The 1997 National Summer Soccer League was the second season of a short-lived nationwide

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club competition in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Despite being known as the 1997 league, competition started in November 1996, with the later rounds and final playoffs held in 1997. The competition was won by

Waitakere City Waitakere City was a Territorial Authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in West Auckland, New Zealand, West Auckland, New Zealand; it was governed by the Waitakere City Council from 1989 to 2010. It was New Zealand's fifth-largest ...

Structure

The league was an invitation-only competition, with no promotion or relegation taking place. Matches took place between November 1996 and April 1997, with a three-week break from late December to mid-January. The competition was divided into two stages. In the first stage the ten teams took part in a round-robin league, with each team playing every other team home and away. 1996 participants Waikato United were replaced by new team Melville United, which had been formed from a merger of Waikato United and

Melville AFC Melville United AFC is an amateur football club in Melville, Hamilton, New Zealand. It competes in the Northern League. History The club was formed in 1996 from the merger of Melville AFC (founded 1972) and Waikato United (founded 1988). Th ...

. The top four teams from this stage progressed to a play-off series. This involved the top two teams from the league phase playing each other, and third and fourth place also playing each other. The winner of the match between first and second progressed through to the final; the loser of that match met the winner of the other match to decide the other finalist. A unique system of awarding points was used for this competition. Teams were awarded four points for a win and one for a draw. In drawn matches, a penalty shoot-out (minimum of three shots per side) would then take place, with the winning side awarded a bonus point. This system was abandoned at the end of the season; the 1998 league was played using the traditional system of three points for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss, with no penalty shoot-outs.

League stage

League table

Finals

Playoffs

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Final

Records and statistics

; Top scorers *

Tim Stevens Timothy John Stevens, (born 31 December 1946) is a retired British Anglican bishop. He was Bishop of Dunwich from 1995 to 1999 and was Bishop of Leicester from 1999 to 2015. From 2003 to 2015, he was a member of the House of Lords as a Lord S ...

(North Shore United), 14 goals * Mark Elrick (Central United), 13 goals * Martin Akers (Napier City Rovers), 12 goals *

Justin Fashanu Justinus Soni "Justin" Fashanu ( ; 19 February 1961 – 2 May 1998) was an English footballer who played for a variety of clubs between 1978 and 1997. He was known by his early clubs to be gay, and came out publicly later in his career, becoming ...

(Miramar Rangers), 12 goals *Stephen Mack (Central United), 12 goals ;Biggest winning margin *Waitakere City 8, Wellington United 1 ;Highest aggregate score *Miramar Rangers 3, Central United 7

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 National Summer Soccer League National Summer Soccer League seasons 1996 in New Zealand association football 1997 in New Zealand association football