2025 New Zealand National League Grand Final

2025 New Zealand National League Grand Final
The match will be held at Newtown Park
Event2025 New Zealand National League
Wellington Olympic Auckland City
2 2
After extra time
Auckland City won 7–6 on penalties
Date13 December 2025 (2025-12-13)
VenueNewtown Park, Wellington
Steve Sumner TrophyHaris Zeb
(Auckland City)
RefereeCalvin Berg
WeatherClear
17 °C (63 °F)
68% humidity[1]

The 2025 New Zealand National League Grand Final, known officially as the Dettol National League Grand Final, was a scheduled association football match played between Wellington Olympic and Auckland City on 13 December 2025 at Newtown Park in Wellington.

The match determined the champions of the New Zealand National League and was the 4th New Zealand National League Grand Final, the culmination of the 2025 season and the 32nd New Zealand National Football Leagues final.[2]

Background

Wellington Olympic were playing their first Grand Final since 2023, where they won 2–0 against Auckland City.[3] This was Olympic's third Grand Final in their history, and third in four years, after losing their first final 3–2 to Auckland City.[2][4]

For Auckland City, this was their fourth consecutive New Zealand National League Grand Final and fifth consecutive New Zealand National Football Leagues final. The Navy Blues won last years Grand Final 2–1 after extra time against Birkenhead United.[2][5]

Previous finals

In the following table, finals until 2003 were in the National Soccer League era, from 2005 to 2021 were in the Football Championship era, since 2021 were in the National League era.

Team Previous grand final appearances (bold indicates winners)
Wellington Olympic 2 (2022, 2023)
Auckland City 15 (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)

Road to the final

See also: 2025 New Zealand National League

Summary

Following the regional qualifiers, an 11 week Championship phase was played to determine the two finalists of the National League. The top 4 teams from the Northern League and Auckland FC Reserves; top three from the Central League and Wellington Phoenix Reserves; and the top 2 from the Southern League. The top two highest-placed teams then qualified for the Grand Final. The finalists who placed higher on the table would host the Grand Final.[6][7]

Wellington Olympic Round Auckland City
2025 Central League
1st placed

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Wellington Olympic (C) 18 49
2 Miramar Rangers 18 39
3 Western Suburbs 18 34
4 Wellington Phoenix Reserves 18 29
5 Napier City Rovers 18 28
Source: Capital Football
(C) Champions
 Regional phase 2025 Northern League
4th placed

Pos Team Pld Pts
2 Birkenhead United 22 41
3 Auckland United 22 40
4 Auckland City 22 40
5 Eastern Suburbs 22 40
6 East Coast Bays 22 36
Source: NRF
2025 National League
1st placed

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Wellington Olympic 10 21
2 Auckland City (C) 10 20
3 Miramar Rangers 10 19
4 Auckland FC Reserves 10 18
5 Western Springs 10 16
Source: New Zealand Football
(C) Champions
 Championship phase 2025 National League
2nd placed

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Wellington Olympic 10 21
2 Auckland City (C) 10 20
3 Miramar Rangers 10 19
4 Auckland FC Reserves 10 18
5 Western Springs 10 16
Source: New Zealand Football
(C) Champions

Wellington Olympic

Wellington Olympic opened their season with a 1–0 win over Miramar Rangers in the Central League. Olympic won their opening eight games, storming to the lead in the Central League. They qualified for the New Zealand National League championship phase on 18 July 2025 after beating North Wellington 5–1.[9] On 23 August 2025 Olympic won the Central League for the fifth consecutive time after beating Island Bay United 5–0.[10][11]

Olympic's opening game in the National League was a 5–3 victory over Wellington Phoenix Reserves.[12] They won their first three games before losing 1–0 against grand final opponents Auckland City.[13] Olympic qualified for the Grand Final after winning their final game against fellow contenders Miramar Rangers. Ben Mata opened the scoring before Ronaldo Muñoz equalised for Miramar. Despite going down to 10 men when Justin Gulley was sent off just before half-time, Olympic were able to find a second-half winner thanks to Gianni Bouzoukis.[14]

Auckland City

See also: 2025 Auckland City FC season

Auckland City began their season with a 2–1 victory at home to Tauranga City in the Northern League.[15] After winning their first three games, City headed to Solomon Islands for the 2025 OFC Men's Champions League. City had a disrupted season competing in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, struggling to find consistency with their packed schedule. Auckland qualified for the championship phase on the final day of the season after beating East Coast Bays 2–0 to take the final qualifying spot.[16]

The Navy Blues were awarded a bye in the first round of the National League before losing their first fixture 3–0 away to Birkenhead United.[17][18] Again stuggling to find consistency, City were outside the top two until the final game week, where they beat Coastal Spirit 3–0 to qualify in second. Mario Ilich, Christian Gray and Myer Bevan all scored second-half goals to help City reach their fifth straight final.[14]

Pre-match

Wellington Olympic announced before the final that head coaches Paul Ifill and Ekow Quainoo would both be stepping down for the role, with Ifill also leaving his role as director of football.[19]

Venue selection

The results of the final game week confirmed the finalists and that the final would be played in Wellington.[7] New Zealand Football selected Wellington's Newtown Park to host the Grand Final.[2] Newtown Park has a capacity of 5,000 fans.[20]

Broadcasting

The match was broadcast live and free on FIFA+.[21][22]

Team selection

Olympic were without Hamish Watson and Noah Boyce due to injury. Justin Gulley missed out due to suspension after being sent-off the week before, while Adam Supyk had already departed for the OFC Pro League.[23]

City welcomed back Adam Mitchell into the starting line-up after an injury left him out for a month of action before the last game. Gerard Garriga returned to the squad, while Michael den Heijer was unavailable.[23]

Match

Details

Wellington Olympic2–2 (a.e.t.)Auckland City
  • Stoupe 90+3'
  • Prins 101'
 Report
  • Ellis 81'
  • Gray 120+2'
Penalties
 6–7
Referee: Calvin Berg[19]
Wellington Olympic
Auckland City
GK 1 Scott Basalaj
CB 4 Alexander Solomon
CB 15 Ben Mata (c)  77'
CB 13 William Vincent  87'
RM 8 Jonty Roubos  64'
CM 6 Tor Davenport-Petersen
CM 16 Tiahn Manuel  109'
LM 7 Isa Prins
RW 23 Gavin Hoy  82'
CF 10 Gianni Bouzoukis  82'
LW 14 Jack-Henry Sinclair  119'
Substitutes:
GK 21 Oscar Boyce
DF 11 Alex Davies  109'
MF 17 John Reynolds  105'  64'
MF 18 Surafil Keleab
FW 12 Luca Barclay  119'
FW 19 Luke Stoupe  108'  82'
FW 22 Sam Mason-Smith  82'
Manager:
Paul Ifill
GK 24 Nathan Garrow
CB 3 Adam Mitchell  111'
CB 4 Christian Gray  96'
CB 5 Nikko Boxall
RM 23 Riley Dalziell  91'
CM 22 Zhou Tong  91'
CM 2 Mario Ilich (c)  84'
LM 27 Haris Zeb
RW 26 David Yoo  80'
CF 11 Ryan de Vries  67'
LW 7 Myer Bevan  79'
Substitutes:
GK 18 Sebastián Ciganda
DF 13 Nathan Lobo  91'
MF 6 Orlando Thorpe  91'
MF 8 Gerard Garriga  111'
MF 19 Matt Ellis  80'
FW 9 Angus Kilkolly  79'
FW 10 Dylan Manickum  67'
Manager:
Paul Posa

Man of the Match (Steve Sumner Trophy):
Haris Zeb (Auckland City)[24]

Assistant referees:[19]
Gareth Sheehan
Ashton Davenport
Fourth official:[19]
Cory Mills

Match rules[6]

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Seven named substitutes.
  • Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time.[a]

Statistics

Post-match

The result was City's second consecutive National League title and their tenth national title overall.

Haris Zeb was awarded the Steve Sumner Trophy for the best player of the match.[23]

Following the final, City announced manager Paul Posa had stepped down following the completion of his one-year contract.[26][27]

Notes

  1. ^ Each team is given only three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time.

References

  1. ^ "Past Weather in Wellington, New Zealand — December 2025". timeanddate.com. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d "Wellington Olympic and Auckland City FC book their spots in the Grand Final". New Zealand Football. 7 December 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  3. ^ "Wellington Olympic win men's National League Championship Grand Final". New Zealand Football. 26 November 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  4. ^ Robinson, Nick (5 December 2022). "2022 Men's National League – Grand Final Review". theniche-cache.com. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  5. ^ "Auckland City FC Win National League Championship After Tight Grand Final". New Zealand Football. 1 December 2024. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "National League Regulations 2025: Article 29 - NL Format". New Zealand Football. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  7. ^ a b "PREVIEW: Home comforts for women's National League champions". friendsoffootballnz.com. 21 November 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  8. ^ "National League Regulations 2022: Article 12". New Zealand Football. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  9. ^ "RESULTS: Friday's winners, scorers and latest league tables". friendsoffootballnz.com. 18 July 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  10. ^ "Only four spots left as clubs claim qualifying places in Men's National League". friendsoffootballnz.com. 25 August 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  11. ^ "RESULTS: Saturday's winners, scorers and latest league tables". friendsoffootballnz.com. 23 August 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  12. ^ Robinson, Nick (30 September 2025). "2025 Men's National League – Week 1". theniche-cache.com. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  13. ^ Robinson, Nick (20 October 2025). "2025 Men's National League – Week 4". theniche-cache.com. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  14. ^ a b "Wellington Olympic, Auckland City to meet again in men's National League final". friendsoffootballnz.com. 6 December 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  15. ^ "RESULTS: Saturday's winners, scorers and latest league tables". friendsoffootballnz.com. 15 March 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  16. ^ "National League Title Defence Alive". Auckland City FC. 30 August 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  17. ^ "Fixtures Announced for Dettol National League Championship 2025". New Zealand Football. 16 September 2025. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  18. ^ "10-Man City Punished". New Zealand Football. 5 October 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  19. ^ a b c d "All On the Line: Wellington Olympic vs Auckland City FC for the Dettol National League Title". New Zealand Football. 12 December 2025. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  20. ^ "Newtown Park". AroundUs. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  21. ^ "Grand final of men's National League to be played at Wellington's Newtown Park". friendsoffootballnz.com. 7 December 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  22. ^ "STREAM: How to watch final between Wellington Olympic and Auckland City". friendsoffootballnz.com. 13 December 2025. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  23. ^ a b c Robinson, Nick (15 December 2025). "2025 Men's National League – Grand Final". theniche-cache.com. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  24. ^ "Auckland City retain national title after drama-filled National League grand final". New Zealand Football. 14 December 2025. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  25. ^ a b c d "Team statistics". Flash Score. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  26. ^ "Paul Posa Ends Era on High". Auckland City FC. 15 December 2025. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  27. ^ "Auckland City head coach Paul Posa steps down after historic season". friendsoffootballnz.com. 16 December 2025. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
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