Canterbury Championship League

Canterbury Championship League

Organising body	Mainland Football
Founded	2016
Country	New Zealand
Confederation	OFC (Oceania)
Number of teams	10, 9 excluding the withdrawn team
Level on pyramid	4
Promotion to	Canterbury Premiership League
Relegation to	Canterbury Senior Men's Division 1
Domestic cup(s)	Chatham Cup
League cup(s)	English Cup Whero Cup
Current champions	University of Canterbury 2nd XI (1st title) (2024)
Most championships	Western (2 titles)
Website	Mainland Football
Current: 2024 Canterbury Championship League

The Canterbury Championship League, also known as New World Canterbury Championship League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition run by Mainland Football for association football clubs located in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is at the fourth tier of New Zealand Football, below the Canterbury Premiership League and above the Canterbury Senior Men's Division 1.

The competition currently runs between March and August each year, and consists of ten team based in Christchurch. There are 18 round where the teams play each other twice. The winner of the league is promoted to the Canterbury Premiership League and last place is relegated to Canterbury Senior Men's Division 1.

History

In March 2021, after New Zealand Football announced the changes to the structure of both the premiership and the top regional leagues around the country, Mainland Football changed the Canterbury Championship League for the 2022 season. The change was, 3 pools of six team, consisting of six Canterbury Southern League U20 Reserve teams, five Canterbury Premiership Reserve teams, six Division 1 teams, and one first team. The winners of; pool A were Selwyn United U20 Reserves, pool B were Christchurch United U20 Academy, and pool C were Coastal Spirit U20 Reserves. The top 3 teams from each pool plus Halswell United Reserves, played a 9 game Senior Men's Division 1 Championship with Cashmere Technical U20 Reserves winning.

In 2023, 2022 Senior Men's Division 1 Championship winners Cashmere Technical U20 Reserves and runners-up Nomads United U20 Reserves were both promoted to the Canterbury Premiership League. Seven of the ten teams were promoted to Canterbury Championship, followed by the addiction of Ferrymead Bays Keen Lads, University of Canterbury 3rd XI and Waimakariri United Reserves. Christchurch United U20 Academy won the 2023 league thus being promoted to the Premiership, followed by Ferrymead Bays U20 Reserves and Selwyn United U20 Reserves for the following season.

In 2024, Cashmere Technical U20 Reserves and Nomads United U20 Reserves both returned to the league following the success of having a reserve team in the Premiership, they were invited to add a team to the Championship. They also welcomed Selwyn United Turkeys with the success of winning Senior Men's Division 1 and 2 in the last two years. On 2 May, 4 matches into the season, Nomads United U20 Reserves were withdrawn from the competition after failing to field a team three games in a row, with one game being a postponement against University of Canterbury 3rd XI and the other two games being defaults against Selwyn United Turkeys and Coastal Spirit U20 Reserves. All wins and game results against Nomads United U20 Reserves have been voided, even Nomads only game against Cashmere Technical U20 Reserves, 0–8 win for Cashmere Technical.

Canterbury Championship League teams

As of 2024 season.

Team	Home Ground	Location	2023 season
Cashmere Technical (U)	Garrick Memorial Park	Woolston	2nd in Premiership (Added/Relegated)
Coastal Spirit (U)	Linfield Park	Bromley	6th
FC Twenty 11 (U)	Avonhead Park	Avonhead	7th
Ferrymead Bays Keen Lads	Ferrymead Park	Ferrymead	5th
Halswell United (R)	Halswell Domain	Halswell	10th
Nomads United (U) (W)	Tulett Park	Casebrook	3rd in Premiership (Added/Relegated)
Selwyn United Turkeys	Foster Park	Rolleston	1st in Division 1 (Promoted)
University of Canterbury (U)	Ilam Field	Ilam	4th
University of Canterbury (T)			8th
Waimakariri United (R)	Kendal Park	Kaiapoi	9th

(R) — Denotes club's Reserve team

(T) — Denotes club's Third team

(U) — Denotes club's Under 20 Reserve team

(W) — Withdrawn from the league

Winners

Canterbury Champions League:

2016-2021

• 2016 - Nomads United
• 2017 - Selwyn United
• 2018 - Western
• 2019 - Christchurch United
• 2020 - Halswell United
• 2021 - Western

Club	Number of Titles	Year(s) Won
Western	2	2018, 2021
Nomads United	1	2016
Selwyn United	1	2017
Christchurch United	1	2019
Halswell United	1	2020

2023-

• 2023 - Christchurch United U20
• 2024 - University of Canterbury 2nd

Club	Number of Titles	Year(s) Won
Christchurch United U20	1	2023
University of Canterbury 2nd	1	2024

Whero Cup

The Whero Cup, is an annual Mainland Football knockout football competition for Canterbury Championship League, Senior Men's Division 1 and Canterbury Premiership League's Reserve teams. First played during the 2023 season. It has been known as the Ronald McDonald House Whero Cup after its sponsor Ronald McDonald House South Island. There are two other cups runs at the same time for the lower Senior Men's Divisions.

Whero Cup Winners-

• 2023 - Christchurch United U20
• 2024 - University of Canterbury 3rd

Club	Number of Titles	Year(s) Won
Christchurch United U20	1	2023
University of Canterbury 3rd	1	2024