# 2021 New Zealand Women's National League

The 2021 New Zealand Women's National League was the first scheduled season of the new National League since its restructuring in 2021. It was the nineteenth scheduled season of national women's football and was planned as a hybrid season, with four teams from the NRFL Premier League representing the Northern Conference, Central Football and Capital Football representing the Central Conference, and Canterbury United Pride and Southern United representing the Southern Conference.
New Zealand Football announced on the 14 September that they had decided to terminate the remainder of the Northern League season and cancel any yet to be played fixtures due to Covid-19 and Auckland being in Level 4. The decision was made because they couldn't complete all the games before Championship phase was due to begin.
On the 2 November, after confirmation that the alert levels would not change to allow the Auckland and Waikato teams to play any further part in the National Competition, New Zealand Football announced that they were cancelling the reminder of the National League. In its place, they instead decided on a one-off interregional competition, the National League: South Central Series.

## Qualifying league
### 2021 NRFL Premier League
#### Teams

| Team | Location | Home Ground |
| Auckland United | Mount Roskill, Auckland | Keith Hay Park |
| Eastern Suburbs | Kohimarama, Auckland | Madills Farm |
| Ellerslie | Ellerslie, Auckland | Michaels Avenue Reserve |
| Hamilton Wanderers | Chartwell, Hamilton | Porritt Stadium |
| Northern Rovers | Glenfield, Auckland | McFetridge Park |
| Western Springs | Westmere, Auckland | Seddon Fields |

#### NRFL Premier League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Eastern Suburbs (C) | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 41 | 28 | +13 | 38 | Winner of Northern League and qualification to National League Championship |
| 2 | Western Springs (Q) | 18 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 34 | Qualification to National League Championship |
| 3 | Northern Rovers (Q) | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 42 | 40 | +2 | 27 | Qualification to National League Championship |
| 4 | Hamilton Wanderers (Q) | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 32 | 31 | +1 | 24 | Qualification to National League Championship |
| 5 | Ellerslie | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 28 | 32 | −4 | 17 | |
| 6 | Auckland United | 18 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 19 | 38 | −19 | 12 | |
* League completed early with two rounds remaining due to Covid-19 and Auckland being in Level 4.
* There was no relegation with the league expanding to eight teams instead for 2022.

#### NRFL Premier League results table

| Home \ Away | AU | ES | EL | HW | NR | WS |
| Auckland United | — | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 3–0 |
| — | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–6 | — | 0–3 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 3–1 | — | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2–4 | 1–4 |
| — | — | 5–2 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 |
| Ellerslie | 2–2 | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 |
| 0–0 | — | — | 0–1 | 2–2 | — |
| Hamilton Wanderers | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2–1 | — | 1–3 | 1–3 |
| 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | — | — |
| Northern Rovers | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 3–3 | — | 3–3 |
| 3–1 | 4–1 | 4–4 | 1–1 | — | 6–2 |
| Western Springs | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | — |
| 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 0–4 | 3–0 | — |

## Qualified teams

| Association | Team | Position in Regional League | App (last) | Previous best (last) |
| Northern League (4 berths) | Eastern Suburbs | 1st | 1st | Debut |
| Northern League (4 berths) | Western Springs | 2nd | 1st | Debut |
| Northern League (4 berths) | Northern Rovers | 3rd | 1st | Debut |
| Northern League (4 berths) | Hamilton Wanderers | 4th | 1st | Debut |
| Central League (2 berths) | Central Football | N/A | 19th (2020) | 2nd (2004) |
| Central League (2 berths) | Capital Football | N/A | 19th (2020) | 1st (2010) |
| Southern League (2 berths) | Canterbury United Pride | N/A | 19th (2020) | 1st (2020) |
| Southern League (2 berths) | Southern United | N/A | 19th (2020) | 3rd (2017) |

## Championship phase
### South Central Series

With confirmation that the alert levels were not changing to a level that would allow Auckland and Waikato teams to play in the National Competition, New Zealand Football announced that they were cancelling this seasons National League. In its place, they instead decided on a one-off interregional competition, the National League: South Central Series.

#### South Central table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Southern United (C) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 15 | Winner of South Central Series |
| 2 | Capital Football | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 12 | |
| 3 | Canterbury United Pride | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 12 | +6 | 9 | |
| 4 | Central Football | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 23 | −21 | 0 | |

#### South Central results table

| Home \ Away | CU | CAP | CEN | SU |
| Canterbury United Pride | | 3–2 | 5–0 | 1–2 |
| Capital Football | 3–1 | | 5–0 | 0–1 |
| Central Football | 0–5 | 0–2 | | 1–3 |
| Southern United | 5–3 | 0–3 | 3–1 | |

##### South Central positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 13, but then postponed and played between rounds 16 and 17, it is added to the standings for round 16.
| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Southern United | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Capital Football | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Canterbury United Pride | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Central Football | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
* Leader

## Statistics

    As of 11 December 2021

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Annalie Longo | Canterbury United Pride | 7 |
| 2 | Kaley Ward | Capital Football | 5 |
| 3 | Amy Hislop | Southern United | 4 |
| 4 | Rebecca Lake | Canterbury United Pride | 3 |
| 4 | Pepi Olliver-Bell | Capital Football | 3 |
| 4 | Chelsea Whittaker | Southern United | 3 |
| 7 | Kiara Bercelli | Canterbury United Pride | 2 |
| 7 | Margarida Dias | Southern United | 2 |
| 7 | Kate Guildford | Canterbury United Pride | 2 |
| 7 | Kate Loye | Canterbury United Pride | 2 |
| 7 | Jemma Robertson | Capital Football | 2 |

### Hat-tricks

| Round | Player | For | Against | Home/Away | Result | Date |
| 6 | Chelsea Whittaker | Southern United | Canterbury United Pride | Home | 5–3 | 11 December 2021 |

### Own goals

| Round | Player | Club | Against |
| 1 | Devyn Crawford | Central Football | Capital Football |
| 2 | Devyn Crawford | Central Football | Southern United |
| 6 | Lara Wall | Canterbury United Pride | Southern United |