The 1953 Chatham Cup was the 26th annual nationwide knockout football competition in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

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The competition was run on a regional basis, with regional associations each holding separate qualifying rounds.

Teams taking part in the final rounds are known to have included Eastern Suburbs

Eastern Suburbs AFC

Eastern Suburbs is a semi-professional association football club in Kohimarama, New Zealand. They compete in the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Division 1.-Club history:...

 (Auckland), Huntly Thistle

Huntly Thistle

Huntly Thistle are an association football club based in the New Zealand town of Huntly, in the northern Waikato Region. The club currently play in the lower reaches of the Northern League, but at earlier points in their history they were one of the stronger teams in the Waikato...

, Eastern Union (Gisborne), New Plymouth City, Napier Rovers, Wanganui United, St. Andrews (Manawatu), Seatoun

Seatoun (soccer)

Seatoun AFC is a football club in New Zealand, based in the Wellington suburb of Seatoun. One of the strongest clubs in the country during the 1950s, it won the national knockout Chatham Cup in 1957 and 1958...

 (Wellington), Woodbourne (Marlborough), Riccarton, Northern

Northern (soccer)

Northern AFC is a semi-professional association football club in North East Valley, Dunedin, New Zealand. They are currently competing in the ODT FootballSouth Premier League.The club is based at The Gardens Ground, North East Valley, Dunedin....

 (Dunedin), and Invercargill Thistle

Invercargill Thistle

Invercargill Thistle is a former New Zealand football club based in the South Island city of Invercargill. The team was founded in 1936 and continued as a separate team until 1969, when it became part of the short-lived Invercargill United team. It operated again as an independent team from 1974 to...

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The 1953 final

The final was a repeat of the 1951 final, with Eastern Suburbs again beating Dunedin's Northern. Reg King added two further goals to his three from 1951, equalling the aggregate record of five final goals. The game was a thrilling one according to contemporary accounts, with Northern letting in a soft goal very early on and the game opening up with frequent chances at both ends. Suburbs clinched the match with the winning goal late on in the second half. Scorers were Reg King (2), Ken Fleet

Ken Fleet

Ken Fleet is a former association football player who represented New Zealand at international level.Fleet made his full All Whites debut in a 0-2 loss to New Caledonia on 19 September 1951 and ended his international playing career with six A-international caps and three goals to his credit, his...

, and Murray Anderson for Eastern Suburbs, while Trevor McFarlane gained a brace for Northern and Bill Boardman also scored for the Dunedin side.

Final