# 2018–19 New Zealand Football Championship

The 2018–19 New Zealand Football Championship season (currently known as the ISPS Handa Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the fifteenth season of the NZFC since its establishment in 2004. Ten teams competed in the competition with Auckland City and Team Wellington representing the ISPS Handa Premiership in the 2019 OFC Champions League after finishing Champions and Premiers (Auckland City) and runner-up (Team Wellington) respectively in the 2017–18 competition.

## Clubs

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Manager | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Auckland City | Auckland | Kiwitea Street | 3,250 | Ramon Tribulietx | Kappa | Trillian Trust Inc (Front) Carters (Back) |
| Canterbury United | Christchurch | English Park | 9,000 | Willy Gerdsen | Nike | Robbie's Bar and Bistro |
| Eastern Suburbs | Auckland | Riverhills Park | 5,000 | Danny Hay | Lilywhites | Winger Motors |
| Hamilton Wanderers | Hamilton | Porritt Stadium | 5,000 | Ricki Herbert | Kelme | The Soccer Shop |
| Hawke's Bay United | Napier | Bluewater Stadium | 5,000 | Brett Angell | Adidas | Thirsty Whale |
| Southern United | Dunedin | Sunnyvale Park | 1,000 | Paul O'Reilly | Lotto Sport Italia | Freshwater Solutions |
| Tasman United | Nelson | Trafalgar Park | 18,000 | Andy Hedge | Nike | Nelson Pine LVL (Front) Sprig & Fern (Back) |
| Team Wellington | Wellington | David Farrington Park | 2,250 | José Figueira | Nike | Stonewood Homes |
| Waitakere United | Auckland | The Trusts Arena | 4,900 | Chris Milicich | Lotto Sport Italia | Mitre 10 Mega - Henderson (Front) Heritage Hotels (Back) |
| Wellington Phoenix | Wellington | Porirua Park | 1,900 | Paul Temple | Adidas | Huawei |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Auckland City | 18 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 18 | +28 | 52 | Qualification to OFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 2 | Eastern Suburbs (C) | 18 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 53 | 16 | +37 | 40 | Qualification to OFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 3 | Canterbury United | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 34 | 29 | +5 | 34 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 4 | Team Wellington | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 43 | 25 | +18 | 34 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 5 | Southern United | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 24 | 30 | −6 | 23 | |
| 6 | Hamilton Wanderers | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 34 | 44 | −10 | 17 | |
| 7 | Hawke's Bay United | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 38 | 55 | −17 | 17 | |
| 8 | Tasman United | 18 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 22 | 36 | −14 | 14 | |
| 9 | Waitakere United | 18 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 29 | 46 | −17 | 13 | |
| 10 | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | 18 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 22 | 46 | −24 | 11 | |
* 1 2 Head-to-head results: Team Wellington 1–1 Canterbury United, Canterbury United 2–1 Team Wellington.
* 1 2 Head-to-head results: Hawke's Bay United 0–2 Hamilton Wanderers, Hamilton Wanderers 4–4 Hawke's Bay United.

### Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| Auckland City | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Canterbury United | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Hamilton Wanderers | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Hawke's Bay United | 2 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Southern United | 2 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Tasman United | 2 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
| Team Wellington | 10 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Waitakere United | 2 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 2 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
* Leader and qualification to OFC Champions League Group stage
* Qualification to Finals series
Notes:
* The match between Southern United and Auckland City in Round 3 was abandoned at 0–0 after 47 minutes due to the pitch becoming unplayable, it will be rescheduled for 14 February 2019.
* Waitakere United were tied with Wellington Phoenix Reserves at the end of Round 3 in last place.
* The match between Canterbury United and Tasman United was cancelled due to the Christchurch mosque shootings and awarded as a 0–0 draw.

### Fixtures and results

The 2018–19 season sees every team play the other both home and away. With the finals series being played at the end of March 2019

#### Round 21

* The match between Canterbury United and Tasman United was cancelled due to the Christchurch mosque shootings and awarded as a 0–0 draw.

## Finals series
### Grand final

| Eastern Suburbs | Team Wellington |
| DF | 16 | Dominic Wooldridge | 89' |
| DF | 3 | Kelvin Kalua | 90' |
| DF | 4 | Nando Pijnaker |
| MF | 15 | Dalton Wilkins | 76' |
| MF | 7 | Tim Payne (c) |
| MF | 6 | Harry Edge |
| MF | 8 | Owen Parker-Price |
| FW | 14 | Elijah Just | 81' |
| FW | 10 | Andre de Jong |
| FW | 9 | Callum McCowatt | 7', 36', 58' |
| Substitutes: |||
| GK | 21 | Justin Biega |
| DF | 2 | Alex Clayton | |
| DF | 5 | Adam Thomas |
| MF | 23 | Campbell Strong | 89' |
| MF | 17 | Michael Built | 90' |
| MF | 12 | Kingsley Sinclair | |
| FW | 11 | Mohammed Awad | 81' |
| Manager: |||
| Danny Hay ||||
Scott Basalaj :
| DF | 11 | Bill Robertson | 51' |
| DF | 4 | Mario Ilich | |
| DF | 16 | Taylor Schrijvers |
| MF | 14 | Jack-Henry Sinclair | |
| MF | 17 | Alex Palezević | |
| MF | 12 | Andy Bevin (c) | 38' |
| MF | 18 | Aaron Clapham | 54' |
| MF | 15 | Joel Stevens | 51' |
| FW | 10 | Nathanael Hailemariam | |
| FW | 16 | Angus Kilkolly |
| Substitutes: |||
| GK | 22 | Marcel Kampman |
| DF | 3 | Adam Mitchell | |
| MF | 7 | Eric Molloy | 51' |
| MF | 8 | Henry Cameron | |
| MF | 13 | Daniel Mulholland | 54' |
| FW | 19 | Ross Allen | 51' |
| Manager: |||
| José Figueira ||||
* Steve Sumner Trophy:
* Callum McCowatt

## Statistics

    As of 17 March 2019

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Callum McCowatt | Eastern Suburbs | 18 |
| 2 | Andre de Jong | Eastern Suburbs | 16 |
| 2 | Sam Mason-Smith | Hawke's Bay United | 16 |
| 4 | Garbhan Coughlan | Southern United | 13 |
| 5 | Martín Bueno | Hamilton Wanderers | 12 |
| 6 | Stephen Hoyle | Canterbury United | 10 |
| 6 | Tommy Semmy | Hamilton Wanderers | 10 |
| 8 | Javier López | Auckland City | 8 |
| 8 | Ahmed Othman | Tasman United | 8 |
| 8 | Ben Waine | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | 8 |
| 8 | Hamish Watson | Team Wellington | 8 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Martín Bueno | Hamilton Wanderers | Waitakere United | 4–3 | 16 December 2018 |
| Sam Mason-Smith | Hawke's Bay United | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | 4–1 | 6 January 2019 |
| Callum McCowatt | Eastern Suburbs | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | 4–0 | 12 January 2019 |
| Garbhan Coughlan | Southern United | Hamilton Wanderers | 3–1 | 19 January 2019 |
| Alex Connor-McLean | Waitakere United | Hawke's Bay United | 7–2 | 24 February 2019 |
| Andre de Jong | Eastern Suburbs | Waitakere United | 5–1 | 3 March 2019 |
| Callum McCowatt | Eastern Suburbs | Team Wellington | 3–0 | 31 March 2019 |

### Own goals

| Player | Club | Against | Round |
| Jordan Vale | Auckland City | Tasman United | 2 |
| Sean Liddicoat | Canterbury United | Eastern Suburbs | 4 |
| Sean Liddicoat | Canterbury United | Team Wellington | 8 |
| Boyd Curry | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | Southern United | 8 |
| Erik Panzer | Southern United | Auckland City | 12 |
| James Hoyle | Hamilton Wanderers | Hawke's Bay United | 14 |