Christchurch Pro League club to compete as South Island United

The OFC Pro League bid was submitted under the Christchurch United name because only existing, registered clubs were eligible for consideration. Photo / Photosport

The Christchurch-based OFC Pro League club will be competing as South Island United in the new professional league to reflect its vision of representing all 95 clubs on the Mainland.

The OFC Professional League, the first-ever professional football league in the Oceania region, will kick off on January 10 next year, with eight clubs competing in a circuit series format, held across the Pacific.

South Island United will be joined by Auckland FC as the New Zealand teams along with South Melbourne FC (Australia), Bula Boys FC (Fiji), Hekari United FC (Papua New Guinea), Solomon Kings FC (Solomon Islands), Tahiti United FC (Tahiti) and Vanuatu FC (Vanuatu).

“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,” general manager Ryan Edwards said.

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,” Edwards said.

“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.”

Edwards said that initial discussions have 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.”

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.”

Once the best South Island players are considered, the coach will look to the North Island, other OFC nations and abroad to strengthen his squad. The club is allowed to sign three OFC players and three other visa players in their squad of 21.

Edwards said setting up a professional franchise in four months has been an exciting challenge, but he is confident South Island United will be ready to make an impression when the season kicks off in 94 days, on January 10.

“We are lucky to have signed an experienced coach with Rob 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.

“That process will take a few months, but I can already tell you that we will not be playing in the blue of Christchurch United, and we want to create a stunning strip that can represent all 95 clubs in the South Island on the international stage.”