South Melbourne President, Nick Maikousis (centre) with CEO of Football Australia, James Johnson (far left) at the launch of the NST in late 2023. Photo: Provided by Brett Costello/Football Australia.

South Melbourne President, Nick Maikousis (centre) with CEO of Football Australia, James Johnson (far left) at the launch of the NST in late 2023. Photo: Provided by Brett Costello/Football Australia.

Club President Nicholas Maikousis has revealed South Melbourne are one of the four Australian clubs that have submitted an expression of interest to participate in the new FIFA-backed OFC Professional League, set to kick off in 2026.

Currently participating in NPL Victoria and having already secured their place in the inaugural edition of the Australian Championship as a foundation club, South have no shortage of competitions to juggle at present.

However, since the creation of the A-League in 2005 one of Australia’s most famous clubs has been seeking a return to the national, and seemingly continental stage.

Revealing the news to AAP’s Ben McKay, Maikousis says that South Melbourne can add plenty of value to the fledgling league.

“We’re probably Australia’s most successful club before the A-League was created in the old NSL environment and we’re looking for a platform to showcase our great club and our great facilities and our great history,” he said.

However, participation in a new Oceanic league would be at direct odds with their participation in Football Australia’s (FA) new Australian Championship, a competition they’ve fought very hard to create.

The proposed format for the Pro League is for all eight teams to play a double round-robin league, hosted across five ‘circuit series’ rounds in different locations across the Pacific, between January and May before heading into a playoff round and finals.

That would push the conclusion of the competition to at least June or July, making it impossible for South or any other Australian teams to field full strength sides in both the OFC Pro League and a full home and away format of the Australian Championship.

“We’ll treat the Australian comps and the NPL virtually as our reserves, and play our strongest possible team in the (OFC competition),” Maikousis said.

Whilst Maikousis confirmed in this interview that FA chairman Anter Isaac had offered his blessing for South’s admission to the league, it remains to be seen how FA would view a ‘reserves’ team playing in the Championship should it reach a proper league format.

It has to be one or the other for South. They definitely won’t be able to field full strength teams in both. If the OFC became their priority, that may jeopardise their place in the Australian ladder.

According to their website, the Oceanic Football Confederation (OFC) will close the club application process in June, before approving the eight selected clubs in September.

The same release also says the new OFC Pro League will become the qualifying pathway for Oceania’s representative at the FIFA Club World Cup moving forward, instead of the Oceanic Champions League, which seemingly rules out 2025 entrants Auckland City from a repeat appearance, confirming they have not entered a expression of interest to compete in the Pro League.

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