The 2017–18 New Zealand Football Championship season (currently known as the ISPS Handa Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the fourteenth season of the NZFC since its establishment in 2004. Ten teams competed in the competition with Team Wellington and Auckland City representing the ISPS Handa Premiership in the 2018 OFC Champions League after finishing Champions and Premiers respectively in the 2016–17 competition.

Clubs Team Location Stadium Capacity Manager Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor Auckland City Sandringham, Auckland Kiwitea Street 3,250 Ramon Tribulietx Kappa Hi-Chew (front) Trillian Trust Inc (Back) Carters (Back) Canterbury United Christchurch English Park 9,000 Willy Gerdsen Nike Robbie's Bar and Bistro Eastern Suburbs Panmure, Auckland Bill McKinlay Park 5,000 Danny Hay Lilywhites Winger Motors Hamilton Wanderers Hamilton Porritt Stadium 5,000 Ricki Herbert Nike The Soccer Shop Hawke's Bay United Napier Bluewater Stadium 5,000 Brett Angell Adidas Kinetic Electrical Southern United Dunedin Sunnyvale Park 1,000 Paul O'ReillyLotto Sport Italia Freshwater Solutions Tasman United Nelson Trafalgar Park 18,000 Davor Tavich JomaNelson Pine LVL (Front) Sprig & Fern (Back) Team Wellington Wellington David Farrington Park 2,250 Jose FigueiraNike Stonewood Homes Waitakere United Whenuapai, Auckland The Trusts Arena 4,900 Chris Milicich Lotto Sport Italia Jerry Clayton BMW (Front) Heritage Hotels (Back) Wellington Phoenix Wellington David Farrington Park 2,250 Chris Greenacre Adidas Huawei

Kits

Regular season

League table

Positions by round

Notes: Auckland City and Team Wellington played their Round 8 game early on 15 October 2017, and had an extra game played between Rounds 1 and 7. Canterbury United were tied with Waitakere United at the end of Round 1. Hawke's Bay United were tied with Wellington Phoenix Reserves at the end of Round 1. Auckland City and Eastern Suburbs had a game in hand between Rounds 7 and 12, with their Round 7 game played before the start of Round 13 on 24 January 2018. Wellington Phoenix and Canterbury United had a game in hand between Rounds 4 and 14, with their Round 4 game played before the start of Round 15 on 11 February 2018. Auckland City beat Tasman United 3–1 in round 9, however it was ruled by NZ Football that they had played an ineligible player so forfeited the result. This meant the win was awarded as a 3–0 result to Tasman.

Fixtures and results The 2017–18 season sees every team play the other both home and away. The Round 7 and round 8 matches between Team Wellington and Eastern Suburbs vs Auckland City have been moved due to Auckland City playing at 2017 FIFA Club World Cup at the start of December. The match between Wellington Phoenix Reserves and Canterbury United was postponed till February 2018 due to New Zealand playing their intercontinental playoff against Peru that same day in Wellington.

Round 8 (rescheduled)

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

* Auckland City beat Tasman United 3–1 however it was ruled by NZ Football that they had played an ineligible player so forfeited the result. This meant the win was awarded as a 3–0 result to Tasman United.

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 7 (rescheduled)

Round 13

Round 14

Round 4 (rescheduled)

Round 15 (split round)

Round 16 (split round)

Round 17

Round 18

Finals series

Semi-finals

Grand final

GK 1 Eñaut Zubikarai DF 9 Darren White DF 5 Ángel Berlanga (c)DF 6 Te Atawhai Hudson-WihongiMF 7 Cameron Howieson MF 8 Albert RieraMF 11 Fabrizio Tavano MF 15 Dan MorganFW 20 Emiliano Tade FW 9 Kris Bright FW 26 Callum McCowattSubstitutes:GK 24 Conor TraceyDF 25 Owen Parker-Price DF 13 Alfie RogersMF 4 Mario Bilen MF 17 Reid Drake MF 27 Dalton Wilkins FW 19 Micah Lea'alafa Manager: Ramon Tribulietx GK 1 Scott BasalajDF 2 Justin Gulley (c)DF 4 Mario Ilich DF 3 Scott Hilliar MF 10 Nathanael Hailemariam MF 7 Eric Molloy MF 11 Mario Barcia MF 12 Andy BevinFW 13 Roy Kayara FW 14 Jack-Henry Sinclair FW 19 Ross Allen Substitutes:GK 22 Marcel KampmanDF 5 Liam Wood MF 20 Daniel Mulholland FW 16 Angus Kilkolly FW 21 Hamish Watson Manager: José Figueira Steve Sumner Trophy: Callum McCowatt

Assistant referees: Gareth Sheehan Edward Cook Fourth official: Nick Waldron

Statistics

Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals 1 Emiliano Tade Auckland City 16 2 Paul Ifill Tasman United 12 3 Andre de Jong1 Eastern Suburbs 11 4 Stephen Hoyle Canterbury United 95 Garbhan Coughlan Southern United8 Ryan De Vries2 Auckland City7 Andrew Bevin Team Wellington7 Keegan Linderboom Waitakere United Callum McCowatt Auckland City Tommy Semmy Hamilton Wanderers Jack-Henry Sinclair Team Wellington Derek Tieku Eastern Suburbs 1 Transferred to Maccabi Hakoah in Australia, 5 March 2018. 2 Transferred to FC Gifu in Japan, 17 January 2018.

Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ref Andre de Jong Eastern Suburbs Team Wellington 3–1 Ryan de Vries Auckland City Waitakere United 5–0 Angus Kilkolly Team Wellington Hamilton Wanderers 3–1 Futa Nakamura Canterbury United Tasman United 6–0 Paul Ifill Tasman United Hamilton Wanderers 4–4 Paul Ifill Tasman United Hawke's Bay United 5–2 Garbhan Coughlan Southern United Hawke's Bay United 3–1 Ryan Cain Waitakere United Tasman United 5–3

Own goals PlayerClubAgainstRound Unknown Hamilton Wanderers Auckland City 4 Unknown Auckland City Team Wellington 8 Ryan Lowry Wellington Phoenix Reserves Eastern Suburbs 8 Daniel McHenery Hawke's Bay United Hamilton Wanderers 10 Unknown Waitakere United Canterbury United 11 Julyan Collett Waitakere United Wellington Phoenix Reserves 12 Liam Moore Wellington Phoenix Reserves Eastern Suburbs 14 Xavier Pratt Hamilton Wanderers Wellington Phoenix Reserves 16

References

External links ISPS Handa Premiership website