How good was it having each and every Women’s Premiership game livestreamed this year? I mean, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t still heaps of room for improvement with those broadcasts because I definitely had some annoyances (fun game: count the errors in this shocker)... but at the end of the day it’s mostly just gratitude to have had that kind of access to the competition. It meant for the first time being able to cover the Women’s Prem in proper detail so with that in mind we might as well celebrate the (far too sudden) end of the campaign with a good old fashioned Team of the Season, throwing up the love to the players who got it done.

Generally I do a three-tiered NBA-style thing with the Men’s teams. That’s for a 10 team competition though (8 this season, but should still be able to stretch it out). Here we only had the seven of them so initially I figured that two XIs would suffice to keep it nice and competitive for places. But then I figured why be so limiting? Thus I’ve chucked in a third team anyway (but without the blurbs, otherwise you’ll be waiting ‘til the other side of Christmas to read it) which allows some bonus recognition for a few players from the lower teams on the ladder.

The teams are ranked First XI, Second XI, Third XI and all judgements are mine own so don’t take it personally if you disagree - that’s all part of the fun of these things. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from covering football it’s that everybody sees different things, everybody brings different experiences to the table, everybody had their own ideas of how the game should be played and what constitutes a good performance. This is how the prudent and propitious pages of the Premmy Files saw things...

FIRST XI

GK – Georgia Candy (Capital)

Easily the best performing keeper of the season, making save after save after save as Capital rolled to the final on the back of more than a couple of close games. The Georgia Candy 2020 Premiership Highlights video will be mandatory viewing when it makes it to YouTube – there were some absolute blinders in there. Shot-stopping of the highest calibre. She was already written into this spot in permanent ink before a first half performance of legendary proportions in the grand final. League MVP and not a soul could argue with that.

RB – Arisa Takeda (Auckland)

A Japanese national who along with Rina Hirano (you’ll see that name again shortly) gave Auckland such a touch of extra class. AKL were the form team in the comp for the first three weeks (before things got weird) and Takeda was amazing for them, a fullback with the technical abilities of a central midfielder and an incredible set piece delivery. Scored two goals and set up plenty more. The one game she missed (vs Northern) was the one game that Auckland lost (on the pitch).

CB – Rebecca Lake (Canterbury)

First of many Cantabs to crack these teams. The captain was immense in defence, even as the team mixed things up in the backline throughout the first few weeks as they sought to find the right balance. Which obviously they managed in the end with four clean sheets in a row to close things out, including the final. Lake wasn’t only a force at the back though... she also scored four goals, all from penalties (and all in different games). Missed one in the final but we shan’t talk about that.

CB – Kate Taylor (Canterbury)

Quite possibly the most underrated played in that Cantabs team but she was the most involved of all the defenders. Did a job across the backline wherever she was needed, excellent reader of the game, positionally great. Didn’t score the goals that some of her mates did but that wasn’t her job. Can’t recall a single game where Kate Taylor’s abilities didn’t impress.

LB - Michaela Foster (WaiBOP)

Down 4-1 against Auckland with ten minutes to go in the last game of the season, Foster scored directly from a corner curled in on her left foot. She then took one from the other side with her right foot which was nodded in basically from on the line. WaiBOP ended up drawing 4-4. The versatility of Foster was so impressive, a left-sided defensive player who played heaps in midfield because she was so overqualified for LB. Completely industrious, never one to back out of a challenge, and with some outstanding technique. One of the breakout stars of this entire season.

CM – Charlotte Wilford-Carroll (Capital)

The engine room of the Capital midfield which was so crucial in a team that set themselves up where without that kind of top performing link player (she wasn’t alone, but CWC was the best of them) there’d be a serious risk of isolating the attacking players from the defensive ones. And since they boasted the regular season golden boot winner it’s pretty clear that wasn’t the case. Love a midfielder who knows how to keep it rolling.

CM – Chloe Knott (Northern)

That Northern midfield was the best in the comp, bar none. Auckland were up there level with them at the start when Emma Fletcher was still available but nah once she had to step down it was Northern all the way. And Chloe Knott, what a force. Just driving her team forward each and every week. When Northern toppled Auckland 4-1, Knott had an 11/10 performance, scoring from the penalty spot that day too. Also got the goal week one against Capital. A genuine big game player. And if NZF can’t get FIFA to sort out that international eligibility, given they’ve done the job for several men’s players with lesser cases, then they’re all taking the piss, surely. She was unknowingly two weeks shy of qualifying when she left for uni in the USA. Two weeks!

CM – Daisy Cleverly (Auckland)

Cleverly was one of a handful of Football Ferns regulars who popped up league this year and it showed. There’s an almost effortless flow to her game, the way she glides around keeping that ball moving from defence into attack. And after going on the record before the season saying she was hoping to add a few goals to her resume as well... she did, including a wonderful brace away against Canterbury in that shocking 4-1 win (which ultimately didn’t count but still).

FW – Rina Hirano (Auckland)

The other Japanese icon for Auckland. With six goals in six games she was right up there for the Golden Boot award... even if NZF presumably didn’t count the three goals she scored in post-dated defaulted games. Premmy Files counts them though. Hirano’s sharp movement and quick passing game made Auckland such a delightful team to watch when they were humming, drifting around from that left wing and making things flow.

FW – Gabi Rennie (Canterbury)

It took Rennie a few games to hit top speed which is in complete contrast to her lightning pace off the mark when running onto those cheeky through balls. That pace on the edge of the defensive line was the defining factor in the grand final as Rennie scored the opening two goals to take her season’s tally to seven overall (in seven appearances). Scored a lovely hatty against Central too. With pace and finishing like Gabi Rennie possesses it’s hard to imagine her not having legit pro career down the line.

FW – Kaley Ward (Capital)

Top goal scorer through the regular season with six strikes, including a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Southern. Ward, an American national, scored in each of Capital’s first four games including a late equaliser against Northern (which was basically the difference in them making the final) and the winner in a 1-0er vs WaiBOP. When they needed a goal she generally delivered, that’s what top strikers will do.

ICYMI - @ISPSHanda Women's Premiership MVP Georgia Candy's 🔥saves for @CapFootball in the Grand Final v @CU_Pride
🇳🇿🏆| #ISPSHandaPrem pic.twitter.com/J5rdkA8Hkg
— New Zealand Football (@NZ_Football) December 21, 2020

SECOND XI

GK – Una Foyle (Canterbury)

Didn’t have a lot of saves to make as the season went on but the ones she needed to make she did. Foyle finished the season with four straight clean sheets including in the grand final and the one in the 2-0 win over Northern, which knocked out a fellow contender for the championship, was definitely hard-earned. And it says something about the depth of GK talent in this league that Lily Alfeld, who just signed with Perth Glory, didn’t even make the second of these teams.

RB – Nicole Stratford (Northern)

Stratford, who was a late injury call-up to the last World Cup squad and who had a brief pro career in Germany in the wake of that, was such a potent attacking force from right back for Northern that she ended up playing on the right wing. Excellent crosser, scored one remarkable (/fortuitous?) goal. Never one to dodge a challenge in defence either. Dependable to the extreme.

CB – Hope Gilchrist (Capital)

Capital’s defensive trio kept them in so many games not the least of which being the backs to the wall draw against Northern and the 1-0 squeaking win over WaiBOP. And Hope Gilchrist was the leader there, throwing herself into challenges and holding that line and playing the ball out from the back and all that good stuff. Shout out to Ellen Fibbes, who was also very good, but Gilchrist gets the nod. Back from uni in the states and showing all the experience of those travels.

CB – Liz Anton (Auckland)

Some players just look like they have more time than others. Liz Anton is one of those and it’s no surprise that she’s one of several kiwis making the leap into W-League footy now. So calm, so assured. There’s no way at all that Auckland woulda blown that three-goal lead to draw with WaiBOP in the last week had Anton still been available (instead she was quarantining in Perth).

LB – Lara Wall (Canterbury)

Another one who ended up playing in a more attacking role. Wall actually swapped places with Tahlia Herman-Watt who was a winger at the start, a fullback by the end. For good reason too: Wall was too important on attack not to have her in and around the penalty area... case and point winning two penalties in the final. Scored a couple goals, set up a couple more. Played every single game.

CM – Alosi Bloomfield (Auckland)

A defensive midfielder who can get a foot on pretty much anything as a spoiler (including feet and shins – Bloomfield was the only player with multiple yellow cards) but who also has some genuine tekkers when the situation allows. What more do you want? The reason Auckland were able to be so overwhelming in attack with forwards drifting all over and fullbacks pushing up and midfielders in support was because they had Bloomfield holding the fort so supremely.

CM – Malia Steinmetz (Northern)

Malia Steinmentz was a regular in Footy Ferns squads not so long ago but then kinda disappeared, playing state leagues in Aussie for a bit. So this was her big return and what a return it was. Steinmentz is one of those midfielders who seems to be everywhere. Outstanding in the challenge, winning the ball back all day, and very good in her distribution too. The kind of player who grabs the game by the scruff of the neck so it’s brilliant to see her about to get amongst a W-League campaign now with Perth Glory. Probably woulda made first team but she only played four times... the perils of such a short season.

CM – Macey Fraser (Southern)

Fraser left Canterbury Pride for Southern this year chasing bigger opportunities and the chance to be a key player. That didn’t always pan out as Southern struggled to assert themselves in possession in most games, losing each of their first four despite the best efforts of Fraser. But two wins in a row to close things finally showed what Fraser is truly capable of as a genuinely creative playmaker. She was utterly brilliant against both WaiBOP and Central - as good a pair of individual performances as any player had all season.

FW – Mickey Robertson (Capital)

Mickey Robertson trained with the Wellington Phoenix boy’s academy over the winter honing her skills and you could tell pretty swiftly watching Capital that Robertson’s influence was gonna be decisive in most games. Robertson’s creativity setting up Kaley Ward’s goal-scoring ability. Well, the formula worked because it took them all the way to the final. Robertson looks tiny out there on the pitch but she’s quick and clever and skilful and was already right on the fringes of the national team before this campaign.

FW – Arabella Maynard (Northern)

Three goals, a few more assists, heaps of aggressive running at defenders, positive direct wing-play. Arabella Maynard was always an exciting player to watch. Especially influential in big wins over Auckland and Central. Gotta say that she sorta represents that full front trio that she played so well within, could interchangeably have Sammi Tawharu or Ava Pritchard here too but Maynard had a little more of the end product.

FW – Kelli Brown (WaiBOP)

WaiBOP were a bit all over the place this season but when they were stumbling, Kelli Brown was relentlessly trying to get them going from up front and when they were getting along smoothly she was dominant. Scored a couple nice goals, combining a strong technical game with a bruising physical game. She must be a nightmare to play against. Not a minute’s rest as a defender and if you do stand off then she’ll probably pop one in the top corner from a mile out like the brilliant goal she scored in the win over Northern.