2023 New Zealand Women's National League

The 2023 New Zealand Women's National League is the third scheduled season of the new National League since its restructuring in 2021; the 2021 National League was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in northern regions.^[1] The 2023 season will be the twenty-first season of national women's football and will again be a hybrid season. The competition will feature four teams from the NRFL Premiership representing the Northern Conference, Central Football and two Capital Football federation sides representing the Central Conference, and Canterbury United Pride and Southern United representing the Southern Conference.^[2][3]

New Zealand National League

Season	2023
Dates	24 March 2023 – 26 November 2023
Champions	Auckland United
OFC Women's Champions League	Auckland United
Matches played	46
Goals scored	173 (3.76 per match)
Top goalscorer	Sofia Garcia (9 goals)
Biggest home win	Eastern Suburbs 6–1 Central Football (29 October 2023)
Biggest away win	Central Football 0–8 Western Springs (23 September 2023)
Highest scoring	Central Football 0–8 Western Springs (23 September 2023)
Longest winning run	4 matches Eastern Suburbs Southern United
Longest unbeaten run	8 matches Southern United
Longest winless run	7 matches Ellerslie
Longest losing run	7 matches Ellerslie
← 2022 2024 →

Qualifying league

2023 NRFL Premiership

NRFL Premiership

Season	2023
Dates	24 March 2023 - 27 August 2023
Champions	Auckland United
Relegated	Northern Rovers
Matches played	8
Goals scored	27 (3.38 per match)
Biggest home win	Western Springs 5–0 Hibiscus Coast (24 March 2023)
Biggest away win	Northern Rovers 1–3 Western Springs (2 April 2023)
Highest scoring	Western Springs 5–0 Hibiscus Coast (24 March 2023)
← 2022 2024 → All statistics correct as of 2 April 2023.

Eight teams are competing in the league – the top seven teams from the previous season and the promoted side from the 2022 NRF Championship. The promoted team is Hibiscus Coast as winners of the NRF Championship.^[4] They replaced Tauranga City.^[5]

Teams

Team	Location	Home Ground	2022 season
Auckland United	Mount Roskill, Auckland	Keith Hay Park	4th
Eastern Suburbs	Kohimarama, Auckland	Madills Farm	3rd
Ellerslie	Ellerslie, Auckland	Michaels Avenue Reserve	5th
Hamilton Wanderers	Chartwell, Hamilton	Porritt Stadium	7th
Hibiscus Coast	Whangaparaoa, Auckland	Stanmore Bay Park	1st in NRF Championship (promoted)
Northern Rovers	Glenfield, Auckland	McFetridge Park	1st
West Coast Rangers	Whenuapai, Auckland	Fred Taylor Park	6th
Western Springs	Westmere, Auckland	Seddon Fields	2nd

NRFL Premiership table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Auckland United (C)	14	11	1	2	42	13	+29	34	Winner of Northern League and qualification to National League Championship
2	Eastern Suburbs	14	10	1	3	52	18	+34	31	Qualification to National League Championship
3	Western Springs	14	7	3	4	42	22	+20	24
4	Ellerslie	14	7	2	5	23	21	+2	23
5	West Coast Rangers	14	7	1	6	28	15	+13	22
6	Hamilton Wanderers	14	5	1	8	18	34	−16	16
7	Hibiscus Coast	14	4	1	9	13	36	−23	13
8	Northern Rovers (R)	14	0	0	14	3	62	−59	0	Relegation to NRFL Women's Championship

Source: Northern Region Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Goals against; 5) Head to head; 6) Disciplinary record; 7) Coin toss^[6]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

NRFL Premiership results table

Home \ Away	AU	ES	EL	HW	HC	NR	WC	WS
Auckland United	—	1–4	3–0	4–1	3–1	4–0	3–0	5–1
Eastern Suburbs	3–1	—	3–2	3–0	3–4	19–1	0–1	3–2
Ellerslie	0–2	2–2	—	2–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	1–7
Hamilton Wanderers	1–2	3–2	2–1	—	1–0	2–1	0–2	1–8
Hibiscus Coast	0–4	1–3	1–1	2–1	—	1–0	1–5	0–3
Northern Rovers	0–7	0–3	0–3	0–3	0–1	—	0–4	1–3
West Coast Rangers	1–2	0–1	0–4	4–0	5–0	4–0	—	1–2
Western Springs	1–1	0–3	0–2	3–3	5–0	6–0	1–1	—

Source: Northern Region Football
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

NRFL Premiership scoring

NRFL Premiership top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[7]
1	Britney Cunningham-Lee	Ellerslie	11
2	Juliette Lucas	Eastern Suburbs	10
3	Zoe Benson	Eastern Suburbs	8
	Sofia Garcia	Western Springs
5	Chelsea Elliott	Auckland United	7
	Ayla Koopu	Hamilton Wanderers
	Rene Wasi	Auckland United
8	Lara Colpi	Western Springs	5
	Shannon Henson	Auckland United
	Lily Taitimu	Western Springs
	Sam Tawharu	Western Springs
	Danica Urlich-Beech	Hibiscus Coast

Qualified teams

Auckland

Central Football

Capital Football

Canterbury United Pride

Southern United

Wellington Phoenix Reserves

Locations of the 2023 Women's National League Teams

Auckland United

Eastern Suburbs

Ellerslie

Western Springs

Location of clubs in Auckland Region for the 2023 Women's National League season

Association	Team	Position in Regional League	App (last)	Previous best (last)
Northern League (4 berths)	Auckland United	1st	2nd (2022)	6th (2022)
	Eastern Suburbs	2nd	2nd (2022)	1st (2022)
	Western Springs	3rd	2nd (2022)	2nd (2022)
	Ellerslie	4th	1st	Debut
Central League (3 berths)	Central Football	N/A	21st (2022)	2nd (2004)
	CF Waterside Karori	N/A	1st	Debut
	CF Wellington United	N/A	1st	Debut
Southern League (2 berths)	Canterbury United Pride	N/A	21st (2022)	1st (2020)
	Southern United	N/A	21st (2022)	1st (2021)
Wellington Phoenix (automatic berth)	Wellington Phoenix Reserves	Automatic qualification	1st	Debut

Championship phase

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Auckland United (C)	9	7	1	1	25	9	+16	22	Qualification to Grand Final and Women's Champions League group stage
2	Southern United	9	7	1	1	22	6	+16	22	Qualification to Grand Final
3	Eastern Suburbs	9	7	0	2	22	12	+10	21
4	Western Springs	9	6	1	2	28	11	+17	19
5	CF Waterside Karori	9	4	1	4	18	16	+2	13[a]
6	CF Wellington United	9	4	1	4	18	16	+2	13[a]
7	Canterbury United Pride	9	2	1	6	17	22	−5	7
8	Wellington Phoenix Reserves[b]	9	2	1	6	12	26	−14	7
9	Central Football	9	1	1	7	6	30	−24	4
10	Ellerslie	9	1	0	8	3	23	−20	3

Source: New Zealand Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals for; 4) Head to head; 5) Disciplinary record; 6) Coin toss^[9]
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Tied on head to head. Disciplinary record: CF Waterside Karori 2, CF Wellington United 5
2. Wellington Phoenix Reserves can not qualify for the Grand Final.^[8]

Results table

Home \ Away	AU	CU	CEN	CWK	CWU	ES	EL	SU	WP	WS
Auckland United		4–2	3–0					1–1		1–0
Canterbury United Pride				1–4	1–2	2–3	3–0		3–1
Central Football		2–2		1–3				1–4		0–8
CF Waterside Karori	1–3				1–1		3–0		4–1
CF Wellington United	1–4		3–0			2–3		0–1		1–2
Eastern Suburbs	3–2		6–1	3–0			0–1
Ellerslie	0–1		0–1		2–5				0–4
Southern United		2–1		3–0		0–1	3–0			3–2
Wellington Phoenix Reserves	1–6		1–0		2–3	0–3		0–5
Western Springs		4–2		3–2		4–0	3–0		2–2

Source: New Zealand Football
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

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 3, but then postponed and played between rounds 6 and 7, it is added to the standings for round 6.

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Auckland United	3	6	5	2	1	3	3	1	1
Southern United	7	5	4	3	2	4	4	2	2
Eastern Suburbs	4	2	1	1	3	1	1	3	3
Western Springs	1	1	3	4	4	2	2	4	4
CF Waterside Karori	5	3	6	7	6	6	6	6	5
CF Wellington United	5	4	2	5	5	5	5	5	6
Canterbury United Pride	8	8	8	6	7	7	7	7	7
Wellington Phoenix Reserves	2	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8
Central Football	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Ellerslie	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10

	Leader and Grand Final
	Grand Final

Source: New Zealand Football

Grand Final

Sunday, 26 November 2023

16:00 NZDT

Auckland United	2–0	Southern United
Cook 24' Dewell 57'	Report

Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland

Referee: Anna-Marie Keighley^[10]

Statistics

As of 19 November 2023

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[11]
1	Sofia Garcia	Western Springs	9
2	Charlotte Lancaster	Eastern Suburbs	8
	Kaley Ward	CF Waterside Karori
4	Amy Hislop	Southern United	7
	Pepi Olliver-Bell	CF Wellington United
6	Lara Colpi	Western Springs	6
	Ella McCann	Wellington Phoenix Reserves
8	Nicole Cooper	Eastern Suburbs	5
	Nicola Dominikovich	Canterbury United Pride
	Nikki Furukawa	CF Waterside Karori
	Bree Johnson	Auckland United

Awards

Goal of the Week

The goal of the week for the 2023 season included goals from the 2023 New Zealand National League (men's).

Goal of the Week
Week	Player	Club	Ref.
1	N/A		[12]
2	Kendrah Smith	Southern United	[13]
3	N/A		[14]
4	Marissa Porteous	Southern United	[15]
5	N/A		[16]
6	Kaley Ward	CF Waterside Karori	[17]
7	N/A		[18]
8	N/A		[19]
9	N/A		[20]

Annual awards

Team of the season[21]
Goalkeeper	Aimee Hall (Auckland United)
Defenders	Talisha Green (Auckland United)			Hannah Mackay-Wright (Southern United)			Chelsea Elliott (Auckland United)			Saskia Vosper (CF Waterside Karori)
Midfielders	Lara Colpi (Western Springs)				Rose Morton (Southern United)				Zoe Benson (Eastern Suburbs)
Forwards	Kaley Ward (CF Waterside Karori)				Sofia Garcia (Western Springs)				Charlotte Lancaster (Eastern Suburbs)

See also

• 2023 New Zealand National League (men's)