Whoever is the FIFA President will always promise to fund it as they want the Oceania votes to retain the position at each election. Its peanuts in funding compared to what FIFA generates in annual revenue.

The next three NPL Victoria grand finals will be played at Lakeside Stadium.

https://www.ofcproleague.com/news/venues-confirmed-for-round-6-of-ofc-pro-league/ The venues have been confirmed for Round 6 of the OFC Pro League, including the semi-finals and final, to be hosted in New Zealand. The final will be held at Eden Park in Auckland, on May 24. Following Round 5 in...

Given the points reset in the Leaders/Challengers Groups phase, there is no point in our best players hanging about in Fiji. Let them enjoy a day off by the beach today and hopefully they are on a plane heading home on Friday. Agree - We need the spine to be in place - Lopez, Jankovic...

How do you even try and work out who will start on Sunday against Oakleigh. It could be anyone from who started against Bula FC to the team that started against Altona Magic (excluding Bonada and Lopez).

Totally agree. That second half against Preston and first half last night against Bula FC have been great football.

After the latest series of matches, Auckland and South Melbourne lock in their participation in the Leaders Group finals series. Auckland will finish in top spot and South Melbourne is all but assured of finishing second. If South Island fails to win its next match, South Melbourne has second...

It’s a good point and that lack of bench depth hurt us in the searing heat of Fiji.

Question is what has the Hellas Football Department organised for the Oakleigh match and the PNG Hekari and Tahiti OFC matches. For the Oakleigh match, you have the following players back in Melbourne: Dovison, Skapoulas, O’Sullivan, Durso, Saristavros, Papadimitriou, and the Angelatos...

That’s the win we needed to lock in the Leaders Group series. We totally dominated Bula in the first half. There truly was a gulf in class and ability between both teams. Sinisa set up the team well as Bula was constantly on the back foot. They hardly got forward and when they did they did...

Great goal by Uchida !

Goes back to the 1970s. Bunch of people left South to create a new team. In Greek, their name is New Hellas.

They've pretty much been taken over by junior parents and are focusing on junior football. They are pretty much not spending anything on senior football.

Spot on - that is correct. Phase 2 matches and finals matches will be played in Auckland.

Auckland defeated PNG Hekari by 2-0, and they have mathematically locked in top spot in the regular circuit series. If Hellas beats Bula FC, we move to 22 points and cannot be caught by Bula or Solomon Kings. South Island could still mathematically finish second, but they would need to win...

Sydney Olympic is a complete mess. Dead last in NPL NSW competition, heading for relegation and without a coach.

Tonight's line up will likely be the strongest we have had in the OFC Pro League: Lopez Lampard Painter-Andrews Jankovic Eliopoulos Pasquali Giannakopoulos Mikkola Uchida Cocks Bonada Plus we have a full bench to fill and pick from.

Great stuff by the club visiting Nadi Primary School. This is what it is all about.

The other NPL clubs have played no more than 9 official matches (8 NPL and 1 Dockerty Cup), and we are playing our 20th match of the season tonight. It is an extraordinary statistic.

I've never heard of trouble between clubs of those backgrounds before. We had a big crowd at Preston vs South Melbourne and there was no trouble.

This is the link to the Rules of Competition: https://www.oceaniafootball.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/OFC-Pro-League-Competition-Regulations.pdf Section 8.5.3 of the document refers to Phase 2 of the competition.

The dates for the Leaders Group phase is 6th, 9th and 12th May. We want to avoid finishing 4th as that would mean we have to go into the playoff against the winner of the Challenger Group.

Below is the relevant section on the playoff phase from the Competition Rules document. The first stage of the Competition. This stage will be played in five rounds of circuit series, each consisting of eight Participating Clubs playing Matches against one another. In total, the Circuit...

Irrelevant if its a joke. OFC Pro League - $450,000 winner's prize money NPL Victoria - $25,000 winner's prize money You can call it a joke. I call it pay day.

No - the venue we played Auckland.

The month of May is virtually a write off for the NPL Victoria competition. The following are the NPL fixtures. They exclude the Round 6 Dockerty match if we progress against Bulleen. Apart from the Melbourne City Youth and Hume City matches which will be played by our first Starting XI, the...

For the Oakleigh match, the rumours are circulating that we will be fielding a weakened side, probably similar to the one that faced Auckland. Assuming we beat Bula FC midweek, then we could afford to send back some of our first Starting XI players to try and get a draw against Oakleigh. There...

If South defeats Bula FC, we move to 22 points. The best that the fifth team can achieve is 21 points. Then we are mathematically secure in the top 4. On the assumption that South beats Bula FC and PNG Hekari, and draws against Tahiti United, then we would finish the regular season on 26...

Perhaps Poutakidis will take the Oakleigh match given a number of players (eg Menelaou, Leech, Cocks etc) would be flying back for the Oakleigh match.

All valid points. I think it would make good sense to promote a youth player like Savistavros rather than keep Singh, unless the rumours are true about Aguek/Sawyer. Once the OFC Pro League season ends, we only require 2 goalkeepers and the third can be our U20 goalkeeper. Lackay is more...

For a cup match that will attract 100 people, it will be fine.

It is our priority period now, so I would guess it would have to be a financial cost reason. I checked the Lakeside Stadium website and there are no events that day.

Why are we not playing the Dockerty Cup match at Lakeside Stadium?

Assuming the majority of first XI starting team are in Fiji, then a possible starting XI on Wednesday night in the crucial match against Bula FC might be: Charlston Eliopoulos Jankovic Painter-Andrews Lampard Giannakopoulos Pasquali Mikkola Uchida Swibel Cocks Then you have a full bench to...

That's correct

Preston vs Hellas mini match highlights

You never know. If we win the OFC Pro League, we will have $450,000 to spend. That might help sweeten the deal for Sawyer. Also, by cutting 3 players, those weekly wages are saved and reallocated to new player signings.

That was Tahiti United that defeated Solomon Kings 5-1. Bula struggled to defeat PNG Hekari at home. But you are right - they will be dealing with the home conditions far more easier than us.

I really hope you're right. Singh and Swibel are no straight swap for Aguek and Lavale that we had.

Does anyone have access to any player social media accounts? Which senior players have subsequently travelled to Fiji for the remaining hub matches?

The ladder after the last round of matches. South must beat Bula FC to keep second spot. With yesterday's loss to Auckland, top spot is gone.

The players that I would jettison at the start of the transfer window are Shalamanov-Trenkov, Singh and Lackay. That should create space for some quality additions.

A forward line of Aguek and Sawyer would be unbelievably amazing. I had heard whispers about Aguek but not Sawyer. What is the situation with Sawyer ? Is he looking to move on from the MacArthur Bulls? Below are his A League stats.

And I thought we had poor officiating in Victoria ! The linesman had a good view of the passage of play. It ain't that hard to spot the Sydney United player is clearly onside.

He's now a viable option in that position that he can share it with Painter-Andrews.

Terrible refereeing today. That free kick call on Cocks in the second half was laughable.

Spot on. The team that started against Preston, with the inclusion of Painter-Andrews and Cocks in the Starting XI, with Menelaou, Pope, Leech, and Inglese on the bench would have won today. We just need to focus on the OFC Pro Lesgue for the next 8 days to lock in a spot in the Leaders group...

We will definitely need the majority of our best Starting XI to win the remaining matches. We have a buffer of 4 points at the top of the NPL Victoria ladder which allows us to focus on the last three remaining OFC Pro League matches. This is where the dropped points against Bula, South Island...

We have three remaining matches that are nothing short of must win. Defeat Bula FC on Wednesday afternoon, and we put some daylight between us and Bula FC in third spot.

There’s a lot to unpack from today’s match against Auckland. Firstly, our Starting XI was as expected. I was surprised that we had such a thin bench with only 2 outfield players. Apart from the first ten minutes of the first half, we actually played well and took a deserved first half lead...

South on top now with a 4 point buffer. It won’t last long given the next few weeks of OFC Pro League commitments.

Tahiti did South a favour by defeating the Solomon Kings.

Spot on - definitely one of the best spines of any team in the NPL Victoria competition.

In terms of the Oakleigh match next week, we should keep Lopez and Bonada in Melbourne to add some quality to the team. I would guess some players like Leech, Menelaou, Inglese, and Cocks flying back to Melbourne for that Oakleigh match at least. It will be a makeshift squad next week.

We’ll have a competitive team against Auckland. Let’s hope they can hold on for a draw at least.

Great day all round.

There is some promising talent in that South U23 squad.

It was a tight first half where it really was an arm wrestle. At halftime it would have seemed a safe bet that the match would have ended in a scoreless draw. But we turned it on in the second half. Some things went our way. Eliopoulos nearly turned the ball into his own net late in the match...

It was a pretty even first half. It came down to key moments and we took our chances. I still think Preston will finish in the top 6.

You are right. We are at a minimum 3-4 quality players short of balancing both competitions. That’s one of the key learnings the Football Department must see when planning for next year.

If you win the OFC Pro League its $450,000 and the Australia Cup is $50,000. But the added benefit of winning the Australia Cup is in the potential qualification for the AFC Champions League Two competition, where appearance prize money is $300,000 USD (approx $425,000 AUD). Each win attracts...

My 2 cents for line ups for both matches across the weekend based on the rumours circulating: Preston match Lopez Painter-Andrews Jankovic Eliopoulos Lampard Pasquali Giannakopoulos Mikkola Uchida Bonada Swibel Bench - Saristavros, Angelatos, U20s Goalkeeper, Papadimitriou, Killick Auckland...

I might be slightly controversial, but I think its a smart move by the club not to show which players have already departed for Fiji just yet. Keeps the opposition in the dark on which players would play.

I very much doubt that Jankovic would miss the Preston match.

My 2 cents for the foretasted last 10 teams: Eltham Avondale George Cross Bentleigh Heidelberg Oakleigh Preston South Melbourne Hume City Eastern Lions

Thanks for that clarification. That would mean we host Bulleen in Round 5 at Lakeside and Port Melbourne in Round 6 if we progress and they knock off Beaumaris. If Port Melbourne is knocked out, then we would play that Round 6 fixture at Beaumaris' ground. Just glad we are not playing on that...

Bulleen are currently mid table in VPL1. Port Melbourne is bottom of VPL1. Beaumaris is in the bottom half of State League 1 South East. Dates for the Bulleen fixture are April 21-23, 28-30. No news yet on when Round 6 will be scheduled assuming we beat Bulleen.

The first aim of the draw was to avoid NPL teams. Both Rounds 5 and 6 fixtures achieved that. Agree - not ideal and those conditions will suit Bulleen. We may need to field 2-3 senior players just to provide some structure, leadership and quality to knock them off. Last thing we need is the...

Agree - a win against Preston and draw against Oakleigh would be a good outcome. If we then send our best players to Fiji, then we should win the remaining 3 matches (Bula, PNG Hekari, Tahiti United). That would lock in second spot behind Auckland prior to the Leaders Group finals series kicking...

The only ones that I could think of are Cocks and Bonada. Sinisa would be mad to break up the Pasquali and Giannakopoulos midfield combination, plus the back line. Let Auckland win the OFC Pro League Minor Premiership. It is the Grand Final that dictates who wins the $450,000.

On Saturday, we start with the strongest starting XI: Lopez Painter-Andrews Jankovic Eliopoulos Lampard Giannakopoulos Pasquali Mikkola Uchida Bonada Swibel You bring on Cocks if we are in need of a goal. Otherwise, we would not be making any changes given the rest of the squad would be in Fiji.

I agree. The only alternative workable time slots apart from Saturday 3.00pm would be Orthodox Easter Monday 7.30pm or the Thursday 7.30pm (day prior to Orthodox Good Friday).

It is a shame that the Preston vs South Melbourne match falls on the Orthodox Easter weekend. What would have been a very large crowd at BT Connor Reserve on a Friday night will struggle at a Saturday 3pm time slot.

That's the backbone of a successful second division. It is where the infrastructure, players, supporters, corporate backing and clubs are located. Add a team from Adelaide, Brisbane and a Canberra/Hobart, and you have the ingredients for a decent competition to establish itself and grow.

Preston will want to send a message to the league that they mean business. They have invested crazy money into their squad, so they will want to beat us in order to reduce the gap at the top. Defeat Preston away and we move 11 points ahead of them on the league standings. Plus it will ensure we...

Spot on. These are the matches where chances will be limited and we need to take our them. We cannot be wasteful. Its the type of match where only one goal may be the difference. The players would have had another 11 day break, so that makes 2 matches in 21 days. That's more than enough rest.

Great to see good crowds getting out and attending these big matches.

It tends to be broadcast on Football Victoria's YouTube and Facebook channels.

Given the rumours circulating of South fielding a strong line up against Preston, then you would have to assume the following will start against Auckland on Sunday: Charlston Inglese Coveny O’Sullivan (is he registered to play in OFC?) Skapoulas Menelaou Leech Cocks Pope Singh Bonada As Ive...

O’Sullivan has been a reasonable back up in the Right Back position. He has provided good coverage during the fixture congestion between OFC and NPL competitions. We have been lucky that we have faced teams in the bottom half of the NPL standings and the Dockerty Cup.

Dockerty Cup draw for both Rounds 5 and 6 will be held on Wednesday.

We must enter the midseason transfer window with a view to sign 2-3 quality players, particularly upfront. Does anyone know when the midseason transfer window will open?

Nothing special today. As expected, the team was largely made up of squad players and youth. There are serious question marks over Singh and Lackay. Against weak opposition they were poor. Good to see none of the starting XI seniors played today. It’s important for them to rest up for the...

Definitely all good points.

Perhaps Sinisa plays the following players tomorrow: Charlston Inglese Coveny O’Sullivan Gorr-Burchmore Menelaou Leech Angelatos Skapoulas Saristavros Dovison Have on the bench Singh, Papadimitriou, Killick, Shalamanov-Trenkov, Angelatos.

Great goal celebration by Charlie Leech for South’s 4th goal last night.

It makes sense to mostly play the Under23s in the Dockerty Cup match. You may want 2-3 senior players to just provide some leadership and structure to the young players. Looks like we are prioritising the Preston NPL match and the Bula, PNG Hekari and Tahiti United OFC matches. That means we...

Our fixtures for the month of April That is 8 matches in 20 days. The more scarier part is that there are 6 matches within 10 days!

We are looking good at the top of the standings. More importantly, we are 2 points ahead of Heidelberg, 4 points ahead of Oakleigh, 5 points ahead of Avondale and 8 points ahead of Preston. They will likely be there at the end of the season. I'm expecting Hume and Bentleigh to fall away as the...

We just need to make sure we have our best Starting XI playing together as much as possible. We saw last night what we are capable of when that happens.

Hellas defeated Dandenong City last night 4-2 at Lakeside Stadium. It was a dominant performance, scoring 3 goals in 8 minutes to kill off the contest. We now sit top of the NPL Victoria standings. No one would have thought that would be possible given the OFC Pro League commitments. The...

The standard of refereeing last night was so poor. FV needs to do better with some of these referees.

You're right - Mikkola is starting to rediscover his old form and that is having a big impact up front. You need players to run at defenders to put defences under pressure and create opportunities. I never would have thought we would be sitting top of the ladder after Round 7 given all the...

I'm not sure why it has taken us so long to figure out that a souvlaki and chips is a good feed at a soccer match ! All suburban clubs can do it - not sure why it took us so long to figure it out.

That was a match that was MUST win and thankfully we DID! The players looked a bit rusty in the first 10-15 minutes, but that could be down to their 10 day break. We totally dominated them from start to finish. Swibel struggled early on and that final ball forward at times was lacking. I'm...