Folks, it is that time once again: National League football is upon us. The cup finals have capped off the winter season and now, with no time to pause and catch breath, the summer season begins. For the women that means another year with a tweaked format as we creep ever closer to a fully club-based competition. A second team from Capital has been included, with those two teams to be run by the leading clubs in conjunction with Capital Football, and the Wellington Phoenix have been granted a reserves team. Ten teams means we’re also back to single round-robin with nine rounds and then a grand final. Same format as the blokes, just with three federation teams still lingering. Let us now take a moment to get accustomed to those ten teams.

Auckland United

One year ago, Auckland United were the only club to qualify for both the Men’s and Women’s National Leagues. Now they’ve done it again – albeit Eastern Suburbs are keeping them company in that regard this time. In those dual 2022 campaigns, their men’s team showed a real defensive stinginess last year but the women were too often the opposite. Their squad was drastically short on numbers, twice requiring an outfielder to go in goal during a game, and they had a tendency to concede copious quantities of goals... although some excellent attacking weapons did still keep them in a few of those games.

This year they’re a different team. Almost literally a different team. The hiring of Ben Bate as manager led to many of his old Northern Rovers players following him across the Harbour Bridge which in turn meant that Rovers went from NRFL Premier Division champions in 2022 to being relegated without a single point in 2023. Guts for them but guess who won the title instead? Auckland United. They clinched it with a 5-2 win over Western Springs in the final round (nice bit of revenge against the team that knocked them out of the Kate Sheppard Cup).

As such there’ll be more of the 2022 Rovers squad than the 2022 United squad here... but that’s how football goes, no dramas. AUFC already had the defensive quality of Jess Philpot and Suya Haering and now they’ve added Greer MacIntosh and Talisha Green to that mix. They have so many good defenders that Chelsea Elliott has been moved into midfield/striker duties... with great success. CE scored a hat-trick in the title-clincher against Springs.

There will be some changes from the winter season though. There always are but in particular Auckland United have lost Ruby Nathan to a pro deal with Canberra United while Marisa van der Meer and Chloe Knott have reported back to the Wellington Phoenix after spending their A-League offseasons with AUFC. Still, there’s plenty more quality in this squad to keep them in contention for the title. Rene Wasi and Shannon Henson provide goals. Maisy Dewell and Danielle Canham create them. Plus they’ve brought in Japanese import Yume Harashima from Tsukaba FC to help fill the gap left by their A-Leaguers.

Auckland United conceded fewer than a goal per game in the winter season (13 in 14 games). Both their defeats came against Eastern Suburbs, although Western Springs did also pop them in the Kate Shep. It felt like United got better as the year went along, winning seven of their last eight league games (which makes sense given a new coach and an influx of new players). Last year they peaked in the Kate Sheppard Cup final then huffed and puffed through the Nats. This year they’re peaking exactly when they ought to.

Eastern Suburbs

The defending champs of the National League... and they’ll have equal designs upon this upcoming version. They’ve got a pretty similar squad this year. Weren’t quite able to turn that into an NRFL Prem title as they finished three points back in second, although they did end up with the best goal difference thanks in large part to a 19-1 win over Northern Rovers in the penultimate round. This team never lacks for goals so naturally their 52 in 14 games was the best in the division.

Weirdly, the three league defeats that the Lilywhites copped this year all came against teams that didn’t make the National League: Hibiscus Coast, Hamilton Wanderers, and West Coast Rangers. Against the rest of the top four they beat Auckland United twice, beat Western Springs twice, and had a win and a draw against Ellerslie. Not only did they finish as agonising runners-up in the league behind a team they did the double over but they also lost 1-0 at home against Wellington United in the Kate Sheppard Cup semi-finals so they were within reach of two trophies that they couldn’t quite grasp. But we know this team has National League lineage.

Since last year’s championship, Tayla O’Brien and Deven Jackson have both been capped by the Football Ferns. Admittedly in a weakened non-window squad (those February friendlies against the USA) but no other National League players were getting that honour. Jackson even got called back for the wider pre-World Cup training squad... but she won’t be playing any National League this year because she’s been signed by Canberra United for the upcoming A-league season. Worthy reward and a fine indication that you can get those opportunities direct from the Nats.

Jackson will be a big loss for them but they played plenty without her during the winter. One player who stands to benefit there is Zoe Benson who scored heaps for the U19s at the Oceania champs recently and is one of the more exciting wingers coming through. Also Juliette Lucas hit double figures in the NRFL as the team’s top scorer. She moved up from Dunedin last year and hasn’t stopped scoring goals since. Charlotte Wilford-Carroll in the midfield is a combative force not too far removed from the 2022 U20 World Cup. Should see Nicole Mettam getting amongst it too. Nothing to worry about.

Stephen Hoyle’s squad is going to be stacked with experienced stars and also with some of the best emerging youth players going around. And with that impressive record against other National League calibre clubs this year they might just be the gambler’s favourites.

Western Springs

How about it for the Kate Sheppard Cup champions? Western Springs finished off the winter season in style after spending much of it embroiled in controversy. Ongoing frustrations from the women’s first team over a perceived lack of support from the club ended up making national headlines, with their coach getting fired leading to threats of a player walkout. But some external mediation seems to have improved significantly. Maia Vink is now in charge of the women’s side of the club. They’ve qualified for the National League. They’ve won a KS Cup. No doubt there’s work that still remains, and hopefully all these other clubs have taken lessons from what went down, but it’s great to see one of Aotearoa’s biggest clubs strivin’ and thrivin’.

Right, now we don’t have to talk about that any more. Instead we can focus on a team that’ll be hoping to go one better than the beaten WNL finalists they were a year ago. That team has lost some of their most crucial creative talent with the Japanese duo of Rina Hirano and Arisa Takeda leaving these golden shores while kiwi youth international Emma Pijnenburg has been with the Feyenoord academy since the start of the year. Most of the rest of that 2022 squad is still here though. Lily Jervis and Jaedeci Uluvili in defence. Lily Taitimu and Jess Innes in midfield. Sofia Garcia and Sammi Tawharu up front.

The last KSC champs were Auckland United and they stumbled through the National League having lost heaps of players in the interim. Western Springs will do better than that but remember they only came third in the NRFL Prem. In between their cup semi and final they lost 2-0 to Ellerslie and 5-1 to Auckland United. In fact they only won once against the rest of the top four and that was a 7-1 victory against Ellerslie in the early days of the term. Lots of water has flowed under the bridge since then. But with Maia Vink only recently getting her feet on the Seddon Fields turf there’s reason to think there’s room to grow for this team tactically.

Plus they’ve also got a very enticing set of younger players who can be expected to continue smoothly improving. Lara Colpi was one of the best on field in the cup final after a good National League last year plus an U17 World Cup and some U19s Oceania qualifiers. Celia Mayo is another one. Kitty Jacob too. Anija Irvine. And of course let’s not forget 15 year old cup final hero Ela Jerez who is currently away in Tahiti with the NZ U16s alongside Charli Dunn who is also of WSAFC.

On top of that they’ve added a few more experienced players: American goalkeeper Mickey Mitchell, former NZ international Liz Savage, and age-grade kiwi fullback Tiana Hill. All three were really good in the cup final. The Hoops will be strong again, it’s just a matter of whether they can grind out that weekly consistency against the best in the land. Then again, that applies to everyone.

Ellerslie AFC

A new addition to the crew, ain’t it grand. The eventual, inevitable inclusion of an Auckland A-League club will presumably lead to their reserves team having the same National League privileges as the Wellington Phoenix but it would be a shame if that comes at the expense of the fourth-placed Northern League team as that spot consistently supplies the funkiest teams. Melville and Manurewa in the MNL. Now Ellerslie in the WNL. Who knows what’ll happen there... but it’s definitely more fun when it’s not the same ten clubs qualifying every year.

Ellerslie got here thanks to the final eight days of their season. Eight days in which they beat Western Springs 2-0 (via a Britney Cunningham-Lee double) and then beat Hibiscus Coast 2-1 (thanks to an 82nd minute Britney Cunningham-Lee winner). Six points from six as they held off the challenge of West Coast Rangers by a single point. They did also beat WCR back in early-July too, another crucial swing in their favour. The winning goal that day was supplied by Prue Catton who is a contracted Auckland Hearts cricketer... so don’t expect to see her in the National League stuff. In fact Ellerslie actually won five of their last seven games. Their only two defeats in that time were against the top two teams, Eastern Subs and Auckland Utd, with ES also knocking them out of the Kate Sheppard Cup in the quarter-finals.

WNL qualification comes at a celebratory time for the club as they near the completion of their fancy new clubrooms. Their men’s team finished mid-table in the second tier NRFL Championship so the ladies are flying the flag right now, and nobody is raising that flag higher than Britney Cunningham-Lee whose triumphant goal in that final game not only booked her squad this opportunity but it also put her clear as the NRFL Premier Division Golden Boot winner with 11 goals to her name. BCL was part of the 2018 U17 World Cup team that finished in third place. Wonderful to have her back on this National League stage.

The Ponies also have former Footy Ferns depth keeper Nadia Olla, although she appears to have more of a coaching role these days with Petra Wedlake their predominant gloveswoman. Anita Trudgen captains the team and is their most experienced club stalwart. Kim Oosterbeek and Cat Pretty are others to take note of. Marie Green did attend the last U17 World Cup as a registered Ellerslie player but has since switched to the Wellington Phoenix Academy (and will probably get to play against her old club).

Central Football

One thing that the hybrid club/federation formation exposed last year was how little time the fed teams had to prepare compared to a quartet of Auckland clubs who’d been playing together all through the winter season. You could see that in the way that all four fed teams improved as the term went along... except by then it was too late for any to make serious swings for the grand final.

For Central, that handicap was made worse by the region’s smaller player pool which has led to several years of Central teams preferring to pick younger developmental teams. As such the results have been pretty stink and they’ve become perennial wooden spooners. However they’ve also brought through some serious talent in that time, a process that they don’t really reap the benefits of because those players then move on to other opportunities. But if the focus is on development then, fair play, they’re doing alright there. Mackenzie Barry of the Wellington Phoenix is probably the poster child for the region these days.

The 2023 tweaks to the hybrid format might change that Central formula as they and the two Capital teams are now operating “in partnership” with local clubs in order to grease the wheels for going fully club-based down the line. In this case it’s Palmerston North Marist whose players make up the bulk of this squad. That should give them more of a competitive edge, PNM did make it to the Kate Shep semis in 2022 (although they were bounced by Petone in the third round this year), and a lot of those players have been part of the Central National League team for a couple of years anyway. Having said that, they have lost several of their best emerging players to the Wellington Phoenix Academy. Rebecca Trewhitt, Lara Smith, and Georgie Furnell have all made that trip down the motorway.

Probably gotta expect another last-placed finish but you never know. It will be cool to see Mikaela Bouwmeester back at this level, while Stella Warner and Maddi Hughes are others to keep an eye on. Plus Sophie Campbell is straight up one of the best goalkeeping prospects in the country, having made her National League debut as a 14 year old. She and Isla Cleall-Harding are both in the NZ U16s squad for the ongoing Oceania Championships (and therefore may miss the start of the WNL campaign).

Waterside Karori (Capital 1)

Earlier in the year, NZF announced fresh changes to the WNL model with the introduction of a Wellington Phoenix Reserves/U20s team to mirror the men’s competition, plus a second Capital Football team to help pave the way for two club teams to qualify in the future. Capital Football recently confirmed that their two teams will be run in partnership with the top two clubs in the Women’s Central League: champions Waterside Karori and runners-up Wellington United.

Exactly what that looks like remains to be seen, specifically whether they’re able to add any other players from outside their club (gotta imagine there’ll be an arms race for spare Petone players if that’s the case). But expect the bulk of those two teams to look as they did in the final weekend of the Central League season when WK drew 1-1 with WU in order to remain ahead of them on the ladder and claim back to back league championships.

The Wharfies won 11 of 14 games, drawing two and losing only once. That lone defeat was against Wellington United back in June. They responded to that by winning six games in a row before drawing the last one to raise the trophy. Kaley Ward scored their goal that day. The American has consistently excelled as a goal-scorer in this country including tying for the Golden Boot in the 2020 National League. They’re captained by Renee Bacon who was the league MVP in the previous National League. She shouldn’t have been, it’s just that NZF have a voting system that rewards the best players on bad teams... but take nothing away from how good Bacon has been for several seasons as a powerful winger who scores and creates. Sarah Morton has been capped by the Football Ferns. Excellent defensive utility. And Kennedy Bryant is an exciting and skilful target striker.

On the one hand, Capital struggled last season winning only three games and two of those were against last-placed Central. So to go from having one team to now having three from the wider Wellington region might be cause for concern. On the other hand, that team was a combo between WK/WU/Petone players which didn’t have much time to gel together, plus a lot of the region’s best young players were already with the Wellington Phoenix Academy by then (don’t forget that the Nix recruit a lot from outside Wellington too – particularly with players from Central/Waikato regions). How much does that year-long club cohesion count for? Potentially heaps... hence this should be a tasty tester for the ongoing transition towards a club-based format.

Wellington United (Capital 2)

The other Capital representative will be Kate Sheppard Cup beaten-finalists Wellington United, who were runners-up in the Women’s Central League. Coulda been champs but they drew that last game against Waterside Karori to get stuck behind them for the second year in a row... although they did close the gap having only been third in 2022. The WU Diamonds had won for four years in a row (and five outta six) until WK came swooping in to claim the last two league titles. Plenty of pedigree here.

While they do have a very young squad, the KSC final showed that they’re still going to be an excellent defensive team. Nobody’s gonna have a better central defence duo than Zoe Barrott and Hope Gilchrist (who were immense in that final). Molly Simons is a very capable goalkeeper behind them. They can soak up plenty of pressure without cracking. That didn’t quite happen for them in the cup final against Western Springs, even though they took them far deeper than they had any right to, but it certainly did in a 1-0 semi-final win over Eastern Suburbs up in Auckland. That cup run gives WU a running start for this competition having already played outside their region twice against tone-setting Auckland clubs. They won’t get caught off guard.

Defence is their strength but these attackers ain’t too shabby either. They didn’t get as much room to show what they can do in that cup final with Springs hogging most of the territory and possession but suffice to say that there are plenty of goals in a quartet of: Pepi Olliver-Bell, Natalie Olson, Danielle Ohlsson, and Jemma Robertson. Liv Deane is a young striker with plenty of potential. Plus that cup final team was without captain Sarah Alder and also Francesca Grange who were away on futsal duties. We don’t yet know which players will be unavailable for summer footy, could be that some are heading back to USA colleges or that futsal commitments continue or whatever. We’ll see how it goes. But Wellington United are about as well prepared as they can be for this quest.

Wellington Phoenix Reserves

Haere Mai to the Wellington Phoenix Reserves. Ever since the club finally got a women’s team in the A-League, they’ve been steadily and organically growing out the female programme to where they’ve now got a full academy to mirror the men’s side, with competitive fixtures across multiple age grades and everything. The Women’s U20s, aka the Reserves, play in the Boy’s U17 Capital Development League where they didn’t go so flash in year one, only taking 4 points from 17 games, though that was to be expected. This was a relatively young squad that in many cases was no older than their male counterparts and skill level often goes out the window when there’s that much difference in physicality (a good reason why you never pay attention to the troll stories whenever a women’s team loses to a boy’s team).

It’s all good stuff for the WeeSheNix, whose prospects are even greater now that the guy who began the year coaching this squad has become the first team coach. Paul Temple has made use of that connection by elevating several academy players. Macey Fraser has signed on senior terms for the longest contract ever offered by the club (three years), while Olivia Ingham, Manaia Elliott, and Daisy Brazendale have all been given scholarship contracts – where they’ll be joined by Zoe McMeeken who has played 20 times for the first team but has also been a common figure for the ressies this year.

McMeeken’s a good example of that other benefit of having a reserves team: keeping fringe first teamers match-fit. There are gonna be 4-6 players each week who don’t make an ALW matchday squad and some of those are going to pop up for the second eleven. The men’s reserves have even given import players their reps up in recent years. Seniors returning from injury too. That scholarship quartet in particular can expect to add a few National League appearances to their tallies.

It’s hard to know how competitive they’ll be, however youth should be less of a disadvantage on the ladies’ side than it sometimes can be for the fellas. Most WNL clubs are picking several U20s players each week already and the Nix Reserves have scooped up several with such prior experience. For example, Manaia Elliott scored six times for Auckland United last year playing alongside goalie Aimee Feinberg-Danieli while Ella McCann had 4 assists for Canterbury United. Lara Smith (centre-back), Rebekah Trewhitt (fullback), and Georgie Furnell (winger) all played for their local Central Football team before making the switch to the Nix. Elsewhere look for Marie Green and Ella McMillan in defence. Charlotte Eagle has been alternating goalie duties with AFD at both club level and international level. Tui Dugan is a huge talent in attack. Alyssha Eglinton is impressing for the NZ U16s at the moment. Excited to see how they go.

Canterbury United Pride

For so long the perennial force of the National League, Canterbury United won six titles in eight years between 2013-2020 and were beaten finalists in the other two. But they have dipped since. Last year it was that federation vs club team thing to blame. A slow start losing four of their first seven games dug them too deep a hole despite some resurgent form in their reverse fixtures (including beating eventual champs Eastern Suburbs 2-1 in Auckland).

This year they have two problems: the federation thing again... and also the Wellington Phoenix, who seem to absolutely adore a Cantabrian signing. Just this week they scooped up Annalie Longo who had been the premier player during that CUP dynasty (although she did spent some of that time winning A-League championships instead). Shout out to the FleaNix. Aotearoa’s only pro club (for now) have also hoarded the Pride’s top defensive stalwart, Rebecca Lake, after many years of fine mahi from the 24yo. Longo and Lake join former Canterbury Utd teammates Marisa van der Meer, Kate Taylor, Macey Fraser, and Alyssa Whinham. Plus Zoe McMeeken to a lesser extent, as she’d mostly only played for the CU Youth. Seven Pride players all at once, almost a third of the overall team, it’s a testament to what’s gone down over the years in Canterbury.

The Pride have announced their coaching staff a wee while back and it’s basically the same as recent years with Alana Gunn at the helm. Now they’ve also told us who their squad contains and as you’d pretty much guess it’s a mixture of the Cashmere Tech and Coastal Spirit teams, including many of those who played National League last season.

Lara Wall will be crucial at fullback, considering how much their defensive line has changed - no Rebecca Lake but also no Meikayla Hunt either. Ellena Firth will hold it down on the other side but they will need new CBs. Chloe Bellamy and Lottie Mortlock are back as creative midfielders. Britney-Lee Nicholson will be banging away goals (she was the top scorer in the South Island League with 15) and she’ll get some much needed help from the experience of Aimee Phillips returning to the WNL. Charlotte Roche scored eight goals in five starts in 2022 so it’s sweet to see her back. Whitney Hepburn and Una Foyle will be important leaders (and potential captains). Darsha Keoghan is an exciting emerging player. The Pride have also managed to find two very funky signings in the form of Lainey Altieri-Need and Alison Noniewicz, who appear to be Americans who’ve moved here after uni.

Can Canterbury United get back to the glory days? There are several reasons to think not but after all those years of dominance it’s just too damn hard to count them out.

Southern United

This may be the last we see of Southern United. The introduction of a Women’s South Island League to mirror the Men’s Southern League signals a further step towards that long-touted full club model. The Southern United men’s team has already fallen by the wayside, and with it any Southern presence in the MNL thanks to the duopoly of Christchurch United and Cashmere Technical taking up the two South Island qualifying spots. The worry is that it could be the same fate that befalls the women. Not only down south either but also in the Central and Waikato regions. Considering how the franchise-to-club crossover period for Capital has simply been ‘do the clubs but give them a little help’... who knows it could be as soon as next year that we reach that stage in the WNL.

The inaugural edition of the Women’s Southern League did at least suggest that the Christchurch clubs won’t have it all their own way. Cashmere Technical went undefeated through the 10-game season to win the thing though Dunedin City Royals will finish second if Coastal Spirit don’t win their postponed game against Otago University (or if that game doesn’t get played, since it doesn’t affect anything). Coastal and DCR drew 0-0 when they met a couple of weeks ago.

Kris Ridley is coaching Southern Utd again and he’ll be hoping for a better start than what they had last year when they conceded 13 goals in the opening two games. But solutions came quickly after that. After two big hidings to begin with they only lost twice from their remaining twelve matches. 13 goals conceded in two games, followed 10 conceded in the next 12 – and never again more than two in a match. Lots of draws, sure, but that’s Southern for ya. They’re gritty and compact and tough to break down. However it does need to be said that while it’s an expanded competition this year, it’s actually a shorter season. Only 9 games instead of 14. That clearly isn’t going to help the fed teams who may need a few weeks to find their cohesion.

No squad for this lot yet. They’re all in training doing the hard mahi behind the scenes but you know how hard it can be to get decent information with this stuff. The ODT did mention they’ve got a: “full squad of 18 players and a wider squad of 25”. That’s good to know. As to names, well, they’ve been pretty stable for the past few years so we can probably expect many of the same ones to return again. Hannah Mackay-Wright and Kelsey Kennard in defence. Rose Morton covering every blade of grass in midfield. Probably not her sister Sarah who is with Waterside Karori but the potentially likes of Toni Power, Tahlia Roome, Shontelle Smith, Margi Dias, and Chelsea Whittaker. All those players are from Dunedin City Royals, by the way. Otago Uni does host the likes of Abby Rankin and Amy Hislop. Chuck them all together and that’s a useful place to start from.

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