The 1954 Chatham Cup was the 27th annual nationwide knockout football competition in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

The competition was run on a regional basis, with regional associations each holding separate qualifying rounds.

Teams taking part in the final rounds are known to have included Onehunga, Hamilton Wanderers

Hamilton Wanderers

Hamilton Wanderers is an semi-professional association football club in Hamilton, New Zealand. They compete in the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Premier.-External links:**...

, Eastern Union (Gisborne), Moturoa

Moturoa

Moturoa is a coastal suburb of New Plymouth, in the western North Island of New Zealand. It is located to the west of the city centre. The population was 3,558 in the 2006 Census, an increase of 315 from 2001....

, Napier Rovers, Wanganui United, Kiwi United (Manawatu), Stop Out

Stop Out

Stop Out is an association football club in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. They are based at Hutt Park, Gracefield in Lower Hutt.The Stop Out organisation was founded in 1919 with the aim of providing recreation to Te Aro Flat children associated with the wellington city missionso as to prevent them...

 (Lower Hutt), Woodbourne (Marlborough), Western

Western A.F.C.

Western A.F.C. is a semi-professional association football club in Christchurch, New Zealand. They compete in the Robbie's Premier Football League.-1913–1920:...

 (Christchurch), and Northern

Northern (soccer)

Northern AFC is a semi-professional association football club in North East Valley, Dunedin, New Zealand. They are currently competing in the ODT FootballSouth Premier League.The club is based at The Gardens Ground, North East Valley, Dunedin....

 (Dunedin).

Controversial refereeing

Referee Morrie Swain was involved in an incident in an early round of the competition held in Wellington between Apollon and Zealandia

Wellington United

Wellington United AFC is an association football club in Wellington, New Zealand competing in the Capital Premier League.-Wellington Diamond United:Wellington Diamond United was the result of the merger of Diamond and Zealandia/Wellington United in 1968....

. His decisions incensed one of the teams so much that he was chased from the field and had to take shelter by locking himself in a dressing room.

Final