1870s Football played by settlers and ships' crews in leisure time.
1890 First representative fixture played. Canterbury 2, Wellington 0.
1891 NZFA formed. The Brown Shield instituted for provincial competition.
1891 Two umpires with flags officiate games, changed to single referee. Players appeal to ref for decisions a la cricket.
1904 New South Wales toured. July 23 NZ rep teams played NSW.
1922 First full international, NZ beat Australia 3 - 1 at Carisbrook Dunedin before 10,000 people.
1923 Chatham Cup began. North Island v South Island finals. Seacliff (Otago) 4 YMCA (Wellington) 0.
1926 The FA trophy replaced the Brown Shield
1969 Last Chatham Cup played as inter-island champions (Eastern suburbs (Auck) 2, New Brighton (Canty) 0) From there on Cup would be zonal in early rounds and then open draw.
1970 National Soccer League began. First winners Blockhouse Bay (Auckland). Points table:
| Blockhouse Bay | 10 | 2 | 2 | 40 | 16 | 22 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 10 | 2 | 2 | 33 | 17 | 22 |
| Christchurch Utd | 9 | 2 | 3 | 40 | 26 | 20 |
| Mt Wellington | 7 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 33 | 17 |
| Stop Out | 4 | 2 | 8 | 25 | 38 | 10 |
| Gisborne City | 3 | 3 | 8 | 22 | 31 | 9 |
| Hungaria | 3 | 3 | 8 | 24 | 36 | 9 |
| Western Suburbs | 1 | 1 | 12 | 18 | 40 | 3 |
1982 NZFA office shifted from Wellington to Auckland.
1982 NZ qualified for World Cup finals, after a huge long haul: Australia 3-3; Fiji won 4 - 0; Chinese Taipei 0 - 0; Indonesia won 2 - 0; Australia won 2 - 0; Indonesia won 5 - 0; Chinese Taipei won 2 - 0; Fiji won 13 - 0; China PR 0 - 0; China PR won 1 - 0; Kuwait lost 1 - 2; Saudi Arabia 2 - 2; Kuwait 2 - 2; Saudi Arabia won 5 - 0; China PR won 2 - 1.
1982 World Cup Finals: Scotland lost 2 - 5 (S Sumner, S Wooddin); USSR lost 0 - 3; Brazil lost 0 - 4.
1998 NZ qualified for Confederations Cup (for champions of continents)
1999 NZ hosted the Under-17 World Cup. The Football Kingz became NZ's first professional team, playing in the Australian NSL.
2002 NZ qualified for Confederations Cup again, by winning the Oceania Cup (beat Australia 1 - 0 in the final [Ryan Nelsen]). NZ's FIFA ranking shot up 41 places to its highest ever, 47, just behind Australia on 46. Oceania granted automatic entry into World Cup by Fifa.
2003 Confederations Cup, after a good build up, drawing 1 - 1 in Scotland and a close 1 - 2 loss to USA, NZ lost its three games in France, to Japan 3 - 0, Colombia - 3 - 1 (Raf De Gregorio scorer) and France 5 - 0. Soccer NZ support a re-structured Kingz being part of a revised Australian NSL. Founding major shareholder Chris Turner stepped back from the Kingz
2004 The new NZ national league (NZFC - Football Championship) has accepted bids from eight franchises spread round the country. The league starts in October. Nearest team to here is Waikato FC, also in are Auckland City (based at Central's ground), Waitakere Utd, Napier City, Youngheart Manawatu, Team Wellington, Canterbury Utd and Otago Utd. NZ Sec Schools beat England Schools 1 - 0, courtesy of a Hone Fowler goal. NZ's first ever win over England. NZ's loss to Vanuatu 4 - 2 meant Solomon Islands came 2nd in Oceania Nations Cup. Sol Is lost to Oz for place in Confed and World Cups.
2005 The Kingz are rebranded the New Zealand Knights for the upcoming Hyundai A league starting later in the year. NZ legend John Adshead appointed coach. Auckland City beat Waitakere United 3 - 2 in injury time to win the first NZFC. Ryan Nelsen signed for Blackburn Rovers, helping save them from threat of relegation in the Premiere League.
2006 The Knights finish a distant 8th (last) in the first A League. Simon Elliot plays premier League for Fulham and Chris Killen has a great season playing for Hibernian in the SPL. Just before the year's end the FFA withdraw the Knights licence to play in the A League, with them languishing in last place again. Auckland City compete in World Club Champs for Oceania, losing both games.
2007 The Knights have a good final round, with 3 wins, 3 draws and one loss to nearly escape being 8th. The FFA negotiates new owners for the club. A Wellington bid eventually gets the licence thanks to money from Terry Serepisos. Wellington Phoenix. Phoenix attract a NZ record crowd (32000) for an exhibition game against David Beckham's LA Galaxy, in Wellington. Yellow Fever are a strong Phoenix fan base. Waitakere lose their games in the FIFA World Club champs.
2008 Phoenix finish last (8th) by goal difference in their first season, but healthy crowds (ave 11000) point to a rosy future.