Central League 2026

• John Eccles (New GK gets a clean sheet on debut, was the starting goalie for Island Bay last season

• Adam Supyk (Returning from the OPL)
• Morgan Wellsbury (Scored plenty for Tauranga last season but struggled more in 2026, got a brace on debut)

• Jiovanny Mora (Bit of a random one, covered by MrSmiis in the speculation thread, a 20y/o American from the Cincinnati academy in MLS)

Tyler wrote:
Maybe people were too quick to write off the Greeks? They’ve strengthened themselves before the windows closed and have a sweet finish to the season having played all the top four teams twice. 

I would like to see someone else win

Tartan Kiwi wrote:

 Tyler wrote:
Maybe people were too quick to write off the Greeks? They’ve strengthened themselves before the windows closed and have a sweet finish to the season having played all the top four teams twice. 

I would like to see someone else win

In the 21 completed seasons to date since the Central League was reformed in 2005 there have only been 4 different winners ...

7 titles - Olympic (2010, 2016, 2021-25)6 titles - Miramar Rangers (2006, 2008, 2011, 2013-14, 2020)5 titles - Western Suburbs (2005, 2007, 2009, 2017, 2019)3 titles - Napier City Rovers (2012, 2015, 2018)

that trend should continue in 2026 (UHC should be eliminated mathematically at the weekend leaving the title to be fought out between the usual suspects).

Those same 4 sides have also finished runners up in 17 of those 21 seasons - the only teams to break the trend were Petone in 2008, Wairarapa United in 2015 and 2017 and WPR in 2023 although in the end none were anywhere close to the top spot - Petone 8 points behind Miramar, Wairarapa 10 and 7 points behind NCR and Wests respectively and WPR 9 points behind Olympic.

Wairarapa have been the most consistent challengers to the top four teams - between 2010 and 2017 they had 2 second places, 4 third places, a fourth place and a seventh place.

Tartan Kiwi wrote:

 Tyler wrote:
Maybe people were too quick to write off the Greeks? They’ve strengthened themselves before the windows closed and have a sweet finish to the season having played all the top four teams twice. 

I would like to see someone else win

In the 21 completed seasons to date since the Central League was reformed in 2005 there have only been 4 different winners ...

7 titles - Olympic (2010, 2016, 2021-25)6 titles - Miramar Rangers (2006, 2008, 2011, 2013-14, 2020)5 titles - Western Suburbs (2005, 2007, 2009, 2017, 2019)3 titles - Napier City Rovers (2012, 2015, 2018)

that trend should continue in 2026 (UHC should be eliminated mathematically at the weekend leaving the title to be fought out between the usual suspects).

Those same 4 sides have also finished runners up in 17 of those 21 seasons - the only teams to break the trend were Petone in 2008, Wairarapa United in 2015 and 2017 and WPR in 2023 although in the end none were anywhere close to the top spot - Petone 8 points behind Miramar, Wairarapa 10 and 7 points behind NCR and Wests respectively and WPR 9 points behind Olympic.

Wairarapa have been the most consistent challengers to the top four teams - between 2010 and 2017 they had 2 second places, 4 third places, a fourth place and a seventh place.

Tyler wrote:
Maybe people were too quick to write off the Greeks? They’ve strengthened themselves before the windows closed and have a sweet finish to the season having played all the top four teams twice. 

I would like to see someone else win

Noah4thenix wrote:

 Tartan Kiwi wrote:

 Tyler wrote:
Maybe people were too quick to write off the Greeks? They’ve strengthened themselves before the windows closed and have a sweet finish to the season having played all the top four teams twice. 

I would like to see someone else win

In the 21 completed seasons to date since the Central League was reformed in 2005 there have only been 4 different winners ...

7 titles - Olympic (2010, 2016, 2021-25)6 titles - Miramar Rangers (2006, 2008, 2011, 2013-14, 2020)5 titles - Western Suburbs (2005, 2007, 2009, 2017, 2019)3 titles - Napier City Rovers (2012, 2015, 2018)

that trend should continue in 2026 (UHC should be eliminated mathematically at the weekend leaving the title to be fought out between the usual suspects).

Those same 4 sides have also finished runners up in 17 of those 21 seasons - the only teams to break the trend were Petone in 2008, Wairarapa United in 2015 and 2017 and WPR in 2023 although in the end none were anywhere close to the top spot - Petone 8 points behind Miramar, Wairarapa 10 and 7 points behind NCR and Wests respectively and WPR 9 points behind Olympic.

Wairarapa have been the most consistent challengers to the top four teams - between 2010 and 2017 they had 2 second places, 4 third places, a fourth place and a seventh place.

Pretty crazy to think that in 2020 Olympic had the fewest CL titles of the four clubs listed above. I imagine the majority of Olympic's 1st XI titles had to have been won in the last 6 years, no? 5 CL, 1 NL, 2 Chatham Cups, and the Charity Cup if you want to count that.

Were Olympic seen as a big club before the 2021 reboot or is that more of a modern lens?

Tartan Kiwi wrote:

 Noah4thenix wrote:

 Tartan Kiwi wrote:

 Tyler wrote:
Maybe people were too quick to write off the Greeks? They’ve strengthened themselves before the windows closed and have a sweet finish to the season having played all the top four teams twice. 

I would like to see someone else win

In the 21 completed seasons to date since the Central League was reformed in 2005 there have only been 4 different winners ...

7 titles - Olympic (2010, 2016, 2021-25)6 titles - Miramar Rangers (2006, 2008, 2011, 2013-14, 2020)5 titles - Western Suburbs (2005, 2007, 2009, 2017, 2019)3 titles - Napier City Rovers (2012, 2015, 2018)

that trend should continue in 2026 (UHC should be eliminated mathematically at the weekend leaving the title to be fought out between the usual suspects).

Those same 4 sides have also finished runners up in 17 of those 21 seasons - the only teams to break the trend were Petone in 2008, Wairarapa United in 2015 and 2017 and WPR in 2023 although in the end none were anywhere close to the top spot - Petone 8 points behind Miramar, Wairarapa 10 and 7 points behind NCR and Wests respectively and WPR 9 points behind Olympic.

Wairarapa have been the most consistent challengers to the top four teams - between 2010 and 2017 they had 2 second places, 4 third places, a fourth place and a seventh place.

Pretty crazy to think that in 2020 Olympic had the fewest CL titles of the four clubs listed above. I imagine the majority of Olympic's 1st XI titles had to have been won in the last 6 years, no? 5 CL, 1 NL, 2 Chatham Cups, and the Charity Cup if you want to count that.

Were Olympic seen as a big club before the 2021 reboot or is that more of a modern lens?

They first hit the big time in the early 1990s. Their first major title was the 1991 Central One title (which excluded the biggest local clubs of the time - NCR, Miramar and Wellington United - who played in the National League). They qualified for Superclub championship round (effectively the current format with a different name i.e. where regional qualifiers make the championship round) in 1993 and 1994 and reached the 1994 Chatham Cup final.

They failed to qualify for 1995 Superclub championship (they did win the Central Region Plate that season for the local teams that hadn't qualified) and missed out when the National League reverted to a promotion/relegation format. There were no Central region leagues between 2000 and 2004 so they played in the Capital Premier league finishing bottom in 2002 only to be reprieved when Wairarapa United pulled out. 

They bounced back to finish 4th in 2003 then 2nd in 2004 to qualify for the reformed 2005 Central League achieving 2nd, 4th and 3rd places in the first three seasons. After a bad 2008 season they went unbeaten in 2009 winning their first Chatham Cup but missing out to Wests in the CL (too many draws !). A first CL title followed in 2010 and two 2nd places - 2012 (by 2 points) and 2013 (by 1 goal !!!). They also lost in the Cup semi that 2013 season. The rest of the decade they meandered along being midtable other than 2016 when they somehow won the CL title in Stu Jacobs's first season before fighting off relegation in 2017 (finishing 8th but it was dicey until near the end).

They finished 3rd in 2020 (albeit 10 points behind Miramar) but the seeds had been sown - Ben Mata had joined in 2019 while Tor Davenport-Petersen and Jack-Henry Sinclair followed in 2020 and then Justin Gulley and Kailan Gould in 2021.

The haul of 9 titles since 2021 makes a total of 13. The 1991 league win has been the only one to date under a Greek coach - George Bertos.