2017–18 New Zealand Football Championship

ISPS Handa Premiership

Season	2017–18
Champions	Auckland City
Premiers	Auckland City
Matches played	103
Goals scored	321 (3.12 per match)
Top goalscorer	Emiliano Tade (16 goals)
Biggest home win	Auckland City 6–0 Hamilton Wanderers (13 November 2017)
Biggest away win	Wellington Phoenix 1–7 Eastern Suburbs (4 February 2018)
Highest scoring	Tasman United 4–4 Hamilton Wanderers (14 January 2018) Hamilton Wanderers 3–5 Eastern Suburbs (21 January 2018) Wellington Phoenix 1–7 Eastern Suburbs (4 February 2018) Wellington Phoenix 3–5 Canterbury United (11 February 2018) Waitakere United 5–3 Tasman United (18 March 2018)
← 2016–17 2018–19 → All statistics correct as of 1 April 2018.

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.

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[1]	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[2]	Adidas	Kinetic Electrical
Southern United	Dunedin	Sunnyvale Park	1,000	Paul O'Reilly[3]	Lotto Sport Italia	Freshwater Solutions
Tasman United	Nelson	Trafalgar Park	18,000	Davor Tavich[4]	Joma	Nelson Pine LVL (Front) Sprig & Fern (Back)
Team Wellington	Wellington	David Farrington Park	2,250	Jose Figueira	Nike	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[5]	Adidas	Huawei

Auckland City	Canterbury United	Eastern Suburbs	Hamilton Wanderers	Hawke's Bay United
Southern United	Team Wellington	Tasman United	Waitakere United	Wellington Phoenix

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Auckland City (C)	18	12	4	2	41	12	+29	40	Qualification to the Champions League and Finals series
2	Team Wellington	18	11	4	3	39	20	+19	37
3	Canterbury United	18	11	3	4	35	20	+15	36	Qualification to the Finals series
4	Eastern Suburbs	18	10	2	6	37	24	+13	32
5	Southern United	18	6	6	6	28	27	+1	24
6	Tasman United	18	6	5	7	34	39	−5	23
7	Waitakere United	18	5	4	9	30	34	−4	19
8	Hawke's Bay United	18	5	4	9	21	36	−15	19
9	Wellington Phoenix Reserves	18	4	3	11	27	53	−26	15
10	Hamilton Wanderers	18	1	3	14	23	50	−27	6

	Leader and qualification to AFC Champions League Group stage
	Qualification to Finals series

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.^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[8]

* 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.^[6]

Auckland City

Team Wellington

GK 1 Eñaut Zubikarai  90+2' DF 9 Darren White DF 5 Ángel Berlanga (c) DF 6 Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi MF 7 Cameron Howieson MF 8 Albert Riera MF 11 Fabrizio Tavano  69' MF 15 Dan Morgan FW 20 Emiliano Tade  47' FW 9 Kris Bright  69' FW 26 Callum McCowatt Substitutes: GK 24 Conor Tracey DF 25 Owen Parker-Price DF 13 Alfie Rogers MF 4 Mario Bilen  69' MF 17 Reid Drake MF 27 Dalton Wilkins FW 19 Micah Lea'alafa  69' Manager: Ramon Tribulietx

GK 1 Scott Basalaj DF 2 Justin Gulley (c) DF 4 Mario Ilich DF 3 Scott Hilliar  80' MF 10 Nathanael Hailemariam MF 7 Eric Molloy MF 11 Mario Barcia  89' MF 12 Andy Bevin FW 13 Roy Kayara FW 14 Jack-Henry Sinclair  62' FW 19 Ross A