SIFF events and competitions manager Ian Rarawa announced that the first round will take place on the weekend of October 15 and 16, giving the battle-weary players that helped Solomon Islands to a runners-up placing at the Pacific Games a few weeks to recover.
“The kick-off date is about a month away and this will give our national team players some rest time before rejoining their clubs for the first round,” Rarawa says.
The full schedule is yet to be released but SIFF has confirmed that the new season will bring a significant change to last year’s inaugural edition.
The practice of playing some matches on weekdays, namely Tuesday and Thursday, has been abandoned and all games will now take place only on weekends.
This change has been made in the interests of both players and spectators as it will give the players more time to rest between matches and the fans will now not have to miss some games due to weekday work commitments.
The kick-off times of 2pm and 4pm will remain the same and all other information will become available next week when the full draw is conducted.
Lawson Tama Stadium in Honiara will once again be the main venue, although there is a possibility some matches will be moved out to the provinces. Aligegeo Stadium in Auki, Malaita province, is an option but development work at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Gizo in the Western province is still to be completed and it is unlikely that any matches will be held there in 2011.
The same eight teams that created the inaugural line-up will again take part – Koloale, Solomon Warriors, Kossa, Western United, Malaita Kingz, Hana, Marist Fire and Real Kakamora.
Koloale were the winners of the first S-League while Solomon Warriors and Kossa took second and third place respectively. The championship series held after the completion of the league was won by Solomon Warriors.
The action then proceeded on to the O-League play-offs which Koloale won over Warriors to represent Solomon Islands in the 2011/12 edition of the Pacific’s premier club competition.
For more on Solomon Islands football go to www.siff.com.sb

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