Mainland Football Federation

MAINLAND FOOTBALL CEO
Martin Field Dodgson

A warm welcome to English Park for the 2025 Morrison’s Mitsubishi Rita Fitzpatrick and English Cup Finals. Double header finals are always a huge occasion, and this is looking like no exception, especially when there is a combined 152 years of these cups being battled for. Over the years, Cashmere Technical have won the Rita Fitzpatrick 4 times and the English Cup an impressive 20 times (including the 13 titles as Christchurch Technical). Nomads have been successful 11 times in the English Cup, having last won in 2008, with most of their victories coming in the early 1920s and 1960s. Universities will be looking to join the list of clubs that have won one of these competitions, and, along with the other competing clubs, we wish them the best of luck.

May the best teams win. And finally, a shout-out to Morrison Mitsubishi – our naming rights sponsor for our cup competitions. Thank you for your continued, long-term support of the “Beautiful Game” in our region.

HEAD COACH: CASHMERE TECHNICAL
Dan Schwarz

Cup final football is always exciting and to be in this year’s showpiece game against a very exciting Nomads United is going to lead to an enjoyable game for both fans and neutrals alike.

Matt has assembled a great young team with many coming through the NUFC youth grades. Nomads have a great style of play, good organization and fast free flowing football. This coupled with what I imagine will be a very vocal NUFC support, will hopefully lead to a good spectacle.

We are no stranger to this match and have competed in it many times- it has been too long since we had our hands on the trophy so will be going all out to achieve that today.

Enjoy the game - make some noise.

#TFL

HEAD COACH: NOMADS UTD AFC
Matt Jansen

Nomads have a proud and distinguished history in the English Cup, lifting the trophy 11 times since our first triumph in 1914. Our last success came in 2008, so to return to the final after 17 years is a moment of immense pride for our club, our players, and our supporters.

This season has already been a successful one for us as a group, with a record Southern League points tally and a strong top-half finish. That achievement reflects the character and ambition of this group — players who have progressed through our youth pathway, alongside others who have shown long-standing loyalty to Nomads. The togetherness within this squad is something money can’t buy and gives us belief and a strong foundation for the future.

Today we face Cashmere Technical, a side who have set the standard in Canterbury football over the last decade and who bring great experience in finals football. We respect their quality, but we also know from our league encounters that we can match them. Our path to the final — overcoming Ferrymead Bays in the quarter-final and holding our nerve in a dramatic shootout against Christchurch United — has shown our resilience and belief.

Now it’s all about you, the Nomads family. Your passion and energy from the sidelines lift the players and give us that extra edge when it matters most. So get loud, bring the noise, and let’s turn English Park blue and bring the English Cup home!

#bleedblue

History of the English Cup

Named after Robert English (1874-1934).

Mr English was born in England and arrived in Christchurch in 1903 to work as an engineer for the Christchurch Gasworks and was president of the Canterbury Football Association from 1911 until 1928.

He was largely responsible for the acquisition of English Park for the Canterbury Football Association code and the park was given his name in 1915 as a compliment to his work. He donated the English Cup for the knock-out competition in Canterbury first-grade Association football.

The first Cup Final, between Sydenham and Burnham, was played at the Canterbury Show Ground and required a replay before the Sydenham came back from 1 - 0 down at the break to win 3 - 2 to become the first name engraved on the trophy.

Steve Summer Medal
First introduced in 2017 and awarded to the Most Valuable Player of the Final:

2025 Lyle Mattysen (Cashmere Technical)

2024 Alejandro Steinwascher (Coastal Spirit)

2023 Matt Tod-Smith (Christchurch United)

2022 Garbhan Coughlan (Cashmere Technical)

2021 Fraser Angus (Cashmere Technical)

2020 Lyle Mattysen (Cashmere Technical)

2019 Benji Lapslie (Cashmere Technical)

2018 Sean Liddicoat (Coastal Spirit)

2017 Danny Boys (Cashmere Technical)

​​​​​​​Morrison Mitsubishi

Morrison Mitsubishi