October 6: The OFC Pro League will expand further across the Pacific in its second season, with Vanuatu hosting matches for the first time and the Solomon Islands taking the entire finals series as the competition moves away from the format used in its first year.
The 2027 season kicks off on January 22 with the same eight clubs that launched Oceania’s first professional league this year, but the organizing committee has reshuffled the platform to create some significant changes for the new season, the most important of which is the finals structure.
The OFC has scrapped the Leaders and Challengers groups that used to follow the inaugural 14-match regular season. Instead, each of the eight clubs will play a play-off series in the Solomon Islands, starting with the play-offs on 25 May, followed by the quarter-finals on 29 May, the semi-finals on 2 June and the final on 6 June.
Exactly how these matchups will determine the regular season standings has yet to be detailed.
It’s a cleaner system than the one in use this year, when the league was effectively reinstated after 14 games. This format at least produced a good story, with Vanuatu United recovering from seventh in the regular season table to win the Challengers group, beat Bula FC in the play-offs and reach the semi-finals.
However, the new competition will include a longer list of travel demands. Australia and Papua New Guinea will share the opening circuit, while New Zealand and Solomon Islands will share the third.
The final regular season circuit in May will be split between Fiji and Vanuatu, giving Vanuatu United competitive Pro League matches at home for the first time.
This comes after the club hosted the Central Coast Mariners of the A-League for friendlies in Port Vila in September, giving Vanuatu a useful test before the league arrives next year.
It’s also not a huge surprise that the Solomon Islands make it to the end of the season. Honiara produced some of the best scenes in the league in 2026, with two Solomon Kings matches at the National Stadium attracting more than 9,000 spectators.
This helped persuade the OFC to move the final away from Auckland, where Auckland FC beat South Melbourne 2-1 at Eden Park to become the league’s first champions. Their defense starts with an immediate return against South Melbourne on opening night.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at (email protected)
