1936 Chatham Cup

The final was the first in which two separate players (Bill White and Fred Angus) both scored two goals. One of White's goals was the first penalty to be scored from in a final. White scored first from the spot after just 12 minutes, and doubled his tally quarter of an hour later. Angus reduced the deficit to one before the break, and it was only through having a second strike disallowed that the Aucklanders were still behind at the interval. Injury to L. Williamson reduced Thistle to ten men for the majority of the second half (this being in the days before substitutes were allowed). Angus managed to score an equaliser for the northerners, however, but the scores were only to remain level briefly, with Geoff Ellis adding a third for Western. Williamson limped back on for the last few minutes, and though Thistle applied the pressure, Western held on to the lead.[2]

There was no competition in 1937.

Several factors were taken into consideration in the decision to suspend the competition, of which two were significant. A visit by the England amateur side and a major South African rugby tour led to a conflict of possible competition dates, which would have made the organisation and scheduling of matches difficult.[3] The NZFA had also decided that the final should be held in the South Island for the first time;[4] this led to a substantial reduction in the number of contestants, with only twelve teams confirming their entries by the close-off date, none of which were from Auckland.

In truth, the competition had been struggling for several years with the difficulty of arranging dates for matches. Given the entirely amateur nature of the competition, matches were played solely at weekends, and therefore any Chatham Cup matches ate into the available time for local league competitions. There is some indication that not everyone involved in the organization of regional football was entirely unhappy with the suspension of the competition, though many were,[5] and the remit to suspend it was greeted, according to one contemporary report with "a mixture of apathy and hostility by clubs and followers of the game."[6]

Teams who had expressed their willingness to take part in the 1937 competition were: Pukemiro, Wellington Marist, Seatoun, Petone, Scottish Wanderers, Western, Nomads, Christchurch Thistle, Millerton All Blacks, Runanga, Northern, and Invercargill Thistle. A provisional entry from Hamilton Wanderers was also received, but this was later withdrawn.

• Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation New Zealand 1936 page