| Mainland Premier League | |
| Pixels: | 200px |
| Organiser: | Mainland Football |
| Country: | New Zealand |
| Confed: | OFC (Oceania) |
| Founded: | 1998 |
| Teams: | 8 |
| Promotion: | Southern League |
| Relegation: | Canterbury Championship |
| Levels: | 3 |
| League Cup: | English Cup |
| Domest Cup: | Chatham Cup |
| Champions: | Universities AFC (1st title) |
| Season: | 2023 |
| Most Successful Club: | Cashmere Technical (10 titles) |
| Website: | Mainland Football |
| Current: | 2024 Canterbury Premiership League |
The Canterbury Premiership League, formally Mainland Premier League, is a league competition run by Mainland Football for association football clubs located in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is at the third tier of New Zealand Football, below the Southern Leagues and above the Canterbury Championship League.
The competition currently runs between March and August each year, and consists of ten team based in Christchurch. There are 18 round where the teams play each other twice. The winner of the league has the option to play in the Mainland Football Federation Playoff, a two-leg home and away series against the winner of Nelson Bays Premiership. The winner of Mainland Football Federation Playoff, plays the winner of Southern Premiership in the Southern League Playoff, a two-leg home and away series. They winner of the Southern League Playoff will be promoted to the Southern League, assuming they will have the correct club licensing before the season starts.
The Christchurch League started in 1998, a breakaway competition from the Southern League. The inaugural season had eight teams; Avon United, Canterbury University, Christchurch Rangers, Christchurch United, Halswell United, New Brighton, Nomads United and Western. The inaugural season was won by Christchurch United with a record 58 points, which was only beaten in 2020 by Cashmere Technical with 59 points.[1]
In 2000, after the final season of the Southern League, the breakaway competition became the Federation 6 (Mainland) Premier League,[2] the league was expanded to 11 teams, with two team outside of Christchurch; Marlborough United and Nelson Suburbs Reserves.[3] The following season the league expanded to 12 teams, the additional team was Mid-Canterbury United, with Nelson Suburbs Reserves dropping out with Nelson Suburbs First team replacing them after withdrawing from the 2001 New Zealand National Soccer League, as they were unable to have two team from the same club compete in the Premier league.[4]
In 2012, Woolston Technical and Cashmere Wanderers merged to become Cashmere Technical; they replaced the Woolston side that had finished sixth in the 2011 competition. Recently merged teams Coastal Spirit (Established between New Brighton AFC and Rangers AFC in 2008), and FC Twenty 11 (Established between Avon United and Burnside AFC in 2011) entered the Premier League through promotion from the Division One competition.
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 Mainland Premier League and the FootballSouth Premier League will be the new 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.[5] For the Southern League, the two existing competitions run in the South Island (Mainland Premier League and FootballSouth Premier League) play their original league seasons for the teams to then qualify for a place in the newly formed competition.[6] Five teams from Mainland Premier League, which covers the top of the South Island to Christchurch and three teams from FootballSouth Premier League, covering from below Christchurch to the bottom of the South Island, will qualify.[6] The competition started on the 17 July 2021.[6] During that time, the bottom three teams played in a qualifying league with the top two teams in the Canterbury Championship league, with the top two finishers promoted to the 2022 Southern League.
In 2022, the league rebranded to become the Canterbury Premiership League (CPL), as there was no need to travel to Nelson to play a Nelson team.
FC Twenty 11 won the inaugural season of CPL, then played Southern Football's runners-up Roslyn-Wakari in the Southern League playoffs, as Dunedin City Royals reserve team won the league and were ineligible for promotion. FC Twenty 11 won 5–2 on aggregate.
In 2023, University of Canterbury won the league and played off against Nelson Bays' premiership winners FC Nelson, winning 5–3 win on aggregate. They then faced Southern Football's runners-up Roslyn-Wakari, as Mosgiel declined participation in the playoffs. Drawing 2–2 on aggregate, University of Canterbury won 6–5 on penalties after extra time.
As of 2024 season.[7]
| Club | Location | Home Ground(s) | 2023 season | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burwood | Marshland | Clare Park | 6th | |
| Cashmere Technical (2) | Woolston | Garrick Memorial Park | 2nd | |
| Christchurch United (U) | Spreydon | 1st in Canterbury Championship League (Promoted) | ||
| Ferrymead Bays (U) | Ferrymead | Ferrymead Park | 3rd in Canterbury Championship League (Promoted) | |
| Halswell United | Halswell | Halswell Domain | 4th | |
| Nomads United (2) | Casebrook | Tulett Park | 3rd | |
| Parklands United | Parklands | Parklands Reserve | 7th | |
| Selwyn United (U) | Rolleston | Foster Park | 2nd in Canterbury Championship League (Promoted) | |
| Waimakariri United | Kaiapoi | Kendall Park | 5th | |
| Western | Mairehau | Westminster Park | 8th |
(2) — Denotes club's Second team
(U) — Denotes club's Under 20 Reserve team
Mainland Premier League:
| Club | Number of Titles | Year(s) Won | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christchurch United | 1 | 1998 | |
| Halswell United | 3 | 1999, 2000, 2001 | |
| Ferrymead Bays | 5 | 2002, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2017 | |
| Nomads United | 2 | 2003, 2007 | |
| Nelson Suburbs | 3 | 2004, 2005, 2008 | |
| Cashmere Technical | 10 | 2009*, 2010*, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 |
Canterbury Premiership League:
| Club | Number of Titles | Year(s) Won |
|---|---|---|
| FC Twenty 11 | 1 | 2022 |
| Universities AFC | 1 | 2023 |