OFC Champions League

The OFC Champions League, also known as the O-League, is the premier men's club football competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. It has been organised since 2007 under the current format, following its predecessor, the Oceania Club Championship. Twelve OFC Champions League titles have been won by teams from New Zealand, with Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia being the only Pacific nations to have won the competition.

OFC Champions League
Founded1987 (1987)
RegionOceania (OFC)
Number of teams16 (group stage)
18 (total)
(from 11 associations)
Qualifier forFIFA Club World Cup
Current championsNo Current Champion Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic
Most successful team(s) Auckland City (9 titles)
Websitewww.oceaniafootball.com
2021 OFC Champions League

During the 2014–15 season, the tournament became sponsored by Fiji Airways, therefore renaming the competition as the Fiji Airways OFC Champions League.[1] Trophies for OFC tournaments, made by London-based silversmiths Thomas Lyte, are awarded to winners.[2]

History

At first, this competition was played as a single playoff match between champions of New Zealand and Australia. That competition was held in 1987 and Adelaide City won the inaugural season. Then 12 years pause came, until OFC organised next, all Oceania Cup. In January 1999, the Oceania Club Championship was held in the Fijian cities of Nadi and Lautoka. Nine teams took part, with Australian side South Melbourne winning the trophy. They also qualified for the following year's FIFA Club World Cup. The next competition was held two years later, with an Australian team again winning the title. Wollongong Wolves won it, beating Vanuatu representative Tafea in the final. Two more editions were held under this name and format, with Sydney and Auckland City winning titles. OFC decided to change the competition format and name, so that since 2007 the competition is known as the OFC Champions League. The 2019 final marked the first time in the history of the competition that there was no side from New Zealand present. In 2020 OFC made the call to abandon the tournament due to COVID-19. OFC held a meeting which saw Auckland City Take the FIFA club world cup spot. In January 2021 Auckland City pulled out of the FIFA Club World cup.

Format

Oceania Club Championship

The Oceania Club Championship was played in one or two venues, in one host country. There were two or three groups with single round-robin format, semifinals and final. The tournament usually lasted about 10 days, with matches being played every 2 days.

OFC Champions League

OFC decided to change competition format, to make its main competition more interesting and more important to competing clubs.

The first two seasons saw competition with two groups of three teams each, and from the third edition onwards it consists of two groups of four teams each. Group winners progress to the final, played in double playoff format, with the winner taking the title. Unlike its previous format, O-League lasts more than a half year, starting in October and ending the following April. The O-League winner qualifies to FIFA Club World Cup, entering the competition in playoff round.

For the 2012–13 season O-League changed its format with the introduction of qualifying stage, with the champions of the four weakest leagues competing for a play-off spot with the representative of country with the worst record from the previous tournament. Later rather were also scheduling and format changes for the main tournament .That competition was played between March and May 2013 with introduction of semifinal stage and final played on neutral venue. First O-League one-legged final was played in Auckland, and was the first O-League final between two teams from the same country, with Auckland City defeating Waitakere United to win its 5th title.

OFC Champions League saw another change for 2013–14 season with group stage played in a pre-determined location with semifinal and final played on home and away basis. Fiji was selected as host. Preliminary stage was played six months before group stage, and the winner entered the group stage.

Another change came in 2017 when group stage was expanded to 16 teams with whole competition being played in the one year (preliminary stage followed by group stage and later knock-out stage). Each of four groups was hosted by one of teams from the group meaning more countries and teams included. Group winners qualified for the semifinal stage. The semifinals and final were both played on home-away basis. Following success of 2017 season, OFC added quarterfinal round for 2018 edition, meaning the top two teams from each group qualified for the knock-out stage.

In 2014, both finalists of the OFC Champions League participated in the OFC President's Cup, an invitational tournament organised by the OFC. However, President's Cup was held only once.

Records and statistics
Main article: Oceania Club Championship and OFC Champions League records and statistics

OFC Club Championship era
Season Winners Score Runners-up Venue Attendance No. of Teams No. of Associations
1987 Adelaide City
 1–1
(4–1 pen.)		 University-Mount Wellington
 Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide 3,500 9 9
1999 South Melbourne
 5–1 Nadi
 Prince Charles Park, Nadi 10,000 9 9
2001 Wollongong Wolves
 1–0 Tafea
 Lloyd Robson Stadium, Port Moresby 3,000 11 11
2005 Sydney FC
 2–0 AS Magenta
 Stade Pater, Papeete 4,000 13 12
2006 Auckland City
 3–1 AS Pirae
 North Harbour Stadium, Auckland 2,000 11 10

OFC Champions League era
Season Champions Score Runners-up Venue Attendance No. of Teams No. of Associations
2007 Waitakere United
 2–1 Ba
 Govind Park, Ba 10,000 6 5
0–1 Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland 9,000
2–2 (a) 19,000
2007–08 Waitakere United
 1–3 Kossa
 Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara 20,000 9 8
5–0 Trusts Stadium, Waitakere City 6,000
6–3
 26,000
2008–09 Auckland City
 7–2 Koloale
 Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara 20,000 6 6
2–2 Kiwitea Street, Auckland 1,250
9–4
 21,250
2009–10 Hekari United
 3–0 Waitakere United
 PMRL Stadium, Port Moresby 15,000 8 7
1–2 Fred Taylor Park, Auckland 3,000
4–2
 18,000
2010–11 Auckland City
 2–1 Amicale
 Municipal Stadium, Port Vila 7,925 8 7
4–0 Kiwitea Street, Auckland 3,000
6–1
 10,925
2011–12 Auckland City
 2–1 AS Tefana
 Kiwitea Street, Auckland 1,500 8 7
1–0 Stade Louis Ganivet, Faaa 1,900
3–1
 3,400
2012–13 Auckland City
 2–1 Waitakere United
 Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland 3,000 12 11
2013–14 Auckland City
 1–1 Amicale
 Municipal Stadium, Port Vila 10,000 15 11
2–1 Kiwitea Street, Auckland 3,000
3–2
 13,000
2014–15 Auckland City
 1 – 1
(4–3 pen.)		 Team Wellington
 National Stadium, Suva 3,000 15 11
2016 Auckland City
 3–0 Team Wellington
 QBE Stadium, Auckland 1,500 15 11
2017 Auckland City
 3–0 Team Wellington
 Kiwitea Street, Auckland 1,000 18 11
2–0 David Farrington Park, Wellington 1,000
5–0
 2,000
2018 Team Wellington
 6–0 Lautoka
 David Farrington Park, Wellington 1,200 18 11
4–3 Churchill Park, Lautoka 1,000
10–3 2,200
2019 Hienghène Sport
 1–0 AS Magenta
 Stade Numa-Daly Magenta, Nouméa 7,000 18 11
2020 Knockout stage cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic; title not awarded[3]

Performances by club

Past winners are:[4][5]

Club Titles Runners-up Winning Seasons Runner-up Seasons
Auckland City 9 — 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 —
Waitakere United 2 2 2007, 2008 2010, 2013
Team Wellington 1 3 2018 2015, 2016, 2017
Adelaide City 1 — 1987 —
South Melbourne 1 — 1999 —
Wollongong Wolves 1 — 2001 —
Sydney FC 1 — 2005 —
Hekari United 1 — 2010 —
Hienghène Sport 1 — 2019 —
Magenta — 2 — 2005, 2019
Amicale — 2 — 2011, 2014
University-Mount Wellington — 1 — 1987
Nadi — 1 — 1999
Tafea — 1 — 2001
Pirae — 1 — 2006
Ba — 1 — 2007
Kossa — 1 — 2008
Koloale — 1 — 2009
Tefana — 1 — 2012
Lautoka — 1 — 2018

Performances by country
Club Titles Runners-up
 New Zealand 12 6
 Australia 4 —
 New Caledonia 1 2
 Papua New Guinea 1 —
 Fiji — 3
 Vanuatu — 3
 Solomon Islands — 2
 Tahiti — 2

Notes:

All-time table (Top 10 Clubs)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Auckland City (13) 75 53 14 8 211 65 +146 173
2 Waitakere United (8) 48 25 12 11 99 57 +42 87
3 Ba (10) 45 22 6 17 67 76 −9 72
4 Tafea (9) 39 19 8 12 98 64 +34 65
5 Hekari United (8) 39 16 9 14 67 58 +9 57
6 Magenta (7) 23 16 6 1 71 48 +23 54
7 Amicale (6) 35 16 5 14 50 40 +10 53
8 Pirae (4) 18 9 1 8 48 36 +12 28
9 Wollongong Wolves (1) 7 7 0 0 43 2 +41 21
10 Team Wellington (3) 8 7 0 1 34 14 +20 21
Source:

* Number in parentheses show number of participations.

All-time table (Countries)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 New Zealand 155 98 32 25 418 155 +263 326
2 Fiji 92 40 12 40 147 186 −39 132
3 Vanuatu 84 36 16 32 158 145 +13 124
4 Tahiti 78 26 11 41 166 165 +1 89
5 Solomon Islands 72 24 10 38 141 166 −25 82
6 Papua New Guinea 64 24 10 30 109 145 −36 82
7 New Caledonia 58 19 9 30 98 117 −19 66
8 Australia 17 16 1 0 90 9 +81 49
9 Samoa 39 14 3 22 68 124 −56 45
10 Cook Islands 25 11 3 11 65 52 +13 36
11 Tonga 26 5 3 18 34 119 −85 18
12 American Samoa 16 1 1 14 18 98 −80 4
13 Palau 1 0 0 1 2 6 −4 0
Source:

See also

References
  1. "OFC teams up with Fiji Airways". OFC. 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  2. New silverware awarded for victors Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "OFC Champions League 2020 cancelled". Oceania Football Confederation. 4 September 2020.
  4. "Past tournaments". oceaniafootball.com. Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  5. "Oceania Club Cups - Overview File". RSSSF. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.