Champions Eastern Suburbs will travel to Dunedin for their opening game in this year’s expanded Women’s National League, while newcomers Ellerslie will host the Wellington Phoenix.
Ten teams will contest the nine-round competition which starts on Saturday September 23, 2023.
The competition ends with a grand final between the top two sides on Sunday November 26, which will be a double header with the grand final of the Men’s National League.
READ MORE: Fixtures out as Men’s National League gets underway on September 23 >>>>
The teams
From 2023, the league will increase from eight to 10 teams, the same as for the men’s competition, and operate a hybrid model with club sides, combined federation and club teams and federations teams with a view to the women’s National League Championship moving to a fully club-based league in future seasons.
Auckland United, Eastern Suburbs and Western Springs return for the 2023 season after finishing first, second and third, respectively, in the Lotto NRFL Women’s Premiership.
They are joined by newcomers Ellerslie, who finished fourth in the league.
Mirroring the men’s competition, Wellington Phoenix Academy will join the league for the first time in 2023.
Also representing the Capital Football region are federation teams delivered in partnership with club sides Wellington United and Waterside Karori as a pilot for clubs representing the region in future.
For the competition, the teams will be referred to as Capital Football Wellington United (styled as CF Wellington United) and Capital Football Waterside Karori (styled as CF Waterside Karori).
Federation teams Canterbury United Pride, Central Football and Southern United complete the league.
Women’s National League Championship
Auckland United (Lotto NRFL Women’s Premiership qualifier)
Canterbury United Pride (Mainland Football federation team)
CF Waterside Karori (Capital Football federation team)
CF Wellington United (Capital Football federation team)
Central Football (Central Football federation team)
Eastern Suburbs (Lotto NRFL Women’s Premiership qualifier)
Ellerslie AFC (Lotto NRFL Women’s Premiership qualifier)
Southern United (Southern Football federation team)
Wellington Phoenix (allocated academy side)
Western Springs (Lotto NRFL Women’s Premiership qualifier)
Fixture schedule
NZ Football have released the following fixture schedule, which can be downloaded here as a PDF:
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