# 2020–21 New Zealand Football Championship

The 2020–21 New Zealand Football Championship season (currently known as the ISPS Handa Men's Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the seventeenth and final season of the NZFC since its establishment in 2004. Eight teams compete in the competition with Auckland City and Team Wellington representing the ISPS Handa Men's Premiership in the 2021 OFC Champions League after Auckland City finished Premiers, with Team Wellington finishing regular season runners-up in the 2019–20 competition, after the remainder of the competition was cancelled mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. The change from ten teams to eight teams was due to Tasman United and Southern United joining Canterbury United to form a united South Island team, playing under the Canterbury United name. Auckland City won the league with a game in hand, taking top spot for their 12th premiership.

## Clubs

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Manager | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Auckland City | Auckland | Kiwitea Street | 3,250 | José Figueira | Dynasty Sport | Vuksich & Borich, Trillian Trust Inc |
| Canterbury United | Christchurch | English Park | 9,000 | Lee Padmore | Nike | McDonald's |
| Eastern Suburbs | Auckland | Madills Farm | 1,000 | Tony Readings | Lilywhites | Winger Motors |
| Hamilton Wanderers | Hamilton | Porritt Stadium | 5,000 | Kale Herbert | Dynasty Sport | The Soccer Shop |
| Hawke's Bay United | Napier | Bluewater Stadium | 5,000 | Chris Greatholder Bill Robertson | Adidas | Thirsty Whale |
| Team Wellington | Wellington | David Farrington Park | 2,250 | Scott Hales | Nike | Stonewood Homes |
| Waitakere United | Auckland | Seddon Fields | 1,000 | Chris Milicich | Lotto Sport Italia | Triumph Motorcycles |
| Wellington Phoenix | Lower Hutt | Fraser Park | 750 | Paul Temple | Adidas | Huawei |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Auckland City | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 13 | +14 | 28 | Qualification to Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 2 | Team Wellington (C) | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 35 | 21 | +14 | 26 | Qualification to Finals series and disbanded at end of season |
| 3 | Hamilton Wanderers | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 21 | +2 | 20 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 4 | Eastern Suburbs | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 25 | 23 | +2 | 19 | Qualification to Finals series |
| 5 | Waitakere United | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 28 | 26 | +2 | 18 | Disbanded at end of season |
| 6 | Canterbury United | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 24 | −3 | 18 | Disbanded at end of season |
| 7 | Hawke's Bay United | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 17 | 29 | −12 | 13 | Disbanded at end of season |
| 8 | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 18 | 37 | −19 | 10 | |

### Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Auckland City | 3 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Canterbury United | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Hamilton Wanderers | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Hawke's Bay United | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Team Wellington | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Waitakere United | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 6 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |

### Fixtures and results

The season was scheduled to be played on a home and away basis between 14 November 2020 and 28 February 2021, with the finals series being played in March 2021. On 27 February 2021 it was announced that the game between Hawkes Bay United and Eastern Suburbs for Round 14 had been delayed because of a COVID-19 outbreak that resulted in the Auckland region moving to Level 3 and the rest of the country changing to Level 2. New Zealand Football announced that the game was to be rescheduled to be played as a midweek fixture sometime between 8–12 March but is dependent on the Alert Levels coming down. It was also announced that if the restrictions in Auckland remained, then the game would be cancelled and classed as a draw with both clubs sharing the points. If that was to happen, then the final top four teams for the semi-finals would be Auckland City, Team Wellington, Hamilton Wanderers and Waitakere United. This potentially could cause more issues, as two of the teams (Auckland City and Waitakere United) are based in the Auckland region so was also advised that in the event that the restrictions where still in place when the semi-finals where due to be played, then the competition would proceed to a straight final to be played between the two clubs that where top of the league at the end of the season. This would then see Auckland City and Team Wellington play the final, scheduled to be played on 21 March. With the restrictions in Auckland being lowered, the game was rescheduled and played on Wednesday 10 March 2021. The result of the game decided on who finished fourth and faced Auckland City for the second Semi-final.

#### Results table

| Home \ Away | AC | CU | ES | HW | HB | TW | WU | WP |
| Auckland City | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 4–1 |
| Canterbury United | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 5–1 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 1–1 | 3–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 8–0 |
| Hamilton Wanderers | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–4 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 |
| Hawke's Bay United | 0–4 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–3 | — | 2–2 | 2–0 | 3–2 |
| Team Wellington | 2–2 | 3–1 | 7–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | — | 3–4 | 5–2 |
| Waitakere United | 0–3 | 3–3 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | — | 1–4 |
| Wellington Phoenix Reserves | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — |

##### All times are in New Zealand Time.
#### Round 14
## Finals series
### Grand final

| Auckland City | Team Wellington |
| DF | 14 | Jordan Vale | | 74' |
| DF | 3 | Adam Mitchell | 90+4' | |
| DF | 6 | Brian Kaltak | | |
| DF | 23 | Alfie Rogers | | |
| MF | 2 | Mario Ilich | | 89' |
| MF | 7 | Cameron Howieson (c) | 51' | |
| MF | 16 | Yousif Al-Kalisy | | 71' |
| FW | 10 | Dylan Manickum | | |
| FW | 20 | Emiliano Tade | | |
| FW | 22 | Mohamed Awad | | |
| Substitutes: |||
| GK | 18 | Conor Tracey | | |
| DF | 17 | Andrew Blake | | 74' |
| DF | 4 | Mario Bilen | | |
| DF | 12 | Sam Brotherton | | |
| MF | 8 | Albert Riera | | |
| FW | 11 | Kayne Vincent | | 89' |
| FW | 13 | Deandre Vollenhoven | | 71' |
| Manager: |||
| José Figueira ||||
| DF | 14 | Jack-Henry Sinclair | | 82' |
| DF | 2 | Justin Gulley | | |
| DF | 4 | Taylor Schrijvers | | |
| DF | 6 | Scott Midgley | | |
| DF | 23 | Rory McKeown | | |
| MF | 5 | Ollie Whyte | | |
| MF | 11 | Mario Barcia (c) | 71' | 88' |
| MF | 12 | Andy Bevin | | |
| FW | 8 | Sam Mason-Smith | | 68' |
| FW | 9 | Hamish Watson | | |
| Substitutes: |||
| GK | 1 | Scott Basalaj | | |
| DF | 15 | Jake Williams | | |
| MF | 13 | Sam Dewar | | |
| MF | 19 | Haris Zeb | | 82' |
| MF | 20 | Wan Gatkek | | 88' |
| FW | 7 | João Moreira | | 68' |
| FW | 10 | Nathanael Hailemariam | | |
| Manager: |||
| Scott Hales ||||
* Steve Sumner Trophy:
* Andy Bevin

## Statistics

    As of 28 February 2021

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Derek Tieku | Hamilton Wanderers | 12 |
| 1 | Hamish Watson$^†$ | Team Wellington | 12 |
| 3 | Logan Rogerson | Auckland City | 8 |
| 3 | Sam Mason-Smith | Team Wellington | 8 |
| 5 | Riley Bidois | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | 6 |
| 5 | Garbhan Coughlan | Canterbury United | 6 |
| 5 | Ryan Feutz | Eastern Suburbs | 6 |
| 5 | Alex Grieve | Waitakere United | 6 |
| 9 | Jorge Akers | Hawke's Bay United | 5 |
| 9 | Andy Bevin | Team Wellington | 5 |
| 9 | Gerard Garriga | Waitakere United | 5 |
| 9 | Dylan Manickum | Auckland City | 5 |
| 9 | Adam Thurston | Eastern Suburbs | 5 |
$^†$ Due to reaching 12 goals in less games, Hamish Watson was awarded the Golden Boot at the Grand finals.

### Hat-tricks

| Round | Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| 10 | Hamish Watson | Team Wellington | Waitakere United | 3–4 | 30 January 2021 |
| 10 | Ryan Feutz | Eastern Suburbs | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | 8–0 | 31 January 2021 |
| 12 | Hamish Watson | Team Wellington | Eastern Suburbs | 7–0 | 13 February 2021 |
| 12 | Derek Tieku | Hamilton Wanderers | Waitakere United | 3–2 | 14 February 2021 |
| 14 | Sam Mason-Smith | Team Wellington | Hamilton Wanderers | 3–2 | 27 February 2021 |
| 14 | Garbhan Coughlan | Canterbury United | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | 5–1 | 27 February 2021 |

### Own goals

| Round | Player | Club | Against |
| 2 | Shuiab Khan | Waitakere United | Wellington Phoenix Reserves |
| 7 | Finn Surman | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | Canterbury United |
| 8 | Joseph Harris | Hamilton Wanderers | Auckland City |
| 9 | Adam Mitchell | Auckland City | Eastern Suburbs |
| 9 | Finn Surman | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | Team Wellington |