New Zealand’s premier football knockout cups have preliminary rounds thoughout the country over the next five days. 

Both The Chatham Cup (men) and the Kate Sheppard Cup (women) have matches scheduled throughout the country from from 25th - 29th April.

The Chatham Cup

New Zealand's premier knockout tournament in men's association football, The Chatham Cup is one of Aotearoa New Zealand sport’s oldest and most coveted trophies. It has been contested annually since 1923, with the exception of 1937, 1941–44 and 2020.

The trophy – a replica of the English FA Cup – was presented to the NZFA in 1922 by the captain and crew of the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Chatham, which was ending its tour of duty in New Zealand waters, as a means of thanking the New Zealand public for the great goodwill shown the sailors during their time in this part of the world.

Until 1970 the competition was organised on a geographical basis, with local, regional and then North Island and South Island finals deciding the national finalists. Today the early rounds are still contested on a regional basis.

The most successful clubs in Chatham Cup history to 2023 were Auckland’s Mount Wellington (later University–Mount Wellington) and Christchurch United with seven wins, and North Shore and Auckland's Eastern Suburbs with six wins each.

The Chatham Cup has only been won by a team from our region twice.  The  Hamilton Technical Old Boys won in 1962, and Waikato United (later almagamated with Melville United) took out the honours in 1988. 

Melville United narrowly lost the 2023 final – on Penalties – to Christchurch United. 

128 teams are participating in the 2024 Chatham Cup, with 17 teams from the WaiBOP region entered. 

The lowest ranked teams around the country play in the preliminary round, with the remaining teams having a bye round, and going straight into round one. 

The Preliminary Round has the following teams from our region playing:

Otorohanga AFC vs Colo Boys Football Club 2pm 25 April Otorohanga Domain

AFC Bohemian Celtic vs West Hamilton United 2pm 25 April Michaels Ave Reserve Ellerslie, Auckland

Northern United vs Uni-Mount Bohemian AFC 2pm 25 April Korikori Park, Hamilton

Pukekohe AFC vs Matamata Swifts 2pm 25 April Bledisloe Park 

The Kate Sheppard Cup

The Kate Sheppard Cup is New Zealand's premier women's knockout football tournament.

Founded in 1994, the Kate Sheppard Cup (formally known as the Women's Knockout Cup) was renamed the Kate Sheppard Cup in 2018 in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the women's suffrage movement and after it fell on International Women's Day.

Prior to the cup being renamed, Waikato-Unicol took out the honours in 1995 and Claudeland Rovers in 2010.

The WaiBOP Region has six teams entered; and no teams playing in the preliminary round this weekend. 

Article added: Wednesday 24 April 2024