2004 – Tim Butterfield (Miramar Rangers)
2005 – Ross Nicholson (Central United)
2006 – Phil Imray (Western Suburbs)
2007 – Luiz del Monte (Central United)
2008 – Ryan Zoghby (East Coast Bays)
2009 – Raf de Gregorio (Wellington Olympic)
2010 – Phil Imray (Miramar Rangers)
2011 – Scott Robson (Wairarapa United)
2012 – Emiliano Tade (Central United)
2013 – Andy Pitman (Cashmere Technical)
2014 – Stuart Kelly (Cashmere Technical)
2015 – Miles John (Napier City Rovers)
2016 – Tom Davis (Birkenhead United)
2017 – Mario Ilich (Central United)
2018 – Alec Solomons (Birkenhead United)
2019 – Sho Goto (Napier City Rovers)
2020 – Not Awarded
2021 – Yuya Taguchi (Cashmere Technical)
2022 – Dylan Manickum (Auckland City)
2023 – Max Tommy (Melville United)
2024 – Stipe Ukich (Auckland City)
2025 – Isa Prins (Wellington Olympic)

Cup records

Most cup wins

7	University-Mount Wellington	1973, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1990, 2001, 2003	First five wins as Mount Wellington
7	Christchurch United	1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1989, 1991, 2023
6	North Shore United	1952, 1960, 1963, 1967, 1979, 1986	Title shared in 1952
6	Eastern Suburbs	1951, 1953, 1965, 1968, 1969, 2015
5	Central United	1997, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2012
5	Napier City Rovers	1985, 1993, 2000, 2002, 2019
4	Waterside	1938, 1939, 1940, 1947
	Western	1936, 1945, 1952, 1955	Title shared in 1952
	Manurewa AFC	1929, 1931, 1978, 1984	First as Tramways in 1929, then Tramurewa in 1931
	Miramar Rangers	1966, 1992, 2004, 2010
	Cashmere Technical	1948, 2013, 2014, 2021	First win as Christchurch Technical
3	Petone FC	1928, 1930, 1949
	Waitakere City	1994, 1995, 1996
	Western Suburbs	1935, 1971, 2006	First win as Hospital AFC
	Wellington Olympic	2009, 2024, 2025

Most appearances in final

12	7	University-Mount Wellington	2003*	first 10 appearances as Mount Wellington
12	6	North Shore United	1995
10	7	Christchurch United	2023*
10	6	Eastern Suburbs	2022
10	4	Cashmere Technical	2021*	first six appearances (including one win) as Technical Old Boys, seventh appearance as Christchurch Technical.
9	5	Central United	2017
9	4	Western	1966
8	5	Napier City Rovers	2019*
8	2	Northern AFC	1962
7	3	Waitakere City	2016