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OFC Professional League

1221 replies · 94,325 views
2 months 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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2 months ago · edited 2 months 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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2 months 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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2 months ago · edited 2 months 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
2 months 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
2 months 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
2 months 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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about 2 months 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
about 2 months 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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16 days ago · edited 16 days ago · History
Interesting stat from NZF's FAQ for the new National League format:

On the men’s side, the growth of professional football in the region is changing the landscape, with a significant number of Dettol National League players moving into the two professional clubs, the OFC Pro League, and Australia's National Premier Leagues (NPL). While this rapid rise in professional opportunities for Kiwi footballers is a welcome development, more than 50 players left the Dettol National League between 2024 and 2025. It is therefore imperative that the Dettol National League maintains its high quality from the available player base.

They make clear that it's not just the OPL behind this, but they've obviously noticed the impact.
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16 days ago
tbf players leaving for the NPL is more a symptom of the diaspora to Australia, so not much NZF could do there
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Endorsed by
Simon BSouthernix
16 days ago
Noah4thenix wrote:
tbf players leaving for the NPL is more a symptom of the diaspora to Australia, so not much NZF could do there
I've heard from a few sources that good players in the NPL can earn as much as yr average A league players.  Sometimes they find players a cushy job to get that up.

No wonder some of the NPL clubs roll over some of the A league sides.


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4 days ago
South Melbourne have announced they're ready to enter talks with mind to entering the A-Leagues - but they would like to stay in OFC Pro League.
image.png 1.54 MB
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4 days ago
So the Central Coast here is from the Solomons, and NOT the Mariners? 

Sheesh. Can’t keep track of nothing anymore 


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1 day ago · edited 1 day ago · History
Good to see.

Would be interesting to know what the money pot was that was given to the teams by OFC at the end of the last season.

I know that most received 10 per cent by way of participation and by winning it that AFC received 25 per cent of it but can’t see any disclosure of what “it” was.

Auckland will rise once more

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about 20 hours ago
santy wrote:
 Southernix wrote:
https://www.ofcproleague.com/news/all-eight-ofc-pro-league-clubs-approved-for-licencing-ahead-of-2027/

All 8 sides have got their license approved for 2027 season
So no expansion? Therefore no opportunity for the Nix to join the money pool?
Yeah back in June there was a piece on ABC radio in Aus (linked a couple of pages back) where the competition manager mentioned there was no budget to expand the league.

And then a few days later the OFC released expressions of interest for a 'pathway certificate' for clubs who were interested in joining IF one of the current 8 clubs failed to meet requirements to get a licence for season 2.

Now that all 8 clubs have been successful in renewing their licence - there are no spots to fill for season 2 
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Endorsed by
coochieeSimon B
about 18 hours ago
Left Phoenix out of pro-league and backed Infantino. 
I wonder what the Phoenix application was missing for the OFC…


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about 18 hours ago
Not representing somewhere new and not based in NZ's biggest city. 

SIU provide the new footballing opportunities the OPL made its mission statement. Rejecting them for a reserves side would look hypocritical.

Auckland are based in Auckland, which the OPL wanted as a key host city.

OPL had a 2 teams per country rule (1 for non-OFC). So long as the SIU bid was decent, Nix were never getting in.

Hopefully they add the Nix in the near future though as the competitive balance is terrible (Auckland & SM clear everyone else) and won't be fixed without a brake on Auckland (that SIU can't provide).
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Endorsed by
coochieeSimon B
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