National Women's League (New Zealand)
Sport | Association football |
---|---|
Founded | 2002 |
No. of teams | 8 |
Country | New Zealand |
Most recent champion(s) | Northern Football |
Most titles | Auckland Football Federation (6) |
Official website | Official Website |
The National Women's League (presently known as the ASB National Women's League) is the top level women's football (soccer) league in New Zealand. Unlike its male counterpart, the ASB Premiership, the teams are run by the regional federations rather than as collaborative entities between local clubs.[1][2]
The league was founded in 2002 and ran until the end of the 2007, after which the league went on hiatus. The league was resumed in 2009 with five federations participating, as well as the national women's under-17 team development squad. Two federations, United Soccer 1 and Central Football, elected not to participate in the 2009 season.
The league was run as a pure league format in 2002 and 2003, from 2004 to 2008 there has been playoffs. The third and second placed teams after the season compete in a one legged semi-final. The winner of that and the first-place finished then play the Grand Final to decide the champion.
From 2009 onwards, the league is split into two divisions. A Northern and a Southern Conference of 4 teams that play each other twice. After the season there is a semi-final: 1st North vs 2nd South and 2nd North vs 1st South. The winners of those play the Grand Final.
In 2013 the league was played as a whole, rather than split in two conferences, with every team playing each other once. The top of the table advancing straight to the final (at home), with second playing a home semi-final against third place, the winner advancing to the final.
2015 participants
- Auckland Football
- Northern Football
- Waikato Bay of Plenty
- New Zealand Football Development
- Capital Football
- Central Football
- Mainland Pride
- Football South
List of champions
- 2002: Auckland/Manukau
- 2003: Auckland/Manukau
List of Grand Finals:
- 2004: Wellington vs Auckland Football Federation (2-1)
- 2005: Auckland Football Federation vs Wellington (4-2)
- 2006: Auckland Football Federation vs Wellington (3-1)
- 2007: Auckland Football Federation vs Wellington (3-1)
- 2008: no competition
- 2009: Auckland Football Federation vs Capital Football (5-1)
- 2010: no competition
- 2011 Northern Football Federation beat Waikato-Bay of Plenty Football
- 2012: Northern Football Federation v Auckland Football Federation (2-0)
- 2013: Mainland Pride v Northern Football Federation (4-2)
- 2014: Mainland Pride v New Zealand Football Development (3-1)[6]
- 2015: Mainland Pride v Northern Football Federation (3-4)
See also
References
- ↑ "National women's league retains youth focus". Stuff. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
- ↑ Nothing Trivial (2008-12-15). "Sparc plays ball with women's football | Television New Zealand | News, Sport, Weather, TV ONE, TV2 | TVNZ | FOOTBALL News". TVNZ. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
- ↑ "Pride out to defend Women's League title". nzfootball.co.nz. 2014-10-12. Retrieved 2014-10-13.
- ↑ "New Zealand - List of Women Champions and Cup Winners". Rsssf.com. 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
- ↑ "Honours". nzfootball.co.nz. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
- ↑ http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/footballdevelopment/women/news/newsid=2489665/