Stirling Sports Premiership
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| Country |
 New Zealand
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|---|---|
| Confederation | OFC (Oceania) |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Number of teams | 10 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Domestic cup(s) | White Ribbon Cup |
| International cup(s) | OFC Champions League |
| Current champions |
Team Wellington (2nd title) (2016–17) |
| Current premiers | Auckland City (8th title) |
| Most championships | Auckland City (6 titles) |
| Most premierships | Auckland City (8 titles) |
| TV partners | Sky Sports |
| Website | Official page |
 2016–17 Stirling Sports Premiership
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The New Zealand Football Championship (NZFC, known as the Stirling Sports Premiership from 2016 for sponsorship reasons) is the national association football league in New Zealand. It is a semi-professional league that is operated by New Zealand Football. The league is run separately from various Winter regional club competitions, and many of the teams competing are franchises jointly run by Winter clubs. It is currently sponsored by Stirling Sports.
There are two stages to the competition; "The League" (commonly referred to as "regular season") and "The Championship" (commonly referred to as "the playoffs").
The two teams that win the league phase (the "Minor Premier") and the Grand Final (the "champion") qualify for the OFC Champions League. Should the same team win both the Minor Premiership and the Championship, the second Champions League spot is granted to the league runner-up. This has occurred on numerous occasions; the first instance being in 2006 when Auckland City (premiers and champions) and Young Heart Manawatu qualified despite Canterbury United contesting the Grand Final.
There are no lower divisions in the Premiership, thus no promotion and relegation exists, similar to leagues in Australia and in the United States.
For the first four seasons, regular season had the teams play each other three times, however, this was changed to the present home-and-away system in 2008, due to financial difficulties affecting some of the clubs. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams progress to the playoffs.
The playoffs are run as a home-and-away semi-finals series, with the winners progressing to a one-match Grand Final.
The playoff phase in the inaugural season was contested by the top three clubs, whereby the Minor Premier (winner of league phase) received a bye and hosting rights for the grand final, with second and third placed teams playing off in a one-game preliminary final. The NZFC experimented with a five team playoff in the 2005–06 season, however, this was discontinued and the league reverted to the three-team playoff system for the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons.
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