More change is on the way for domestic football.
New Zealand Football has released its plans to shake up the structure of the national league for the umpteenth time.
It follows a period of consultation with over 400 stakeholders, including club leaders, federation staff, referees, NZF committees, players and fans.
NZF maintains the plans are built on "a shared ambition to deliver a domestic competition that is sustainable, exposes players to the highest level of competitive football, and aligns with NZF’s talent development strategy."
The organisation plans to move to an entirely club-based national league for men and women in 2027.
It will be played at the same time as the existing winter season.
Twelve teams in the men’s national league will play a double round before playoffs and a final, and 10 teams in the women’s league will follow the same format.
Both leagues will have promotion-relegation in place, so there will be a pathway for other clubs.
The current set-up in men’s football involves the top four teams from the Northern League, the top three teams from the Central League and the top two teams from the Southern League qualifying for a national league that includes the reserve teams of Auckland FC and the Wellington Phoenix and stretches into December.
Wanaka and the Dunedin City Royals were in the Southern League this year, and will be joined by Northern next year, but no Otago club has played in this iteration of the national league.
Southern United (previously Otago United) played in the old New Zealand Football Championship, but a southern club has not played in a national league since both Caversham and Dunedin Technical — two clubs now merged into the Royals — in 2003.
On the women’s side, the national league presently contains four Northern League clubs, two clubs from Capital/Central, regional teams from Southern United, Canterbury United and Central Football, and the Phoenix Reserves.
The new format means it will be the likes of Roslyn-Wakari, University or the Dunedin City Royals, and not Southern United, bidding for a place in the national women’s league.
NZF said updated club licensing criteria would be released, and a review would take place in 2030 to assess the sustainability of the new national leagues and if more teams could be added.
Two changes ahead of the 2026 season, the last under the current structure, would also be implemented.
A requirement to give 10% of available playing minutes to players aged under 20 at the start of the year will be scrapped, and non-citizens will not count as foreigners as long as they are permanent residents.
NZF will release further information about qualification criteria for the 2027 national league next month.
"This is a great time for us to be looking to evolve our top-tier domestic competitions to ensure they are delivering the best possible product for our players, coaches, referees and administrators," NZF chief executive Andrew Pragnell said.
“The football landscape in New Zealand has changed significantly in the last five years, so it was important for us speak to stakeholders across the game to design a competition that satisfies as many goals as possible.
“This is a bold and ambitious plan which will see the top sides playing more competitive games, give talented players opportunities to develop, engage our clubs in open pathways, and be sustainable while reaching growing audiences domestically and internationally."
