2017–18 New Zealand Football Championship Explained

Season:	2017–18
League Topscorer:	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)
Matches:	103
Total Goals:	321
Updated:	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.

Clubs

width=175	Team !	Location	Stadium	Capacity	Manager	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
			3,250			Hi-Chew (front) Trillian Trust Inc (Back) Carters (Back)
			9,000	Willy Gerdsen		Robbie's Bar and Bistro
			5,000	Danny Hay^[1]	Lilywhites	Winger Motors
			5,000			The Soccer Shop
			5,000	Brett Angell^[2]		Kinetic Electrical
			1,000	Paul O'Reilly^[3]		Freshwater Solutions
			18,000	Davor Tavich^[4]	Joma	Nelson Pine LVL (Front) Sprig & Fern (Back)
			2,250	Jose Figueira		Stonewood Homes
			4,900	Chris Milicich		Jerry Clayton BMW (Front) Heritage Hotels (Back)
			2,250	Chris Greenacre^[5]		Huawei

Kits

Regular season

Positions by round

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]

Fixtures and results

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]

Round 9

• 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]

Round 18

Finals series

Grand final

width=25 ! width=25 GK 1 DF 9 DF 5 Ángel Berlanga (c) DF 6 Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi MF 7 MF 8 Albert Riera MF 11 MF 15 Dan Morgan FW 20 FW 9 FW 26 Callum McCowatt Substitutes: GK 24 Conor Tracey DF 25 DF 13 Alfie Rogers MF 4 MF 17 MF 27 FW 19 Manager: Ramon Tribulietx

width=25 ! width=25 GK 1 Scott Basalaj DF 2 Justin Gulley (c) DF 4 DF 3 MF 10 MF 7 Eric Molloy MF 11 MF 12 Andy Bevin FW 13 FW 14 FW 19 Ross Allen Substitutes: GK 22 Marcel Kampman DF 5 MF 20 FW 16 FW 21 Manager: José Figueira

Steve Sumner Trophy: Callum McCowatt Assistant referees: Gareth Sheehan Edward Cook Fourth official: Nick Waldron

width=55% valign=top

Statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Emiliano Tade	Auckland City	16
2	Paul Ifill	Tasman United	12
3	Andre de Jong^1	Eastern Suburbs	11
4	Stephen Hoyle	Canterbury United	9
5	Garbhan Coughlan	Southern United	8
	Ryan De Vries^2	Auckland City
7	Andrew Bevin	Team Wellington	7
	Keegan Linderboom	Waitakere United
	Callum McCowatt	Auckland City
	Tommy Semmy	Hamilton Wanderers
	Jack-Henry Sinclair	Team Wellington
	Derek Tieku	Eastern Suburbs

¹ Transferred to Maccabi Hakoah in Australia, 5 March 2018.
² Transferred to FC Gifu in Japan, 17 January 2018.

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
			3–1		^[9]
			5–0		^[10]
			3–1		^[11]
			6–0		^[12]
			4–4		^[13]
			5–2		^[14]
			3–1		^[15]
			5–3		^[16]

Own goals

Player	Club	Against	Round
Unknown	Hamilton Wanderers	Auckland City	4
Unknown	Auckland City	Team Wellington	8
Ryan Lowry	Wellington Phoenix Reserves	Eastern Suburbs	8
Daniel McHenery	Hawke's Bay United	Hamilton Wanderers	10
Unknown	Waitakere United	Canterbury United	11
Julyan Collett	Waitakere United	Wellington Phoenix Reserves	12
Liam Moore	Wellington Phoenix Reserves	Eastern Suburbs	14
Xavier Pratt	Hamilton Wanderers	Wellington Phoenix Reserves	16

External links

• ISPS Handa Premiership website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Suburbs appoint Danny Hay. New Zealand Football. 14 August 2017. 15 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170817033032/http://www.nzfootball.co.nz/suburbs-appoint-danny-hay/. 17 August 2017. dead.
2. Web site: Brett Angell appointed Head Coach of Hawke’s Bay . Hawke's Bay United Football . 12 November 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141112064350/http://www.sportsground.co.nz/Article.asp?SiteID=4282&ArticleID=36454 . 12 November 2014 .
3. Web site: O’Reilly takes charge of Southern. NZ Football. 24 August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160825043613/http://www.nzfootball.co.nz/oreilly-takes-charge-of-southern/. 25 August 2016. dead. dmy-all.
4. Web site: Tasman United coach Davor Tavich deserved the job from the start.
5. News: Chris Greenacre takes over as Wellington Phoenix national league coach. stuff. 12 October 2017.
6. Web site: Auckland City field ineligible player. New Zealand Football. 30 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171230225611/http://www.nzfootball.co.nz/newsarticle/57390. 30 December 2017. dead.
7. Web site: 2017/18 ISPS Handa Premiership Draw. NZ Football. 13 September 2017. 26 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171026110519/http://www.nzfootball.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/ISPS-Handa-Premiership-Draw-2017-18.pdf. dead.
8. Web site: National league schedules amended. NZ Football. 31 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107013914/http://www.nzfootball.co.nz/national-league-schedules-amended/. 7 November 2017. dead.
9. News: Andre de Jong hat-trick fires Eastern Suburbs past Team Wellington. Liam. Hyslop. Stuff.co.nz. 22 October 2017.
10. News: Auckland City put five past nine-man Waitākere United in Super City derby. Andrew. Voerman. Stuff.co.nz. 29 October 2017.
11. News: Pearson. Joseph. Angus Kilkolly's hat-trick guides Team Wellington to victory over Hamilton Wanderers. 19 November 2017. Stuff.co.nz.
12. News: Pearson. Joseph. Team Wellington grab the upper hand as Auckland City held to draw by Waitākere. 7 January 2018. Stuff.co.nz.
13. News: Voerman. Andrew. Rollo. Phillip. High penalty count hurts Tasman United as top four slips further away. 14 January 2018. Stuff.co.nz.
14. News: Voerman. Andrew. Rollo. Phillip. Hamilton Wanderers end their winless run as Auckland City, Team Wellington draw. 4 February 2018. Stuff.co.nz.
15. News: Voerman. Andrew. Canterbury United set up semifinal with Team Wellington, but where will it be?. 18 March 2018. Stuff.co.nz.
16. News: Voerman. Andrew. Defending champs Team Wellington strike late to secure home national league semi. 18 March 2018. Stuff.co.nz.