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OFC Professional League

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about 1 month ago
2026 Team of the Season
Oscar Mason - Auckland
Hassan Ramazani - Vanuatu Utd
Jordon Lampard - S. Melbourne
Ronan Wynne - Auckland
Owen Smith - Vanuatu Utd
Daniel Normann - Auckland
Sota Higashide - Kings
Jez Lofthouse - Kings
Yuki Uchida - S. Melbourne
Alex Saniel - Vanuatu Utd
Jordan Swibel - S. Melbourne
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about 1 month ago · edited about 1 month ago · History
3 Kiwis, 4 Aussies, 2 Japanese, a Norwegian, with only one player born in the Islands (Daniel).

Still early days.

Hassan Ramazani (ex Roar) Aussie born of Congolese descent. I didn't even notice him in the OPL. Can't have watched enough Vanuatu U games. 
Left footed CB?
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about 1 month ago
coochiee wrote:
3 Kiwis, 4 Aussies, 2 Japanese, a Norwegian, with only one player born in the Islands (Daniel).

Still early days.

Hassan Ramazani (ex Roar) Aussie born of Congolese descent. I didn't even notice him in the OPL. Can't have watched enough Vanuatu U games. 
Left footed CB?
Must develop local juniors next OFC Pro League season. Crucial. Got to make a better generation of national team players next. Dream of an OFC team winning the intercontinental playoff for World Cup. 
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about 1 month ago · edited about 1 month ago · History
FIFA & OFC are apparently to invest $70M into this league. That's a big amount of cash.

Hopefully some of it goes towards helping the 5 clubs based in the Islands setup their own club academy structures, with some decent youth coaches part of that. 

A kid in Honiara, Port Vila, Noumea or whereever now knows there is a fully pro team based in their home town. They now need a quality coaching pathway to help them best prepare, and raise overall standards.

It will take time. Might be 5 years plus before any real progress is noticeable. Hopefully the league survives long enough to see the fruits.
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Endorsed by
LT01Noah4thenixSouthernix
about 1 month ago
coochiee wrote:
FIFA & OFC are apparently to invest $70M into this league. That's a big amount of cash.

Hopefully some of it goes towards helping the 5 clubs based in the Islands setup their own club academy structures, with some decent youth coaches part of that. 

A kid in Honiara, Port Vila, Noumea or whereever now knows there is a fully pro team based in their home town. They now need a quality coaching pathway to help them best prepare, and raise overall standards.

It will take time. Might be 5 years plus before any real progress is noticeable. Hopefully the league survives long enough to see the fruits.
Or maybe insist that the big Oceania clubs get directly involved in youth development of PI youngsters. Either by running coaching clinics in the islands or by offering academy scholarships to promising youngsters. I think SIU is already started doing this. The Nix have 8 squads,  plenty of room for some PI talent.

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Endorsed by
coochiee
30 days ago
To be fair to the Nix they tried it with Rafael Le’ai and another promising Solomons kid years ago. They didn’t stay in Welly that long
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Endorsed by
Bullion
30 days ago
austin111 wrote:
 coochiee wrote:
FIFA & OFC are apparently to invest $70M into this league. That's a big amount of cash.

Hopefully some of it goes towards helping the 5 clubs based in the Islands setup their own club academy structures, with some decent youth coaches part of that. 

A kid in Honiara, Port Vila, Noumea or whereever now knows there is a fully pro team based in their home town. They now need a quality coaching pathway to help them best prepare, and raise overall standards.

It will take time. Might be 5 years plus before any real progress is noticeable. Hopefully the league survives long enough to see the fruits.
Or maybe insist that the big Oceania clubs get directly involved in youth development of PI youngsters. Either by running coaching clinics in the islands or by offering academy scholarships to promising youngsters. I think SIU is already started doing this. The Nix have 8 squads,  plenty of room for some PI talent.


There are issues playing players under 18 in a foreign country - if they've moved for football reasons then they can't be registered with a club. Its why Calvin Harris couldn't play for a 'Nix team until he was 18 but played school football and trained at the academy.
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6 days ago
Presumably the Nix submitted an EOI.

https://www.ofcproleague.com/news/ofc-launches-ofc-pro-league-club-licensing-regulations/

The OFC has just released the 2026 OFC Pro League Club Licensing Regulations. The regulations outline the minimum requirements that must be met by the existing eight clubs of the OFC Pro League to be granted a Club License.

Additionally, the Regulations also introduce the Pathway Certificate, which may be requested by clubs that did not participate in the 2026 edition of the OFC Professional League.

Therefore, if any of the clubs that participated in the 2026 edition of the OFC Professional League do not obtain a license for the 2027 edition, the clubs holding the Pathway Certificate may be invited to participate in the licensing process.

For more information on the rules, deadlines and restrictions for participation in the Pathway Certificate process, please contact the respective OFC Member Association.

The Expression of Interest to participate in the Pathway Certificate process must be submitted to the OFC by June 9, 2026.
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Endorsed by
Br
6 days ago
coochiee wrote:
Presumably the Nix submitted an EOI.

https://www.ofcproleague.com/news/ofc-launches-ofc-pro-league-club-licensing-regulations/

The OFC has just released the 2026 OFC Pro League Club Licensing Regulations. The regulations outline the minimum requirements that must be met by the existing eight clubs of the OFC Pro League to be granted a Club License.

 
Additionally, the Regulations also introduce the Pathway Certificate, which may be requested by clubs that did not participate in the 2026 edition of the OFC Professional League.


Therefore, if any of the clubs that participated in the 2026 edition of the OFC Professional League do not obtain a license for the 2027 edition, the clubs holding the Pathway Certificate may be invited to participate in the licensing process.


For more information on the rules, deadlines and restrictions for participation in the Pathway Certificate process, please contact the respective OFC Member Association.


The Expression of Interest to participate in the Pathway Certificate process must be submitted to the OFC by June 9, 2026.
One hopes they have done given their stated intention to have a team in this league.  There are one or two clubs struggling to comply to there could be a real opportunity for another club to enter.
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