The 1923 Chatham Cup was the first annual nationwide football competition in New Zealand. The competition was run on a regional basis, with separate northern and southern tournaments, with the winners of the two meeting in the final. Very few teams entered the competition, including only two from the southern South Island; Seacliff easily won the only match played there, thumping Oamaru 7-0, and repeated this in the final, accounting for Wellington's YMCA 4-0. There is some suggestion that the Auckland regional winners, required a play-off against North Shore United to progress.