The Canterbury Championship League, also known as the New World Canterbury Championship League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition run by Mainland Football for association football clubs located in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is at the fourth tier of New Zealand Football, below the Canterbury Premiership League and above the Canterbury Senior Men's Division 1.
The competition currently runs between March and August each year, and consists of ten team based in Christchurch. There are 18 round where the teams play each other twice. The winner of the league is promoted to the Canterbury Premiership League and the last place is relegated to Canterbury Senior Men's Division 1.
History In March 2021, after New Zealand Football announced the changes to the structure of both the premiership and the top regional leagues around the country, Mainland Football changed the Canterbury Championship League for the 2022 season. The change was, 3 pools of six team, consisting of six Canterbury Southern League U20 Reserve teams, five Canterbury Premiership Reserve teams, six Division 1 teams, and one first team. The winners of; pool A were Selwyn United U20 Reserves, pool B were Christchurch United U20 Academy, and pool C were Coastal Spirit U20 Reserves. The top 3 teams from each pool plus Halswell United Reserves, played a 9-game Senior Men's Division 1 Championship with Cashmere Technical U20 Reserves winning.
In 2023, the 2022 Senior Men's Division 1 Championship winners Cashmere Technical U20 Reserves and runners-up Nomads United U20 Reserves were both promoted to the Canterbury Premiership League. Seven of the ten teams were promoted to Canterbury Championship, followed by the addiction of Ferrymead Bays Keen Lads, University of Canterbury 3rd XI and Waimakariri United Reserves. Christchurch United U20 Academy won the 2023 league thus being promoted to the Premiership, followed by Ferrymead Bays U20 Reserves and Selwyn United U20 Reserves for the following season.
In 2024, Cashmere Technical U20 Reserves and Nomads United U20 Reserves both returned to the league following the success of having a reserve team in the Premiership, they were invited to add a team to the Championship. They also welcomed Selwyn United Turkeys with the success of winning Senior Men's Division 1 and 2 in the last two years. On 2 May, 4 matches into the season, Nomads United U20 Reserves were withdrawn from the competition after failing to field a team three games in a row, with one game being a postponement against University of Canterbury 3rd XI and the other two games being defaults against Selwyn United Turkeys and Coastal Spirit U20 Reserves. All wins and game results against Nomads United U20 Reserves have been voided, even Nomads only game against Cashmere Technical U20 Reserves, 0–8 win for Cashmere Technical.
Canterbury Championship League teams season. TeamHome GroundLocation2024 seasonCashmere Technical (U)Garrick Memorial ParkWoolston 7thCoastal Spirit (U)Linfield ParkBromley 3rdFC Twenty 11 Avonhead Park Avonhead 11th in Premiership (relegated)FC Twenty 11 (R) 9thFerrymead Bays Keen LadsFerrymead ParkFerrymead 2ndHalswell United (R)Halswell DomainHalswell 8thParklands UnitedParklands ReserveParklands 4thSelwyn United TurkeysFoster ParkRolleston 1stUniversity of Canterbury (R) Ilam Field Ilam 10th in Premiership (relegated)University of Canterbury (T) 5th (R) — Denotes club's Reserve team (T) — Denotes club's Third team (U) — Denotes club's Under 20 Reserve team
Winners Canterbury Champions League: 2016–21
2016 - Nomads United 2017 - Selwyn United 2018 - Western 2019 - Christchurch United 2020 - Halswell United 2021 - Western
Club Number of Titles Year(s) Won Western 2 2018, 2021 Nomads United 1 2016 Selwyn United 12017 Christchurch United 1 2019 Halswell United 1 2020
2023–present
2023 - Christchurch United U20 Reserves 2024 - University of Canterbury 2nd XI 2025 - Selwyn United Turkeys 2026 - Coastal Spirit U20 Reserves
Club Number of Titles Year(s) Won Christchurch United U20 Reserves 1 2023 University of Canterbury 2nd XI 1 2024 Selwyn United Turkeys 1 2025 Coastal Spirit U20 Reserves 1 2026
Whero Cup The Whero Cup, is an annual Mainland Football knockout football competition for Canterbury Championship League, Senior Men's Division 1 and Canterbury Premiership League's Reserve teams. First played during the 2023 season. It is currently known as City Mission Whero Cup after its charity, Christchurch City Mission, this is the first season of City Mission being the charity. The cup has been previously known as the Ronald McDonald House Whero Cup after its charity Ronald McDonald House South Island for the 2023 to 2024 season. There are three other men's cups that run at the same time for the lower Senior Men's Divisions.
Whero Cup Winners
2023 - Christchurch United U20 Reserves 2024 - University of Canterbury 3rd XI 2025 - Ferrymead Bays U20 Reserves 2026 - Christchurch United U20 Reserves
Club Number of Titles Year(s) Won Christchurch United U20 Reserves 2 2023, 2026 University of Canterbury 3rd XI 1 2024 Ferrymead Bays U20 Reserves 1 2025
References