The New Zealand league system is the structure of leagues nationally and regionally, updated for the 2021 season. The system previously had a path from grassroots to the top flight but that stopped in 2004, with the New Zealand Football Championship being created as a replacement to the former New Zealand National Soccer League.
The current top flight of New Zealand Football is the National League, which had its inaugural season in 2021.
The top 4 Divisions of the Northern Region Football leagues for both men and women (Tiers 2–5) were restructured for the 2023 season.
Cups The premier cup competition in New Zealand is the Chatham Cup which dates back to 1923.
Regional cup competitions are also run within federations, allowing multiple teams from the same club to enter.
Men's structure Clubs at the top of the pyramid are only permitted to enter a single team in their confederation's higher levels. Other teams from the same club are permitted to enter teams below this threshold, but have restrictions on promotion. Rodney District are currently the lowest ranked 1st team in the country, playing in NRF Harbour Division 9 (Tier 14). Level League(s)/division(s) 1 New Zealand National League11 clubs 2 (provisionally) Northern League12 clubs – 4 qualifications, 2 relegations Central League10 clubs – 3 qualifications, 1 relegation Southern League10 clubs – 2 qualifications, 1 relegation 3 NRFL Championship 12 clubs – 2 promotions, 2 relegations Central League 210 clubs - 1 promotion, 1 relegation Canterbury Premiership League10 clubs – 0–1 promotions, 1 relegation Nelson Bays Premiership League8 clubs – 0–1 promotions, 1 relegation Southern Premiership 10 clubs – 0–1 promotions, 0-1 relegations 4 NRFL Northern Conference 8 clubs – 0–1 promotions, 1–2 relegations NRFL Southern Conference 8 clubs – 0–1 promotions, 1–2 relegations Western Premiership - 10 clubs - 1 qualification, 1 relegation
Eastern Premiership - 8 clubs -
1 qualification, 1 relegation Capital Premier – 10 clubs Canterbury Championship League – 10 clubs Nelson Bays Division 2 – 8 clubsMarlborough Division 1 – 4 clubs South Canterbury Division 1 – 5 clubsOtago Division 1 – 8 clubsSouthland Division 1 – 6 clubs 5 NRF League One8 clubs 1 promotion WaiBOP League One10 clubs – 1 promotion Capital 1 – 10 clubs Canterbury Division 1 – 10 clubs Nelson Division 3 – 6 clubsMarlborough Division 2 – 8 clubs South Canterbury Division 2 – 5 clubsOtago Division 2 – 7 clubsSouthland Division 2 – 6 clubs 6 NRF Northland Division 1 – 8 clubsNRF Division 1 – 10 clubs Waikato Division 1 – 8 clubsBay League Division 1 – 6 clubsHorizons Championship – 8 clubs Hawke's Bay Championship – 7 clubs
Tairāwhiti Championship – 11 clubs
Taranaki Championship – 7 clubs Capital 3 – 10 clubs Canterbury Division 2 – 10 clubsNelson Division 4 – 8 clubs South Canterbury Division 3 – 7 clubsOtago Division 3 – 8 clubsSouthland Division 2 – 12 clubs 7 NRF Northland Division 2 – 6 clubsNRF Division 2 – 10 clubsWaikato Division 2 – 10 clubsBay League Division 2 – 6 clubsManawatu Division 2 - 6 clubs Hawkes Bay Division 2 - 6 clubs
Taranaki Division 2 - 8 clubs
Roly Taylor Championship (Whanganui) - 9 clubs Capital 4 - 10 clubs Canterbury Division 3 – 8 clubsOtago Division 4 – 11 clubs 8 NRF Northland Division 3 – 8 clubsNRF Division 3 – 10 clubsWaikato Division 3 – 10 clubsBay League Division 2B – 6 clubs Wellington 1 – 10 clubsHorowhenua/Kapiti Local League 1 – 9 clubsWairarapa 1 – 6 clubs Manawatu Division 3 – 9 clubs Hawke's Bay Division 3 – 12 clubs Taranaki Division 3 - 12 clubs Canterbury Division 4 – 8 clubs 9 NRF Northland Division 4 – 9 clubsNRF Division 4 – 10 clubsWaikato Division 4 – 10 clubsBay League Division 3 – 7 clubs Wellington 2 – 10 clubsHorowhenua/Kapiti Local League 2 – 6 clubsWairarapa 2/3 – 14 clubs Canterbury Division 5 – 8 clubs 10 NRF Division 5 – 12 clubs Wellington 3 – 10 clubs Canterbury Division 6 – 8 clubs 11 NRF Harbour Division 6 – 10 clubsNRF Central Division 6 – 10 clubsNRF South Division 6 – 9 clubs Wellington 4 – 10 clubs Canterbury Division 7 – 7 clubs12 NRF Harbour Division 7 – 9 clubsNRF Central Division 7 – 10 clubsNRF South Division 7 – 10 clubs Wellington 5 – 16 clubs Canterbury Division 8 – 7 clubs 13 NRF Harbour Division 8 – 10 clubsNRF Central Division 8 – 9 clubsNRF South Division 8 – 10 clubs — Canterbury Division 9 – 7 clubs 14 NRF Harbour Division 9 – 10 clubsNRF Central Division 9 – 10 clubsNRF South Division 9 – 8 clubs — Canterbury Division 10 – 7 clubs 15 NRF Harbour Division 10 – 9 clubsNRF Central Division 10 – 9 clubs — —
Women's structure Sources LevelLeague(s)/division(s) 1 New Zealand Women's National League 10 clubs 2 NRFL Women's Premiership8 clubs – 4 qualifications, 1 relegation CF Women's Central League10 clubs – 3 qualifications (1 x automatic/Wellington Phoenix ) 1 relegation South Island League – 9 clubs 3 NRFL Women's Championship8 clubs – 1 promotion, 1 relegation Central Women's Federation League – 5 clubs Women's Capital Premier8 clubs – 1 promotion, 1 relegation Canterbury Women's Premiership League – 7 clubs Women's Southern Premier League – 7 clubs 4 NRF Women's Conference6 clubs – 0–1 promotions WaiBOP W-League6 clubs – 0–1 promotions Manawatu Premiership – 6 clubsWhanganui Kelly Hiroa League – 8 clubsHawke's Bay Women's Division 1 – 5 clubsGisborne Eastern League – 6 clubsTaranaki Women's Premiership – 12 clubs Capital Women's 1 – 10 clubs Canterbury Women's Championship League – 8 clubsNelson Women's Premiership Division 1 – 11 clubsMarlborough Women's Social League – 3 clubs Otago Division One – 6 clubsSouthland Kolk Cup – 7 clubs 5 NRF Women's Northland Division 1 – 5 clubsNRF Women's Division 1 – 8 clubsWaikato Women's Division 1 – 8 clubsWomen's Bay League Division 1 – 9 clubs Manawatu Women's Championship – 6 clubsHawkes Bay Women's Division 2 – 7 clubs Capital Women's 2 – 10 clubs — Otago Division Two – 8 clubs 6 NRF Northland Women's Division 2 – 6 clubsNRF Women's Division 2 – 10 clubsWaikato Women's Division 2 – 9 clubs — Capital Women's 3 – 11 clubs — — 7 NRF Harbour Division 3 – 7 clubsNRF Central Division 3 – 9 clubs — Wairarapa League – 4 clubs — — 8 NRF Harbour Division 4 – 10 clubsNRF Central Division 4 – 8 clubs — — — —9 NRF Central Division 5 – 7 clubs — — — —
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