# Canterbury United Dragons

Canterbury United Dragons was a semi-professional football club from Christchurch, New Zealand. The team plays most of its matches at English Park in Christchurch, though they occasionally play in Nelson. The club last played in the ISPS Handa Premiership, the now folded top level of football in New Zealand.

## History

The club was founded in 2002 as a conglomerate of various Christchurch area clubs, in order to form a strong team to take part in the 2002 New Zealand National Soccer League. In 2004, the league was replaced by the New Zealand Football Championship, run on a regional franchise basis, and Canterbury United became one of the eight competing teams.
In Canterbury United's first season in the New Zealand Football Championship they missed out on the playoffs by four competition points, ultimately finishing fourth. In 2007, the club rebranded themselves as the "Canterbury United Dragons" with a new logo and mascot.

## Current squad

    As of 23 January 2021
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | NZL | Eddie Ashton |
| 3 | DF | NZL | Ben Stroud |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Tom Schwarz |
| 6 | DF | NZL | Matthew Jones |
| 7 | MF | ENG | George King |
| 8 | DF | NZL | Luke Tongue |
| 9 | FW | IRL | Garbhan Coughlan |
| 10 | FW | NZL | Ihaia Delaney |
| 12 | MF | NZL | Samuel Field |
| 13 | DF | NZL | Andrew Storer |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | DF | NZL | Sean Liddicoat |
| 15 | MF | NZL | Max Chretien |
| 16 | MF | NZL | Cory Mitchell |
| 17 | DF | NZL | Simon Chretien |
| 18 | FW | JPN | Yuya Taguchi |
| 19 | FW | RSA | Lyle Matthysen |
| 20 | DF | NZL | Jacob Richards |
| 21 | DF | NZL | Caleb Cottom |
| 22 | GK | NZL | Danny Knight |
| 24 | MF | NZL | Edward Wilkinson |

## Club Officials

Coaching and Medical Staff
* Head coach: Lee Padmore
* Assistant coach: Dan Terris
* Goalkeeping coach: Alan Stroud
* Manager: Marcus Beaton
* Strength and conditioning: James Deehan
* Video analysis: Jesse Rawlings
* Sports science: Blair Minton
* Performance/wellbeing: Martin Field Dodgson
* Physiotherapist: James McCormack
* Club doctor: Phil Fletcher

## Managers

* Danny Halligan (1 July 2006 – 4 February 2008)
* Korouch Monsef (5 February 2008 – 30 June 2009)
* Keith Braithwaite (1 July 2009 – 30 June 2013)
* Sean Devine (1 July 2014 – 21 April 2015)
* Willy Gerdsen (1 July 2015 – 14 June 2019)
* Lee Padmore (1 July 2019 – Current)

## Honours

ASB Phoenix Challenge
* Winners (1): 2012
ASB Premiership Youth League
* Winners (2): 2009–10, 2011–12

## Statistics and records
### Year-by-year history

Wellington League History :
| Season | Teams | League Ladder Position | Finals Qualification | Finals Position |
| 2002 | 10 | 5th | did not qualify | |
| 2003 | 10 | 6th | did not qualify | |
| 2004–05 | 8 | 4th | did not qualify | |
| 2005–06 | 8 | 3rd | Qualified for Playoffs | Runners-up |
| 2006–07 | 8 | 4th | did not qualify | |
| 2007–08 | 8 | 8th | did not qualify | |
| 2008–09 | 8 | 8th | did not qualify | |
| 2009–10 | 8 | 4th | Qualified for Playoffs | Runners-up |
| 2010–11 | 8 | 4th | Qualified for Playoffs | 3rd |
| 2011–12 | 8 | 2nd | Qualified for Playoffs | 3rd |
| 2012–13 | 8 | 3rd | Qualified for Playoffs | 3rd |
| 2013–14 | 8 | 5th | did not qualify | |
| 2014–15 | 9 | 8th | did not qualify | |
| 2015–16 | 8 | 4th | Qualified for Playoffs | 3rd |
| 2016–17 | 10 | 6th | did not qualify | |
| 2017–18 | 10 | 3rd | Qualified for Playoffs | 3rd |
| 2018–19 | 10 | 3rd | Qualified for Playoffs | 3rd |
| 2019–20 | 10 | 10th | No playoffs due to Covid-19 | |

### Season summaries

Season Stats :
| Season | Pos | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| 2002 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 31 | 30 | +1 | 28 |
| 2003 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 26 |
| 2004–05 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 31 | 38 | -7 | 27 |
| 2005–06 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 6 | 36 | 22 | +14 | 41 |
| 2006–07 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 33 | 30 | +3 | 31 |
| 2007–08 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 22 | 48 | -26 | 12 |
| 2008–09 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 32 | -21 | 8 |
| 2009–10 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 23 | 16 | +7 | 18 |
| 2010–11 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 20 | 19 | +1 | 20 |
| 2011–12 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 38 | 12 | +26 | 29 |
| 2012–13 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 34 | 19 | +15 | 28 |
| 2013–14 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 22 | 16 | +6 | 22 |
| 2014–15 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 22 | 32 | -10 | 14 |
| 2015–16 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 28 | 23 | +5 | 26 |
| 2016–17 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 32 | 28 | +4 | 24 |
| 2017–18 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 20 | +15 | 36 |
| 2018–19 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 34 | 29 | +5 | 34 |
| 2019–20 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 19 | 36 | -17 | 10 |