The 1970 Chatham Cup was the 43rd annual nationwide knockout football competition in New Zealand. Early stages of the competition were run on a regional basis, however the structure of the competition was altered from previous years, largely due to the commencement of the New Zealand National Soccer League. Whereas in previous years qualification matches had been entirely run on a by-region basis culminating in two finals, one in each island, the draw from 1970 became more open, with regional qualifiers facing National League opposition in the final rounds. This led to several firsts for the competition, with Nelson United becoming the first South Island team to play a (pre-final) Chatham Cup match in the North Island, Western Suburbs FC becoming the first North Island team to play in Chri