The 1978 Chatham Cup was the 51st annual nationwide knockout football competition in New Zealand.

1978 Chatham Cup
Tournament details
Venue(s)Trafalgar Park, Nelson
Dates3 September 1978
Final positions
ChampionsManurewa (2nd title)
Runner-upNelson United
← 1977
1979 →

Early stages of the competition were run in three regions (northern, central, and southern), with the National League teams receiving a bye until the Fourth Round of the competition. In all, 144 teams took part in the competition. Note: Different sources give different numberings for the rounds of the competition: some start round one with the beginning of the regional qualifications; others start numbering from the first national knock-out stage. The former numbering scheme is used in this article.

Results

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Third round

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East Coast Bays5 – 5*Metro College (Auckland)
Kiwi United (Palmerston North)2 – 1Napier City Rovers
Lynndale (Auckland)1 – 0Mount Roskill
Masterton1 – 0Viard Old Boys (Porirua)
Moturoa0 – 3Taranaki United (New Plymouth)
Rangiora2 – 1Shamrock (Christchurch)
Wanganui East Athletic1 – 0Manawatu United (Palmerston N.)
Hertz Whangarei City3 – 1Eden (Auckland)

* Won on penalties by Metro (3-2), Nelson Suburbs (3-2), and Porirua United (4-2)

Fourth round

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Papakura City2 – 8Eastern Suburbs (Auckland)
Stop Out (Lower Hutt)4 – 0Petone

* Won on penalties by Nelson Suburbs (4-3). † Replayed match after Courier Rangers fielded ineligible player

Fifth round

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Masterton1 – 2 (aet)Stop Out

Sixth Round

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Semi-finals

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The Final

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The final was held outside one of the main centres for the first time, being played in Nelson. Manurewa won the competition for the first time since 1931, when they had played under the name "Tramurewa" (after a recent merger with Tramways FC). The gap of 47 years between trophies in this competition is still a record.

Manurewa's side was coached by John Adshead who four years later would steer New Zealand's national side to their first FIFA World Cup. The team included several top players, notably Dave Bright and goalkeeper Frank van Hattum; they were opposed by the previous year's champions, Nelson United, a team which boasted the presence of Kenny Cresswell, Peter Simonsen and Keith Mackay, among others.

The game's only goal came after 12 minutes. Nelson keeper Owen Nuttridge failed to completely clear a Dave Bright cross, only for the ball to be headed into the net by Bruce Foster.[1]

Final

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Manurewa1 – 0Nelson United
Foster
Referee: R. de Raat

References

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  1. ^ Hilton, T. (1991) An association with soccer. Auckland: The New Zealand Football Association. ISBN 0-473-01291-X. p. 78