As the centenary of the knockout cup is celebrated, Gavin Bertram looks back on the local sides who have played in the final.
When Dunedin City triumphantly returned with the Chatham Cup in 1981 there was a mayoral reception at Momona.
The celebration echoed another, almost 60 years earlier, when Seacliff AFC won the first outing of the revered football knockout trophy.
That 1923 team was largely composed of attendants from the Seacliff Lunatic Asylum. They were met by a "tremendous welcome" when they stepped off the train at the small coastal settlement.
"Residents from near and far turned up at the railway station to greet the team, and a triumphant procession led by piper Duncan Cameron proceeded to the hospital," head hospital attendant E.C. Treweek noted.
Sadly there is no Dunedin side in the centenary final in Auckland this weekend, where Christchurch United will meet Hamilton’s Melville United.
A replica of England’s FA Cup, the trophy was given to the New Zealand Football Association in 1922 by the crew of HMS Chatham. The Royal Navy had loaned the light cruiser to its New Zealand division, and its crew appreciated the hospitality they’d received in this country.
The inaugural Chatham Cup saw teams from Auckland, the Waikato, Manawatu, Wairarapa, Wellington and Nelson play in local rounds of qualification matches. Seacliff had an easier path, with only Oamaru Rangers standing between them and a berth in the final at Wellington’s Athletic Park on October 1, 1923.
Having dispatched Rangers 7-0, on that Monday afternoon they met Wellington YMCA. The local team had played five matches to reach the final and were blunted as a result.
"YMCA were feeling the strain of Saturday’s game, but put up a hard fight," the United Press Association reported.
"Seacliff proved too good in all departments of the game, and had exceptionally strong defence."
The team wasn’t able to emulate their convincing 4-0 victory in subsequent Chatham Cup final appearances, losing in 1924, 1925, and 1929.
Mosgiel also contested two finals in 1938 and 1940. Featuring club stalwart and New Zealand international Alex Stenhouse, they lost 4-0 and 6-2 to the Wellington Waterside club who dominated that era.
Northern made it five unsuccessful efforts when they reached the finals in 1949, 1951 and 1953, losing first to Petone, then Eastern Suburbs twice.
But in 1959 the North Dunedin club finally had their name engraved on the Chatham Cup, beating North Shore 3-2 in front of 7000 people at Wellington’s Basin Reserve.
"It was a great feeling, one of the best I had in all the games I played," Northern’s left half Stan Forbes said.
"It was a good team, the North Shore, so we did well to beat them twice in three years."
In 1961 Northern repeated the feat, again beating a North Shore side that included 400-match Chelsea veteran Ken Armstrong 2-0.
"All through that period Northern were winners of everything in sight," he said.
"Our strength was we played as a team year upon year, as players were loyal to clubs in those days. Supporters were loyal too, and Northern had a great following."
The next year they confirmed their national status by winning the first Rothman’s Cup, but lost 4-1 to Hamilton Tech Old Boys 4-1 in the Chatham Cup final.
Two local teams who hadn’t previously reached the final tasted defeat during the 1960s.
In 1964, Dunedin Technical Old Boys were sent home with a 3-1 loss to Mt Roskill, while St Kilda were dispatched 4-1 by Eastern Suburbs in 1965.
St Kilda goalkeeper Malcolm Barnes said they were largely undone by the Wellington weather.
While it had been 1-1 at halftime, playing into a Wellington gale cost the Dunedin side three goals, with Barnes’ goal kicks being blown behind him for corners.
"It was a very good game until the weather came; that was the only thing that beat us," he said.
"We were holding our own against probably the best team in New Zealand. Then in the second half it would be the worst weather I’ve ever played in."
There was a long wait for another Dunedin side to make the final. In 1980 national league side Dunedin City went down 2-0 to a Mt Wellington team featuring numerous international players.
But in 1981 City had their revenge, confidently beating the same opposition 3-1 at the Basin Reserve.
"They gave us a battering for the first 20 minutes, but we got on top."
Despite their celebrations, the Dunedin City team had to be up at 6.30am to catch a flight the next morning. Striker Michael Glubb, who’d scored twice in the final, went home to Christchurch instead of experiencing the victorious welcome in the South.
"There was a mayoral reception at Dunedin Airport," he remembered.
"I wasn’t there. I’ve always wished I had been — it would have been a nice thing to do."
Dunedin Tech returned to the Chatham Cup final in 1998, 34 years after their first appearance. It would again be a painful defeat, 5-0 against a powerful Central United side who’d won the cup the previous year.
The maxim that you have to lose a cup final to win one proved accurate in 1999. With a side that balanced youth with experience, Tech easily disposed of Waitakere City 4-0 at North Harbour Stadium.
Goal-scoring machine Aaron Burgess was awarded the Jack Batty Memorial Cup for his impact on the game.
"So winning the Chatham Cup, scoring and being man of the match in the final was boyhood dream-type stuff. I made the New Zealand Olympic team that year thanks to that, because I’d got myself on the national stage."
After playing overseas, Burgess was back with Tech when they again charged into the final in 2008. Having shrugged off strong competition on the way, they met a resolute East Coast Bays side at North Harbour Stadium.
They were unable to exert the intensity they wanted on the match, and an unfortunate own goal proved the disappointing difference.
"We let them play too much, and should have been more in their face," Tech coach Mike Fridge said.
It was the last time a club from the South reached the decider in New Zealand’s most revered football competition.
As the centenary of the Chatham Cup is celebrated, those who have been fortunate enough to play in a final will be reflecting on the experience.
Because whether they won or lost, just making it that far was an accomplishment, St Kilda’s Barnes considered.
"A lot of good players never even get close to a Chatham Cup final," he said.
■ Christchurch United and Melville United play in the centenary Chatham Cup final at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland on Sunday.
- By Gavin Bertram
