1970 New Zealand National Soccer League
Encyclopedia
The 1970 New Zealand National Soccer League was the inaugural season of a nationwide round-robin
club competition in New Zealand
football. The league's initial sponsors were Rothmans (NZ) Ltd
, and the league was thus commonly known as the Rothmans National League. Rothmans retained naming sponsorship rights until 1987 when Air New Zealand
took over as principal sponsor.
Northern League
Central League
Southern League
and Mount Wellington performed well in the second half of the season, with neither side losing a game in the home stretch until the last game of the season, the league's first floodlit game, which saw Christchurch beat the Mount at home in an eight-goal spectacular in front of the season's biggest crowd of 3,000.
By comparison with the Auckland sides, the Wellington trio had lacklustre seasons. The four teams from the central region filled the lower half of the table, and the gap between them and the top four — in both points and form — was substantial.
Round-robin
The term round-robin was originally used to describe a document signed by multiple parties in a circle to make it more difficult to determine the order in which it was signed, thus preventing a ringleader from being identified...
club competition in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
football. The league's initial sponsors were Rothmans (NZ) Ltd
Rothmans, Benson & Hedges
Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc. is a Canadian manufacturer and distributor of tobacco products. It was formed by the merger of the Canadian units of Rothmans International and Benson & Hedges, owned by Philip Morris. When British American Tobacco bought Rothmans in 1999, it spun off its 60% share...
, and the league was thus commonly known as the Rothmans National League. Rothmans retained naming sponsorship rights until 1987 when Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand Limited is the national airline and flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 26 domestic destinations and 24 international destinations in 15 countries across Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania, and is...
took over as principal sponsor.
Background
Plans for a national league had been drawn up in 1963 after increasing calls for such a competition from the late 1950s onwards. Plans were delayed by a full programme of overseas games for the NZFA during 1964, but moves towards a viable national league were put in place with the introduction of three regional leagues for the northern, central, and southern regions of the country in 1968. It was the final standing in these leagues in the 1969 season which were to provide the eight teams to compete in the 1970 national league, with four teams from the Central league, three from the Northern League, and one from the Southern League granted national league spots. The qualifying sides were as follows:Northern League
- Mount Wellington (Auckland)
- Eastern SuburbsEastern Suburbs AFCEastern Suburbs is a semi-professional association football club in Kohimarama, New Zealand. They compete in the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Division 1.-Club history:...
(Auckland) - Blockhouse Bay (Auckland)
Central League
- Western SuburbsWestern SuburbsWestern Suburbs is an association football club in Porirua, New Zealand. They play their home matches at Endeavour Park in the Porirua suburb of Whitby and compete in the Central Premier League....
(Porirua) - Stop OutStop OutStop Out is an association football club in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. They are based at Hutt Park, Gracefield in Lower Hutt.The Stop Out organisation was founded in 1919 with the aim of providing recreation to Te Aro Flat children associated with the wellington city missionso as to prevent them...
(Lower Hutt) - Gisborne CityGisborne CityGisborne City FC is a soccer club in Gisborne, New Zealand who play in the eastern league 1st division. Their home ground is Childers Road. They have won the National League, Air New Zealand cup, and the Chatham Cup....
(Gisborne) - Hungaria (Wellington)
Southern League
- Christchurch UnitedChristchurch UnitedChristchurch United is a semi-professional association football club in Christchurch, New Zealand. They compete in the Robbie's Premier Football League.-Club history:...
(Christchurch)
Team performance
The inaugural season was dominated by teams from Auckland and Wellington, each of which had three teams. It was an Auckland side which would finish on top, with favourites and 1969 Norther League champions Blockhouse Bay triumphant. For much of the season it was to be fellow Queen City side Eastern Suburbs were the main threat for the title, but both Christchurch UnitedChristchurch United
Christchurch United is a semi-professional association football club in Christchurch, New Zealand. They compete in the Robbie's Premier Football League.-Club history:...
and Mount Wellington performed well in the second half of the season, with neither side losing a game in the home stretch until the last game of the season, the league's first floodlit game, which saw Christchurch beat the Mount at home in an eight-goal spectacular in front of the season's biggest crowd of 3,000.
By comparison with the Auckland sides, the Wellington trio had lacklustre seasons. The four teams from the central region filled the lower half of the table, and the gap between them and the top four — in both points and form — was substantial.