Northern League (New Zealand)

Northern League

Founded	1965
Country	New Zealand
Confederation	OFC (Oceania)
Number of teams	12
Level on pyramid	2
Feeder to	National League
Relegation to	NRFL Championship
Current champions	Auckland City (4th title) (2024)
Most championships	Auckland City Bay Olympic Takapuna Central United (4 titles)
TV partners	FIFA+ (select games)
Website	Northern Region Football
Current: 2024 Northern League

The Northern League is an amateur New Zealand association football competition. It is a top-tier competition during the winter season, and sits at step two overall.

The Northern League includes football clubs located in the northern part of the North Island from the Northland, Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions. The competition was known as the NRFL Premier until 2021, when New Zealand's football league system was restructured. Clubs compete each season to qualify for the New Zealand National League.

In the years 1965–1969, before the launch of a National Soccer League, the Northern League was the highest level competition available to the clubs in the northern region. When the National Soccer League was created in 1970, the Northern League became one of its feeder leagues.

In 1997 and 1998, when the National Soccer League operated as an invitation-only summer league, the Northern League again became the highest level club competition available to the clubs from the northern provinces.

With the demise of the club-based National Soccer League in 2004, the Northern League, now known as Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Men's Premier, became part of the highest level of football league competition in New Zealand for the third time in its history. The league runs between the New Zealand autumn and winter months (April to September), while the New Zealand Football Championship runs between the New Zealand spring and summer months (October to March).

In March 2021, New Zealand Football announced a change to the structure of both the premiership and the top regional leagues around the country. The four top regional leagues (NRFL Premier, Central Premier League, Mainland Premier League and the FootballSouth Premier League) would be formed into the Northern League, Central League, and the Southern League. These leagues would allow local clubs to qualify for the premiership season (now known as the National League Championship), with the top 4 teams from the Northern League, the top 3 teams from the Central League, and the top 2 teams from the Southern League making up the competition, alongside the Wellington Phoenix Reserve side. All teams that qualify plus the Phoenix Reserves, would then play a single round-robin competition between September and December.^[1]

The first few season were dominated by Auckland City after replacing sister club Central United at the dissolution of the New Zealand Football Championship.^[2] Auckland City won the league four consecutive times in their first four seasons. In the 2023 season, Auckland City and Eastern Suburbs completed the season undefeated.^[3][4] This is the first time, since Eastern Suburbs did so in the inaugural 1965 season, and the first time two clubs have done so in the same season.^[5]

• Northern League (this page)
• NRFL Championship
• NRFL Northern Conference / NRFL Southern Conference
• NRF League One/ WaiBOP League One
• Community Leagues

The following list is of the official sponsors of the League, unless otherwise noted.

• Kia Motors 2010–2012, (marketing partner)
• Lotto Sport Italia 2008–2012, (primary sponsor)
• ASB Bank 2010–2012, (marketing partner)
• Prime (New Zealand) 2010–2012, (TV channel), (TV partner)
• FTN – Family Television Network 2010–2012, (TV channel), (TV partner)
• TVNZ 2010–2012,(TV channel), (official TV sponsor)
• Sky Network Television 2009–present, (TV channel), (TV partner – For national & international broadcasting)

Auckland

Hamilton Wanderers

Melville United

Tauranga City

Auckland teams:
Auckland City
Auckland United
Bay Olympic
Birkenhead United
East Coast Bays
Eastern Suburbs
Manurewa
West Coast Rangers
Western Springs

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Location of clubs in New Zealand for the 2024 Northern League season

AKC

AKU

BAY

BIR

ECB

EAS

MRW

WCR

WSP

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Location of clubs in Auckland Region for the 2024 Northern League season

As of the 2024 season.^[6]

This list consists of past or present notable players that have either represented an international team, or made more than fifty appearances at a professional level in their careers.

The following list is from the 2021 season onwards after New Zealand Football changed the football league system in New Zealand. From 2021, the Northern League has acted as a qualifier league to the National League.

Season	Top scorer(s)	Club(s)	Goals
2021	Alex Greive	Birkenhead United	19
2022[7]	Derek Tieku	Hamilton Wanderers	17
2023	Ryan de Vries Derek Tieku	Auckland City Hamilton Wanderers	19
2024[8]	Jake Mechell	Eastern Suburbs	19

The following records are from the 2021 season onwards after New Zealand Football changed the football league system in New Zealand. From 2021, the Northern League has acted as a qualifier league to the National League. The records are up to date as of the end of the 2024 season.

• Most wins in a season: 20 – Auckland City (2022)
• Fewest defeats in a season: 0 – Auckland City, Eastern Suburbs (both 2023)
• Most goals scored in a season: 68 – Auckland City (2022)
• Fewest goals conceded in a season: 9 – Auckland City (2023)
• Most points in a season: 61 – Auckland City (2022)
• Fewest points in a season: 8 – Waiheke United, North Shore United (both 2022)
• Highest goal difference: 55 – Auckland City (2023)
• Biggest home win: – Birkenhead United 9–0 Melville United (1 May 2021)
• Biggest away win: – Manukau United 0–7 Birkenhead United (1 April 2023)
• Highest scoring match: 10 goals
  • Auckland City 7–3 Melville United (20 April 2024)
• Biggest title-winning margin: – 11 points
  • 2021, Auckland City (46 points) over Auckland United (35 points)
  • 2022, Auckland City (61 points) over Birkenhead United (50 points)
• Smallest title-winning margin: – 4 points, 2023, Auckland City (60 points) over Eastern Suburbs (56 points)

Season	Winner(s)	Club(s)
2021[9]	Alex Greive	Birkenhead United
2022[10]	Derek Tieku	Hamilton Wanderers
2023[11]	Derek Tieku	Hamilton Wanderers
2024[12]	Jake Mechell	Eastern Suburbs

• National League website
• Auckland Football Federation
• Lotto NRFL Premier League
• Northern League Honours Board