1997 National Summer Soccer League
Encyclopedia
The 1997 National Summer Soccer League was the second season of a short-lived nationwide association football club competition in New Zealand
. 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.
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.
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.
Biggest winning margin
Highest aggregate score
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...
. 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.
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-robinRound-robin
The term round-robin was originally used to describe a document signed by multiple parties in a circle to make it more difficult to determine the order in which it was signed, thus preventing a ringleader from being identified...
league, with each team playing every other team home and away. 1996 participants Waikato United were replaced by new team Melville United
Melville United
Melville United AFC is a professional football club in Melville, Hamilton, New Zealand. It competes in the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Premier.-History:...
, which had been formed from a merger of Waikato United and Melville AFC.
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 table
Playoffs
----Final
Records and statistics
Top scorers- Tim StevensTim Stevens (footballer)Tim Stevens is a former football player who represented New Zealand at international level.-Club career:Stevens played his junior football initially at Berowra in NSW and, from 1981, at New Zealand's East Coast Bays club in Auckland. He made his first team debut for Bays in the New Zealand...
(North Shore United), 14 goals - Mark ElrickMark ElrickMark Elrick is a retired New Zealand soccer player who last played as a striker for Hawke's Bay United. He is mostly being used as a substitute, due to his age....
(Central United), 13 goals - Martin AkersMartin AkersMartin Akers is a former association football player who represented New Zealand at international level.Akers made a solitary official international appearance for New Zealand in a 0-5 loss to Indonesia on 21 September 1997.-External links:...
(Napier City Rovers), 12 goals - Justin FashanuJustin FashanuJustinus Soni "Justin" Fashanu was an English footballer who played for a variety of clubs between 1978 and 1997. He was known by his early clubs to be homosexual, and came out to the press later in his career, to become the first professional footballer to be openly gay...
(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