[1] Glory Years When the New Zealand National League formed in 1970, Christchurch United was the only applicant from the South Island to take part in the inaugural competition.

The Christchurch United squad set multiple milestones in the first season of the competition, including the first player to score a hat-trick after Robin Taylor’s four goals against Gisborne City.

The 1975 season proved to be one of the best in the history of the club, winning both the National League and Chatham Cup against a competitive North Shore United team.

Former New Zealand international Phil Dando, who played for United in the 1975 season, lauded a team that had a strong winning mentality, and “an incredible inner drive” to chase their footballing dreams.

After a disappointing couple of seasons, United bounced back to win a third National League title in 1978, largely thanks to a near-unwavering backline that conceded only 16 goals in 22 games.

[2] 1980s The early 1980s did not show the same success that Christchurch United had achieved in the 1970s, in large part due to a significant exodus of players who went to play in the Australian League.

The club also won the now-defunct NZFA Challenge Cup, but were denied a treble season by Gisborne City, who humbled United 7-3 over two games.

This standoff between the coach and the players resulted in Christchurch United having to field only nine men against Gisborne City, in what has been described as “a bizarre and unique situation unlikely to ever occur again at that level of football anywhere in the world”.

In 1997, Christchurch United was one of the Christchurch-based clubs that proposed a Canterbury League, designed to ease the burden of travel costs that had become increasingly difficult to budget.

[6] 2007 – 2016 The competition in the second tier of Canterbury Football was notoriously fierce, which was noted when Burnside put on a dominant 2007 season that let them finish 14 points clear of third-place United.

Following a couple of disappointing seasons, United appointed former New Zealand international and club legend Danny Halligan as first team head coach in 2019.

The 2021 season ended with Christchurch United finishing third in the Mainland Premier League, and narrowly missing out on the English Cup after a 2-0 defeat to Cashmere Technical in the final.

United parted ways with Halligan in late 2021, appointing Samoa Women’s National Team head coach Paul Ifill in his place.