The Fijian side took part in the O-League during the inaugural competition in 2007 and did more than just compete, making it all the way to the final before narrowly succumbing to Waitakere United to finish runners-up.
But their next two campaigns were nowhere near as successful and both resulted in bottom-placed Group B finishes. They failed to qualify for either of the following seasons and president Rishikendra Kumar says the players are pleased to be back.
“Our boys have been looking forward to getting another chance since then so I guess this will be the moment they have all been waiting for,” he says.
The official draw for the 2011/12 O-League was conducted yesterday at OFC Headquarters in Auckland – and streamed live for the first time ever on oceaniafootball.com – and Ba has been pitted in Group A with New Zealand’s Waitakere, alongside the francophone pair of Tefana and Mont-Dore, from Tahiti and New Caledonia respectively.
Ba begin their first O-League campaign for two years at home against Mont-Dore on the weekend of October 29-30 before facing an away run made up of trips to Waitakere and Tefana, as well as the return match against Mont-Dore.
The Men in Black then round off their pool stage commitments with a pair of home fixtures against Waitakere and Tefana, their final Group A match taking place on March 31.
The format of the competition, which has expanded from the six teams that took part in 2007, has been altered slightly so the two New Zealand representatives, Waitakere and Auckland City, are now on opposite sides of the draw.
Kumar believes the change will be beneficial to the development of football in the Pacific and is sure the Ba players will relish facing the opposition on offer in the 2012 edition.
“It is the way forward and will see football in the region moving into a new dimension,” he says.
“So far, the Fiji teams have been playing a lot of the island sides who are similar to ourselves but this will us the chance to face clubs from Tahiti, New Caledonia and New Zealand. Competing against them will really improve the standard of football in Fiji.”
The Ba supporters will expect their side to make a significant impact on return to the O-League after going so close to glory during its last appearance.
The Yogendra Dutt-coached side won the first leg of the home-and-way 2007 final thanks to goals from Ronald Chandra and Josaia Bukalidi in front of 10,000 fans at a packed Govind Park.
But they fell to a 1-0 defeat in the return fixture at Mt Smart Stadium, Waitakere’s former All White Allan Pearce scoring the goal, and had to settle for second place on the away goals rule.
Kumar hopes to go one better this time and says preparations for the upcoming campaign are already well underway.
“At the moment, the boys are on tour in Canada for three weeks. They have played five games and have another four to go,” he says.
“We will be leaving no stone unturned in our bid to win the O-League and qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup.”