The Super League is the country’s premier men’s competition but it wasn’t just players at the elite level who were back on the field.
Men taking part in other leagues, youth players and women also strapped the boots on again as the football season at all levels kicked off.
The new season brings together 11,000 licensed players in the French territory and, in an ecouraging sign for the future of New Caledonia football, half of those players are under the age of 18. Each will be in action every weekend over the course of the season as they look to compete for the trophies in their respective leagues.
Football is the national sport in New Caledonia and the role of the Fédération Calédonienne de Football is crucial to maintaining and developing the game through competitions and grassroots programmes that aim to provide a footballing future for the next generations.
In terms of competitions, the Super League is the highest division and is played as a double round robin between the top four clubs from the Grande Terre area and the champion teams from the other islands.
Eight teams are involved in the 2011 Super League – defending champions AS Mont Dore, AS Magenta, FC Gaïtcha, AS Lössi, AS Thio Sport, Hienghène Sport, AS Kunié and Mouli Sport – and the winner directly qualifies for the O-League, the Pacific region’s premier club competition.
Another tournament that creates plenty of interest and is fiercely fought for is the New Caledonia Cup, a national knockout competition that includes clubs from right across the country. The winner qualifies for the seventh round of the prestigious French Cup, the premier knockout cup competiton in French football.
AS Magenta won the New Caledonia Cup in 2010 and went on to beat semi-professional French team USL Dunkerque, becoming the first New Caledonia team to make it that far in the French Cup for 42 years.
The new season will also be important internationally for New Caledonia as the men’s and women’s national teams will compete in the Pacific Games, set to be held on home soil from August 26 to September 11.
To view ‘Road to the Pacific’, a behind-the-scenes look at football in New Caledonia click here