# 2019–20 New Zealand Football Championship

The 2019–20 New Zealand Football Championship season (currently known as the ISPS Handa Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the sixteenth season of the NZFC since its establishment, in 2004. Ten teams compete in the competition with Eastern Suburbs and Auckland City representing the ISPS Handa Premiership in the 2020 OFC Champions League after finishing Champions (Eastern Suburbs) and Premiers (Auckland City) respectively in the 2018–19 competition.

## Clubs

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Manager | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Auckland City | Auckland | Kiwitea Street | 3,250 | José Figueira | Kappa | Trillian Trust Inc (Front) Carters (Back) |
| Canterbury United | Christchurch | English Park | 9,000 | Lee Padmore | Nike | Robbie's Bar and Bistro |
| Eastern Suburbs | Auckland | Madills Farm | 5,000 | Tony Readings | Lilywhites | Winger Motors |
| Hamilton Wanderers | Hamilton | Porritt Stadium | 5,000 | Kale Herbert | Kelme | The Soccer Shop |
| Hawke's Bay United | Napier | Bluewater Stadium | 5,000 | Chris Greatholder Bill Robertson | 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 | Jess Ibrom | Nike | Nelson Pine LVL (Front) Sprig & Fern (Back) |
| Team Wellington | Wellington | David Farrington Park | 2,250 | Scott Hales | 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 |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position on table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Hamilton Wanderers | Ricki Herbert | Resigned | 4 December 2019 | 10th | Kale Herbert | 4 December 2019 |

## Regular season
### League table

On 18 March 2020, New Zealand Football announced that the 2019–20 New Zealand Football Championship season had been concluded due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The remaining two rounds of the regular season and the finals series were cancelled. Auckland City, who were leading the regular season table, were declared champions and also awarded the Minor Premiership, and qualified for the 2021 OFC Champions League together with Team Wellington, who were at second place in the regular season table.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Auckland City (C) | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 42 | 15 | +27 | 37 | Qualification to OFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Team Wellington | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 36 | 15 | +21 | 34 | Qualification to OFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Waitakere United | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 35 | 32 | +3 | 27 | |
| 4 | Eastern Suburbs | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 33 | 26 | +7 | 22 | |
| 5 | Tasman United | 16 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 27 | 26 | +1 | 20 | Disbanded at end of season |
| 6 | Hamilton Wanderers | 16 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 24 | 39 | −15 | 20 | |
| 7 | Southern United | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 25 | 38 | −13 | 19 | Disbanded at end of season |
| 8 | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | 16 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 30 | 32 | −2 | 18 | |
| 9 | Hawke's Bay United | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 32 | 44 | −12 | 15 | |
| 10 | Canterbury United | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 19 | 36 | −17 | 10 | |

### Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Auckland City | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Canterbury United | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 5 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Hamilton Wanderers | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| Hawke's Bay United | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Southern United | 2 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Tasman United | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| Team Wellington | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Waitakere United | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 4 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
* Leader and qualification to OFC Champions League Group stage
* Qualification to Finals series
Notes:
* Southern United beat Tasman United 4–0 in round 1, however it was ruled by NZ Football that they had played an ineligible player so forfeited the result. This meant the win was awarded as a 3–0 result to Tasman United.

### Fixtures and results

The season was scheduled to be played on a home and away basis between November 2019 and March 2020, with the finals series being played in April 2020.

#### Round 1

*Southern United beat Tasman United 4–0 however it was ruled by NZ Football that they had played an ineligible player so forfeited the result. This meant the win was awarded as a 3–0 result to Tasman United.

#### Round 20
## Finals series
### Grand final
## Statistics

    As of 2 February 2020

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Myer Bevan | Auckland City | 13 |
| 2 | Martín Bueno | Eastern Suburbs | 10 |
| 3 | Ahinga Selemani | Hawke's Bay United | 8 |
| 3 | Hamish Watson | Team Wellington | 8 |
| 5 | Derek Tieku | Hamilton Wanderers | 7 |
| 6 | Ollie Bassett | Team Wellington | 6 |
| 6 | Jean-Philippe Saiko | Tasman United | 6 |
| 6 | Dane Schnell | Waitakere United | 6 |
| 9 | Reid Drake | Eastern Suburbs | 5 |
| 9 | Byron Heath | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | 5 |
| 9 | George King | Canterbury United | 5 |
| 9 | Ahmed Othman | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | 5 |
| 9 | Jack-Henry Sinclair | Team Wellington | 5 |

### Hat-tricks

| Round | Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| 1 | Myer Bevan | Auckland City | Waitakere United | 3–2 | 2 November 2019 |
| 2 | Dylan Sacramento | Hawke's Bay United | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | 3–4 | 10 November 2019 |
| 2 | Blake Driehuis | Wellington Phoenix Reserves | Hawke's Bay United | 3–4 | 10 November 2019 |
| 5 | Joel Stevens | Southern United | Hawke's Bay United | 5–2 | 1 December 2019 |
| 12 | Martín Bueno | Eastern Suburbs | Southern United | 6–0 | 2 February 2020 |