2006 OFC Club Championship

2006 OFC Club Championship
Tournament details
Dates6 February – 21 May 2006
Teams11 (from 10 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsNew Zealand Auckland City (1st title)
Runners-upFrench Polynesia Pirae
Tournament statistics
Matches played22
Goals scored96 (4.36 per match)
Top scorer(s)Solomon Islands Benjamin Totori 7 goals
2005
2007

The 2006 OFC Club Championship was the 5th edition of the top-level Oceanic club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the last tournament before it was rebranded as the OFC Champions League. The qualifying round was held at Govind Park in Ba, Fiji, from 6 February until 10 February 2006, with the main competition taking place at the North Harbour Stadium in Albany, New Zealand from 10 May until 21 May 2006.

The tournament was the first of its kind to not have a representative from Australia competing, due to the nation's migration to the Asian Football Confederation, meaning the winners of the competition would for the first time be from a nation outside of Australia.

Australia's departure from the OFC meant that qualification for the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup was under question – in March 2006 it was reported that the Oceania champions would have to play a preliminary match against the J. League champions for a place in the main competition. However, later that month, it was announced that FIFA president Sepp Blatter had been unable to get the necessary support for the new format and as a result Oceania retained direct entry to 2006 FIFA Club World Cup. FIFA reviewed the format the following year.[1]

The winner of the tournament was Auckland City of New Zealand, who beat AS Pirae of Tahiti in the final.

  1. ^ Maddaford, Terry (31 March 2006). "Soccer: Oceania winner retains direct entry to club champs". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 14 September 2011.