1979 New Zealand National Soccer League

The 1979 New Zealand National Soccer League was the tenth season of a nationwide round-robin club competition in New Zealand football. It produced the biggest winning margin in the league's history, with Mount Wellington never being in serious danger of finishing anywhere but first.

Promotion was automatic, with the three lowest placed sides in the 1978 league (Hamilton, Waterside, and Woolston WMC) replaced by the winners of the northern, central, and southern leagues (Manurewa, Manawatu United, and Dunedin City respectively).

Mount Wellington produced an emphatic performance to win the league by an unprecedented 14 points, a bigger gap than that between second and last. They won all eleven of their home games, scoring 34 and only letting in four.They also only lost two games away, to Dunedin City and to Nelson united — United proving the Mount's nemesis for the third year in a row. The race for second proved tense, with Christchurch United heading off a pack of teams separated by only a couple of points. North Shore United — who were to go under the sponsorship-related name of Hanimex United from this year until 1985 — finished third, level on points with newly promoted Manurewa and Dunedin City.

In mid-table, Nelson United improved one place on the previous season to finish sixth, its good home form buoying it up but its poor away record proving a major hindrance. They were followed by Wellington Diamond United, who saw a late slump in their form after a good opening to the season which briefly had them in second place. Blockhouse Bay were fortunate to finish eighth, a late rally moving them off the foot of the table. Stop Out also narrowly avoided the drop, staying up by virtue of a better goal difference than Manawatu United.

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