2026 South Melbourne FC season

South Melbourne FC
2026–27 season
Chairman	Bill Papastergiadis
Head Coach	Sinisa Cohadzic
Stadium	Lakeside Stadium
NPL Victoria	TBD
Australian Championship	TBD
Dockerty Cup	TBD
OFC Professional League	TBD
	← 2025 2027 →

Last updated January 14, 2026

The 2026 season is the 67nd in the history of South Melbourne Football Club. In addition to the regional league, the club will participate in the Australian Championship for the second time, the Dockerty Cup and the OFC Professional League for the first time.

Squad information

First team

As of 8 January 2026^[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ESP	Javier López
3	DF	AUS	Jordon Lampard
4	DF	AUS	Marko Janković(captain)
6	DF	AUS	Lucas Inglese
11	FW	JPN	Yuki Uchida
14	MF	AUS	Alex Menelaou
17	MF	AUS	Thomas Giannakopoulos
19	MF	AUS	Andrew Mesourouni
21	MF	AUS	Sebastian Pasquali
22	MF	AUS	Max Mikkola
24	FW	ARG	Nahuel Bonada
27	DF	AUS	Jack Painter-Andrews


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
30	GK	AUS	Jake Charlston
88	MF	AUS	Charlie Leech
99	MF	AUS	Jack Pope
—	GK	AUS	Ilia Shalamanov-Trenkova
—	DF	AUS	Che Gorr Burchmore
—	DF	NZL	Luka Coveny
—	DF	AUS	Jacob Eliopoulos
—	FW	AUS	Arran Cocks
—	FW	AUS	James Lackay
—	FW	NZL	Ishveer Singh
—	FW	AUS	Jordan Swibel

Transfers

Note: Transfers' in/out date may refer to the date of announcement and not the date of signing from the mentioned players.

Transfers in

No.	Position	Player	Transferred from	Type/fee	Contract length	Date	Ref.
—	FW	Arran Cocks	Broadmeadow Magic	Free transfer	1 year	8 January 2026	^[2]
—	FW	Jordan Swibel	Marconi Stallions	Free transfer	1 year	9 January 2026	^[3]
—	FW	Ishveer Singh	Auckland United	Free transfer	1 year	11 January 2026	^[3]
—	FW	James Lackay	Melbourne Victory Youth	Free transfer	1 year	12 January 2026
—	DF	Luka Coveny	Free Agent	Free transfer	1 year	13 January 2026

Pre-season and friendlies

21 January 2026	Preston Lions	v	South Melbourne	Reservoir
20:00		Report		Stadium: B.T. Connor Reserve

Competitions

Overall record

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Record
Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
NPL Victoria	14 February 2026		Matchday 1	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
Australian Championship			Matchday 1	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
Dockerty Cup				0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
OFC Pro League	17 January 2026		Matchday 1	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
Total				0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—

Last updated: 17 November 2025
Source: Competitions

National Premier Leagues Victoria

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
9	Melbourne City Youth ^[a]	0
10	Oakleigh Cannons	0
11	South Melbourne ^[b]	0
12	St Albans Saints	0	Relegation to Victorian Premier League 1
13	Dandenong City	−4^[c]	Relegation to Victorian Premier League 1

First match(es) will be played: 13 Feb 2026. Source: Dribl
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) aggregate head-to-head results; 5) away goals; 6) alphabetical order/coin toss at the end of the season.
Notes:

↑ Melbourne City Youth is ineligible to qualify for the 2026 Australian Championship as the academy of an A-League club.
↑ Team pre-qualified to the Australian Championship as a Foundation club.
↑ Dandenong City were deducted four points due to conduct during the 2025 National Premier Leagues Victoria final.^[4]

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Last updated: 17 November 2025.
Source: NPL Victoria

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result
Position
Points

Updated to match(es) played on 17 November 2025. Source: NPL Victoria
A = Away; H = Home; N = Neutral; B = Bye; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

The fixtures were announced on 7 December 2025.^[5]

Win Draw Loss Fixtures

14 February 20261	Avondale	v	South Melbourne	Parkville
15:00 AEDT		Report		Stadium: Avenger Park

19 February 20262	South Melbourne	v	Hume City	Albert Park
19:30 AEDT		Report		Stadium: Lakeside Stadium

28 February 20263	Altona Magic	v	South Melbourne	Altona North
18:15 AEDT		Report		Stadium: Paisley Park Soccer Complex

7 March 20264	South Melbourne	v	Bentleigh Greens	Bundoora
19:00 AEDT		Report		Stadium: The Home of the Matildas

13 March 20265	Green Gully	v	South Melbourne	Keilor Downs
19:30 AEDT		Report		Stadium: Green Gully Reserve

21 March 20266	Dandenong Thunder	v	South Melbourne	Dandenong
19:00 AEDT		Report		Stadium: George Andrews Reserve

30 March 20267	South Melbourne	v	Dandenong City	Albert Park
19:30 AEDT		Report		Stadium: Lakeside Stadium

11 April 20268	Preston Lions	v	South Melbourne	Reservoir
15:00 AEST		Report		Stadium: B.T. Connor Reserve

19 April 20269	South Melbourne	v	Oakleigh Cannons	Albert Park
15:30 AEST		Report		Stadium: Lakeside Stadium

24 April 202610	St Albans Saints Dinamo	v	South Melbourne	St Albans
20:30 AEST		Report		Stadium: Churchill Reserve

1 May 202611	South Melbourne	v	Melbourne City Youth	Albert Park
19:30 AEST		Report		Stadium: Lakeside Stadium

8 May 202612	Heidelberg United	v	South Melbourne	Heidelberg West
19:30 AEST		Report		Stadium: Olympic Village

18 May 202613	South Melbourne	v	Caroline Springs George Cross	Albert Park
19:30 AEST		Report		Stadium: Lakeside Stadium

25 May 202614	South Melbourne	v	Avondale	Albert Park
19:30 AEST		Report		Stadium: Lakeside Stadium

30 May 202615	Hume City	v	South Melbourne	Meadow Heights
14:00 AEST		Report		Stadium: Nasiol Stadium

7 June 202616	South Melbourne	v	Altona Magic	Albert Park
15:30 AEST		Report		Stadium: Lakeside Stadium

19 June 202617	Bentleigh Greens	v	South Melbourne	Cheltenham
20:30 AEST		Report		Stadium: Kingston Heath Soccer Complex

28 June 202618	South Melbourne	v	Green Gully	Albert Park
15:30 AEST		Report		Stadium: Lakeside Stadium

5 July 202619	South Melbourne	v	Dandenong Thunder	Albert Park
15:30 AEST		Report		Stadium: Lakeside Stadium

10 July 202620	Dandenong City	v	South Melbourne	Endeavour Hills
19:45 AEST		Report		Stadium: Frank Holohan Soccer Complex

19 July 202621	South Melbourne	v	Preston Lions	Albert Park
15:15 AEST		Report		Stadium: Lakeside Stadium

24 July 202622	Oakleigh Cannons	v	South Melbourne	Oakleigh
20:15 AEST		Report		Stadium: Jack Edwards Reserve

2 August 202623	South Melbourne	v	St Albans Saints Dinamo	Albert Park
15:30 AEST		Report		Stadium: Lakeside Stadium

15 August 202624	Melbourne City Youth	v	South Melbourne	Cranbourne East
15:00 AEST		Report		Stadium: Casey Fields

23 August 202625	South Melbourne	v	Heidelberg United	Albert Park
15:30 AEST		Report		Stadium: Lakeside Stadium

29 August 202626	Caroline Springs George Cross	v	South Melbourne	Fraser Rise
15:00 AEST		Report		Stadium: City Vista Recreation Reserve

Australian Championship

Dockerty Cup

OFC Professional League

Circuit Series table

Pos	Team v t e	Qualification
4	Solomon Kings	Qualification for Leaders play-off group
5	South Island United	Qualification for Challengers play-off group
6	South Melbourne
7	Tahiti United
8	Vanuatu United

First match(es) will be played: 17 January 2026. Source: OFC Pro League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head to head; 5) Head to head goal difference; 6) Head to head goals scored; 7) Disciplinary record; 8) Coin toss^[6]