The OFC Champions League, also known as the O-League, is the premier men's club soccer competition in

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

governing body. Beginning as the Oceania Club Championship (1987–2006), it has been organised since 2007 under its current format. The first four Club Championship titles were won by Australian clubs. Since 2006, 12 OFC titles have been won by clubs from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, one by a

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

n club and one by a

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

n club. Trophies for OFC tournament winners are made by London-based silversmiths

Thomas Lyte Thomas Lyte is an English luxury brand specialising in gold and silverware, sporting trophies and leather accessories. The company has designed, made or restored many well known trophies and medals, such as the football’s FA Cup, golf’s Ryder ...

History and 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. 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 Adelaide City Football Club is a soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club was known historically as Juventus — the original name given to the club by its founders in Adelaide's Italian community. Adelaide City is one of Aust ...

won the inaugural season. Then 12 years pause came, until the OFC organised the next, all-Oceania Cup. In January 1999, the Oceania Club Championship was held in the Fijian cities of

Nadi Nadi (pronounced ) is the third-largest conurbation in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 42,284 at the most recent census, in 2007. A 2012 estimate showed that the population had ...

and

Lautoka Lautoka () is the second largest Local government in Fiji, city in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane-growing r ...

. Nine teams took part, with Australian side

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

winning the trophy. They also qualified for the following year's

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

. The next competition was held two years later, with an Australian team again winning the title.

Wollongong Wolves Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wat ...

won it, beating Vanuatu representative

Tafea Tafea is the southernmost of the six provinces of Vanuatu. The name is an acronym for the five main islands that make up the province: Tanna, Aneityum, Futuna, Erromango and Aniwa. History Unlike the other provinces of Vanuatu, the territoria ...

in the final. Two more editions were held under this name and format, with

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Auckland City Auckland City was a territorial authority with city status covering the central isthmus of the urban area of Auckland, New Zealand. It was governed by the Auckland City Council from 1989 to 2010, and as a territory within the wider Auckland R ...

winning titles. OFC decided to change the competition format and name, so that since 2007 the competition is known as the OFC Champions League.

OFC Champions League

2007–2014

The 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

, entering the competition in the 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 Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, and was the first O-League final between two teams from the same country, with

defeating

Waitakere United Waitakere United was a football club based in Waitakere City, New Zealand. They were one of the franchises in the ISPS Handa Premiership. They played their home games at Fred Taylor Park in Kumeu and The Trusts Arena. History Waitakere Uni ...

to win its 5th title. The OFC Champions League saw another change for 2013–14 season, with the group stage played in a pre-determined location and the semifinals and final played on a home-and-away basis.

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

was selected as host. The Preliminary stage was played six months before the group stage, and the winner entered the group stage. In 2014, both finalists of the OFC Champions League participated in the

OFC President's Cup The OFC President's Cup was an association football competition organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) between clubs and national teams. A decision to create this competition was confirmed at the OFC's Executive committee in March ...

, an invitational tournament organised by the OFC. However, President's Cup was held only once.

2014–present

In the 2014–15 season, the tournament was sponsored by Fiji Airways and renamed the ''Fiji Airways OFC Champions League'' in that season. Another format change came in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

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 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

edition, meaning the top two teams from each group qualified for the knock-out stage. The 2019 final,

Hienghène Sport Hienghène Sport (), known in Fwâi language as Hyehen Sport is a New Caledonian football team from Hienghène playing in the New Caledonia Super Ligue, New Caledonia. History The club was founded in Hienghène, North Province in 1997 and ...

–

AS Magenta AS Magenta is a New Caledonian football team playing at the top level. It is based in Nouméa. Their home stadium is Stade Numa-Daly Magenta. History Originally called the Nickel Nouméa Sports Association (Nouméa ASLN), the club experienced ...

(both from New Caledonia), marked the first time in the history of the competition that there was no side from New Zealand present.

Records and statistics

Finals

OFC Club Championship era

OFC Champions League era

Performances by club

Past winners are:

Performances by country

Notes: * ' is no longer an OFC member.

All-time table (Top 10 Clubs)

* As of 9th November 2022. All matches including qualifying were taken into account with a game decided by penalties counted as draw. No awarded/withdrawn games were counted. * Number in parentheses show number of participations.

All-time table (Countries)

* As of 9th November 2022. All matches including qualifying were taken into account with a game decided by penalties counted as draw. No awarded/withdrawn games were counted. Notes: * ' is no longer an OFC member.

References

External links

OFC Official Website
{{FIFA Club World Cup Champions League, OFC Oceanian championships Multi-national professional sports leagues