Early stages of the competition were run on a regional basis. In all, 89 teams took part in the competition. Note: Different sources give different numberings for the rounds of the competition: some start round one with the beginning of the regional qualifications; others start numbering from the first national knock-out stage. The former numbering scheme is used in this article.
The announcement of the start of the New Zealand National Soccer League in 1970 led to changes in the organisation of the Chatham Cup, and this was the last year prior to the creation of a more open draw.
The last Chatham Cup to be decided on the old regional champions basis was 1969, and it again saw Eastern Suburbs reach the final, this time to face final debutants New Brighton. Despite the efforts of the southern defence, marshalled ably by keeper Derek Phillips, Suburbs had the better of the contest and scored two goals, one each from 1968 scorer John Wrathall and Billy de Graaf.[1]
