1923 Chatham Cup

The 1923 Chatham Cup was the first annual nationwide football competition in New Zealand.

1923 Chatham Cup
Dates22 September – 1 October 1923
Championship venueAthletic Park, Wellington
ChampionsSeacliff (1st title)
Runners-upYMCA
Championship match score4 – 0
1924 →

The competition was run on a regional basis, with separate northern and southern tournaments, with the winners of the two meeting in the final. Very few teams entered the competition, including only two from the southern South Island; Seacliff easily won the only match played there, thumping Oamaru 7-0, and repeated this in the final, accounting for Wellington's YMCA 4-0.

Of the teams taking part, it is known that four were from Wellington; contemporary reports indicate that Diamonds, Hospital, YMCA, and Waterside took part.[1] There is some suggestion that the Auckland regional winners, Northcote required a play-off against North Shore United to progress. There is some confusion as to the spelling of the name of the champion Manawatu side, it being listed in various publications as either Daubers or Dawbers, and either with or without an apostrophe.

There is some confusion about the earlier rounds of the competition, with various Charity Cups being held to decide entrants to the Chatham Cup, and with regional qualification finals, island finals, and the national final all simply being referred to in contemporary reports as "finals". Compounding this, different regional football associations were allowed to choose their champion team by whatever method they liked, meaning that some regions (such as Auckland) used league position to determine their entrant for the inter-regional matches,[2] rather than a knockout competition. Compounding matters further are the incomplete records held by the NZFA, which omit several matches (including the semi-final between Seacliff and Oamaru Rangers).

The 1923 final

In the final, YMCA had the better of early possession, but Seacliff gained the upper hand as the match progressed. Centre-forward Bill Hooper scored the first goal just before the half-time interval. Shortly after the break Reg Baxter doubled the lead. Late on right wing Malcolm McDougall scored again, followed only a minute later by a second from Hooper. The line-up of the first Chatham Cup winning side was as follows: Charlie Rivers, Jock Anderson, George Anderson, Bill Rogers, Hugh McKechnie, Bill Murray, Malcolm McDougall, Reg Baxter, Bill Hooper, R. "Tommy" Burns, Wattie Hanlin.[3]

Results

Early rounds
  • Hospital (Wellington) beat Diamonds 1–0 at Association Park on 25 August[4]
  • YMCA beat Waterside 2–1 in a replay at Association Park on 25 August,[4] the first match (played at the Basin Reserve on 11 August)[5] having finished in a 1-1 draw

Regional finals

Inter-region matches
  • YMCA beat Nelson Wanderers 8-1 at Nelson on 15 September[7]
  • Dauber's Motor Depot (Foxton) beat Waingawa (Masterton)[8] at Masterton

Quarter-final
Wellington YMCA3 – 2Dauber's Motor Depot
Phillips, McGirr (pen.), Ballard report Davis,Chapman
Association Park, Kilbirnie, Wellington
Referee: W.G. Bryce
Huntly3 – 1Northcote
Cox 2, Baber report Knott
Referee: Newbold

Semi-final ("Island final")
Oamaru Rangers0 – 7Seacliff
[9][10] Hooper 5, ? (o.g.), Burns
Oamaru
Referee: Rutherford
Wellington YMCA2 – 0Huntly
Campbell 2 report
Referee: F. Campbell

Final
Seacliff4 – 0Wellington YMCA
Hooper 2, Baxter, MacDougall report
Referee: J.A. Leddy

References
  1. Papers Past — Evening Post — 4 August 1923 — SOCCER
  2. Papers Past — Evening Post — 11 August 1923 — SOCCER
  3. Hilton, T. (1991) An association with soccer. Auckland: The New Zealand Football Association. ISBN 0-473-01291-X. pp. 66 & 167
  4. Papers Past — Evening Post — 27 August 1923 — BAY OF BIG FIXTURES
  5. Papers Past — Evening Post — 10 August 1923 — ASSOCIATION
  6. Papers Past — Evening Post — 10 September 1923 — CHATHAM CUP FINAL
  7. Papers Past — Evening Post — 17 September 1923 — FOR THE CHATHAM CUP
  8. Papers Past — Evening Post — 22 September 1923 — SOCCER
  9. "Seacliff defeats Oamaru", Otago Daily Times, 27 August 1923, p. 4
  10. "Association", Oamaru Mail, 27 August 1923, p. 6
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