The league will kick off on January 10 with eight clubs competing in a circuit series format across the Pacific.
Christchurch United, which won a licence in August to compete in the league, announced the rebranded team name on Wednesday morning.
"It is our goal to truly represent the entire football community in the South Island and provide a pathway to professional football for all young players in the South," South Island United general manager Ryan Edwards said in a statement.
He said the OFC Pro League bid was submitted under the Christchurch United name because only existing registered clubs were eligible.
"It was not realistic to register a new club at short notice, so we are incredibly grateful to Oceania Football and New Zealand Football for allowing us to compete under the terrific banner of South Island United," Edwards said.
"It was always our intention to be a South Island club and to achieve that we have started discussions with Mainland Football, Football South and all the clubs on how we can best work together to create the best team to represent our region.
"We are committed to first considering Southern League players for the OFC Pro League and will shortly organise trials to see which players are interested and who might be able to step up to professional football."
"We can only be successful if we are transparent and collaborative with the other clubs, so before any player is invited to a trial or offered a contract, our new Pro League coach Rob Sherman will work closely with the clubs involved."
Edwards says that once the best South Island players are considered, the coach will look to the North Island, other OFC nations and abroad to strengthen his squad. The club is allowed to sign three OFC players and three other visa players in their squad of 21.
He said setting up a professional franchise in four months has been an exciting challenge, but he is confident South Island United will be ready to make an impression when the season kicks off on January 10.
"We are lucky to have signed an experienced coach with Rob and we have recruited a number of other staff who have worked in professional football around the world, so there can be no excuses."
The club has also engaged a global leader in sports branding from North America to help create the South Island United logo and team colours.
"That process will take a few months, but I can already tell you that we will not be playing in the blue of Christchurch United, and we want to create a stunning strip that can represent all 95 clubs in the South Island on the international stage."
Who will be in the Pro League?
The eight clubs in line to participate are:
New Zealand
- Auckland FC
- Christchurch United
Australia
- South Melbourne
Fiji
- Bula Boys
Papua New Guinea
- Hekari United
Solomon Islands
- Solomon Kings
Tahiti
- Tahiti United
Vanuatu
- Vanuatu FC
How the league will work
The first OFC Professional League season will run from January through to May 2026, with each club playing a minimum of 17 matches.
The competition will feature five circuit series rounds, hosted across the Pacific.
After the circuit series phase, teams will be split into two play-off groups: Leaders and Challengers.
The Leaders Play-off Group will see the top four teams battle for three of the four semi-final spots, while the Challengers Play-off Group will involve the remaining teams, with the top side earning a playoff match against the fourth-placed team from the Leaders Group to determine the remaining semi-final berth.
The semi-finals and the final will be single-leg knockout matches.
The OFC Professional League will be officially launched at an event held in Auckland on Wednesday, October 29, 2025.
-Allied Media
