Pride put proud record on the line

For the fourth time in six years, Canterbury United Pride will begin the National Women’s Football League season with the trophy locked away at their English Park home.

The other six teams – each representing one of New Zealand Football’s regional federations – will be asking: How do we stop this juggernaut?

Auckland did it two years ago, getting up 3-2 in extra time on the Pride’s home turf, while Northern did it two years before that, beating the Pride 4-3.

Since 2013, the year they first won the title, the Pride have played 45 regular season matches, winning 33, drawing five and losing only seven.

Only one team comes close to matching that – the Northern Lights, who won the league in 2011 and 2012 and were defeated by the Pride in the 2013 and 2018 finals. They have won 30 of their 45 matches since 2013, while the nextbest team, Capital, have won just 22.

As the season starts, the Pride and the Lights will be favourites to meet in the final for the second year in a row.

Auckland, Capital and Southern United will all be trying to ensure that doesn’t happen, but Central and Waikato-Bay of Plenty are likely to be fighting for scraps.

If the Pride and the Lights do meet in the decider in midDecember, it will be the fourth final between the two teams, who have had a fierce rivalry since their first meeting in 2013. The Pride have won six of their 10 meetings, while the Lights have won three, with the lone draw coming in 2017.

With Football Ferns midfielder Annalie Longo on board, the Pride will boast the best player in the competition, a distinction made clearer now that her international teammate Sarah Gregorius has left Capital for the Netherlands and a role with FIFPro, the international players’ union.

Several other age-group and senior internationals have moved on after being key figures in the league in recent years, whether to professional clubs, as is the case with Paige Satchell and Vic Esson, or US colleges, a path taken by Anna Leat, Grace Jale, Hannah Blake and Nicole Mettam among others.

Stepping up in their place will be a new crop of players, many of whom featured in the team that finished third at last year’s Fifa Under17 World Cup in Uruguay – the likes of Aneka Mittendorff, Gabi Rennie, Kelli Brown and Maggie Jenkins.