Dates 25 August 1928 Runners-up Northern | Champions Petone (1st title) Championship match score 1 – 0 | |
Championship venue Basin Reserve, Wellington | ||
The 1928 Chatham Cup was the sixth annual nationwide knockout football competition in New Zealand.
The competition was run on a regional basis, with five regional associations (Auckland, Wellington, Manawatu, Canterbury, and Otago) each holding separate qualifying rounds.
Teams taking part in the final rounds are known to have included Auckland YMCA, St. Andrews (Manawatu), Northern (Dunedin), Hastings United, Petone (who beat Wellington Marist in the Wellington regional final), and Riccarton.
The 1928 final
The final returned to the Basin Reserve, Wellington after an absence of one year - a venue which was used regularly until the 1970s.
Petone defied the odds to reach the final, despite only being in their first year of senior football. As with the previous year's final, the Wellington wind was to play a major part in the final. The only goal of the match was a long wind-assisted shot halfway through the first half, struck from 30 metres out by William Farquhar. Some contemporary reports suggest that the ball deflected of Northern defender Jim Scoular, but the goal is officially credited to Farquhar. The same reports also suggest that Northern had dominated the match, and that Petone's win was somewhat fortuitous. G. Jackson of Wellington became the first official to referee two finals (he had previously refereed the 1927 final).