[1] Towards the end of the 23-year history of the NZNSL's first incarnation it became obvious that some clubs were finding it difficult to recoup the costs of competing.
[2]: 11, 39 Matters were brought to a head in 1987 when Dunedin City withdrew from the league, citing the heavy expense of travel.
[3] As the league's southernmost club, and with many of the league's sides based in Auckland, City was especially hard hit by financial concerns related to travel, and these costs proved to be a discouragement to other sides from the far south of the country.
All three sides had previously won the New Zealand National Soccer League It quickly became apparent to those involved in the competition that the lack of a true national league, accompanied by the greatly increased number of teams involved in the competition, resulted in a strong drop in playing standards.
In an attempt to provide this, the Superclub competition was replaced in 1996 by the National Summer Soccer League.