The Central Federation League is an amateur status league competition run by Central Football for association football clubs located in the central region of the North Island, New Zealand. It is currently in the third level of the New Zealand football league system, below the Central League administered by Capital Football and is entered by clubs from the Taranaki, Manawatū-Whanganui, Hawke's Bay and Gisborne districts.
| Central Federation League | |
| Country: | New Zealand |
| Confed: | OFC (Oceania) |
| Founded: | 2000 |
| Teams: | 9 |
| Relegation: | Taranaki Premiership Pacific Premiership Horizon's Premiership |
| Levels: | 3 |
| Champions: | Palmerston North United (1st title) |
| Season: | 2024 |
| Most Successful Club: | Havelock North Wanderers Napier City Rovers Palmerston North Marist Team Taranaki (3 titles each) |
| Website: | https://www.centralfootball.co.nz/ |
| Promotion: | Central League 2 |
| League Cup: | Central Federation Cup Central Federation League Cup |
| Domest Cups: | Chatham Cup |
The league was launched in 2000 and began within the second tier of the New Zealand football league system as a replacement for the disbanded triple division Central League, which had run in various forms since 1966.[1]
As of the 2024 season.[2]
| Club | Location | Home Ground(s) | 2023 season |
|---|---|---|---|
| FC Western | New Plymouth | Lynmouth Park | 2nd in Taranaki Premiership (new entry) |
| Gisborne Thistle | Gisborne | Childers Road Reserve | 4th |
| Havelock North Wanderers | Havelock North | Guthrie Park | 2nd in Pacific Premiership (new entry) |
| New Plymouth Rangers | New Plymouth | Merrilands Domain | 3rd in Taranaki Premiership (new entry) |
| Palmerston North Marist | Palmerston North | Central Energy Trust Arena Turf | 1st |
| Palmerston North United | Palmerston North | Memorial Park | 2nd |
| Peringa United | New Plymouth | Peringa Park | 1st in Taranaki Premiership (new entry) |
| Taradale | Napier | Taradale Park | 5th |
| Whanganui Athletic | Wembley Park | Whanganui | 10th in Central League (relegated) |
| width=150 | Club | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palmerston North United | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 40 | 36 | |||||||||||
| Palmerston North Marist | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 29 | 33 | |||||||||||
| FC Western | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 31 | |||||||||||
| Taradale | 16 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 28 | |||||||||||
| Havelock North Wanderers | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |||||||||||
| Gisborne Thistle | 16 | 7 | 1 | 8 | -20 | 22 | |||||||||||
| New Plymouth Rangers | 16 | 6 | 1 | 9 | -6 | 19 | |||||||||||
| Whanganui Athletic | 16 | 3 | 1 | 12 | -18 | 10 | |||||||||||
| Peringa United | 16 | 2 | 1 | 13 | -33 | 7 | |||||||||||
Upper Hutt City win 4 - 2 on aggregate and promotion to the 2025 Central League Premier Division.
| width=150 | Club | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| Palmerston North United | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | |||||||||||||
| 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | ||||||||||||||
| 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | ||||||||||||||
| Taradale | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | |||||||||||||
Napier Marist FC and Levin AFC withdrew from the league before the 2023 competition began reducing the number of clubs participating to five.
Island Bay United win 7 - 0 on aggregate and promotion to the 2024 Central League.
| width=150 | Club | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 7 | +41 | 38 | ||||||||||
| 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 39 | 12 | +27 | 32 | ||||||||||
| 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 37 | 14 | +23 | 29 | ||||||||||
| 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 27 | 30 | -3 | 22 | ||||||||||
| 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 25 | 41 | -16 | 19 | ||||||||||
| 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 27 | 36 | -9 | 15 | ||||||||||
| 14 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 43 | -31 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 14 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 44 | -32 | 4 |
Aggregate score 5–4. Stop Out promoted to the 2022 Central League. In late 2022 Whanganui Athletic were also promoted to the 2023 Central League after the withdrawal of Wellington United from the competition.[4]
| width=150 | Club | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 55 | 16 | +39 | 40 | ||||||||||
| 16 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 62 | 26 | +36 | 34 | ||||||||||
| 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 38 | 23 | +15 | 30 | ||||||||||
| 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 43 | 32 | 11 | 30 | ||||||||||
| 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 40 | 31 | 9 | 28 | ||||||||||
| 16 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 35 | 36 | -1 | 22 | ||||||||||
| 16 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 25 | 57 | -32 | 10 | ||||||||||
| 16 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 15 | 45 | -30 | 8 | ||||||||||
| 16 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 15 | 62 | -47 | 7 |
Aggregate score 6–6. Havelock North Wanderers win tie on away goal rule and are promoted to the 2022 Central League.
Note - Wairarapa United withdrew from the 2022 Central League prior to the start of the season and were subsequently replaced by Wellington United.[5]
Aggregate score 12 - 6. Wainuiomata are promoted to the 2021 Central League.
Petone won 6 - 5 on aggregate and promotion to the 2020 Central League.
North Wellington won 12 - 0 on aggregate and promotion to the 2019 Central League.
Waterside Karori won promotion on away goal rule to 2018 Central League.
Team Taranaki won on away goals rule and promotion to the 2017 Central League.
| Club | Location | Home Ground(s) | Last Season | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gisborne City | Gisborne | Childers Road Reserve | 2003 - merged as Gisborne City Marist | |
| Moturoa AFC | New Plymouth | Onuku Taipari Domain | 2003 - league position given to Team Taranaki | |
| Gisborne City Marist | Gisborne | Childers Road Reserve | 2004 - withdrew | |
| Manawatu AFC | Palmerston North | 2004 (amalgamated) | ||
| Red Sox Riverside | Palmerston North | 2004 (amalgamated) | ||
| Linton Area Defence FC | Palmerston North | Linton Military Camp | 2005 - withdrew | |
| Napier City Rovers | Napier | Bluewater Stadium | 2010 - withdrew to Pacific Premiership | |
| Feilding United | Manawatu | Timona Park | 2015 - withdrew | |
| Team Taranaki | New Plymouth | Yarrow Stadium | 2016 - promoted to 2017 Central League | |
| Port Hill United | Napier | Marewa Park | 2016 - withdrew | |
| Wanganui City FC | Whanganui | Wembley Park | 2019 - withdrew | |
| Palmerston North Boys' High School | Palmerston North | High School Ground | 2019 - relegated | |
| Hokowhitu FC | Palmerston North | Hokowhitu Park | 2019 - withdrew | |
| Red Sox Manawatu | Palmerston North | 2020 - withdrew | ||
| Levin | Levin | Donnelly Park | 2022 - withdrew | |
| Napier Marist | Napier | Bluewater Stadium | 2022 - withdrew | |
| North End | Palmerston North | Memorial Park | 2022 - merged as Palmerston North United | |
| Massey University | Palmerston North | Massey University | 2022 - merged as Palmerston North United |
The Lotto Central Federation Cup is the premier men's knock-out trophy of the Central Football Federation and is contested annually by clubs affiliated to the Central Football Federation. The cup competition in its current form began in 2009, with the exception of the COVID-19 affected 2020 season when the first round of matches was initially scheduled then subsequently cancelled.
*(2) denotes club's second team