Founded in 2003, it was a league competition consisting of the youth teams of each of the ten clubs that played in the New Zealand Football Championship.

It was held each season between October and December, and consists of each team playing each other once; the fixture list mirrors that of the senior league.

The finals series will take place at a neutral location in October and will see all eight teams play 3 games in a knockout style competition.

[6] The first National Youth League was founded in 2003, with eight teams representing different regional football federations in New Zealand, playing each other once; the inaugural champions were Capital Soccer.

[15] Surprisingly, Hamilton Wanderers won the title at their first attempt under the leadership of first-team players Michael Built and Adam Luque.