South Island Utd new OFC Pro League name
- Dave Worsley
- Oct 8
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 12
The Christchurch-based OFC Pro League club will be competing as South Island United in the new professional league to reflect the representation of all 95 clubs in the South Island.
“It is our goal to truly represent the entire football community in the South Island and provide a pathway to professional football for all young players in the South,” said the club’s general manager Ryan Edwards.
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He explained that the OFC Pro League bid was submitted under the Christchurch United name because only existing, registered clubs were eligible for consideration.
“It was not realistic to register a new club at short notice, so we are incredibly grateful to Oceania Football and New Zealand Football for allowing us to compete under the terrific banner of South Island United,” said Edwards.
“It was always our intention to be a South Island club and to achieve that we have started discussions with Mainland Football, Football South and all the clubs on how we can best work together to create the best team to represent our region.”
The GM said initial discussions had shown widespread support and excitement within the community, but also revealed questions around issues like player movements from other Southern League clubs to the Pro League team.
“We are committed to first consider Southern League players for the OFC Pro League and will shortly organise trials to see which players are interested and who might be able to step up to professional football,” said Edwards.
He explained that any new recruit will return to their home club once the inaugural Pro League season finishes at the end of May to play the remainder of the Southern League with their home club.
“We can only be successful if we are transparent and collaborative with the other clubs, so before any player is invited to a trial or offered a contract, our new Pro League coach Rob Sherman will work closely with the clubs involved.”
Edwards said once the best South Island players were considered, the coach would look to the North Island, other OFC nations and abroad to strengthen his squad. The club was allowed to sign three OFC players and three other visa players in their squad of 21.
He said setting up a professional franchise in four months had been an exciting challenge, but he was confident South Island United would be ready to make an impression when the season kicked off in 94 days, on January 10.
“We are lucky to have signed an experienced coach with Rob (Sherman) and we have recruited a number of other staff who have worked in professional football around the world, so there can be no excuses.”
The club has also engaged a global leader in sports branding from North America to help create the South Island United logo and team colours.
