Its squad was unveiled last night at the club’s season launch, at which all four of its teams were named for the coming season.
Inevitably, much focus will be on the five Irish imports, brought in for both their on- and off-field qualities.
All have plenty of experience playing top league football in Ireland and will add quality to the side.
However, how they fit in with the side’s local players will be key to moving off the bottom of the league table this season.
"It’s not just the import players; we’ve got lots of quality players here as well," coach Paul O’Reilly said.
"Players like Ross Howard, Harley Rodeka, Liam Little, local guys that have got a lot to offer. [They are] real quality players, good backgrounds in the game, and it’s very much how they jell [that is important] and they’re jelling quite well at the moment.
"The imports are going to improve us but we’ve also got real quality in the region as well. So hopefully it will complement each other and we’ll see some good performances and, hopefully, some good results."
He was happy with the final make-up of the squad, although there were still spots free that might be filled later.
"We’ve got a really passionate group.
"We’ve worked really hard in pre-season and we’ve got a lot of young players that have progressed from the youths, so their excitement and exuberance is really positive.
"But that’s probably also one of our weaknesses, in that we also have a lot of young players that are inexperienced at this level, so that will be a challenge."
The team knew it would be tough to compete with the top sides, which had budgets of $1.5million, but hoped to be among the best of the rest.
"We’re realistic with our expectations; we’re not expecting to be in the top two or three.
"But we’re hoping to get some good results and, especially at home, take some good scalps.
"We’re going to have to be adaptable. In certain games we’ll be on the front foot and looking to press and looking to try to play good attractive football.
"But we also have to be realistic and know that when we play against the likes of Auckland City, we may be more focused on being tight and compact and being hard to play against."
Today Southern takes on Canterbury United in Timaru in its first pre-season game with the official squad, having played Tasman United with its extended squad last weekend.
O’Reilly said there was plenty of quality among the youth team, which gets its season under way tomorrow at Tahuna Park against Hamilton.
Several players in that squad were likely to push for chances in the first team.
Meanwhile, the women’s team has a young squad, although 19 of its 23 players have had national league experience.
The side has leadership at the back, mixed with some exciting players up front, but will be without the services of stalwart Cushla Glover, who has played 20 years for the club.
The futsal team begins its campaign today at the Edgar Centre.
Southern United
squads 2016-17
Men Liam Little, Conor O Keefe, Craig Ferguson, Stephen Last, Danny Ledwith, Eric Molloy, Michael Hogan, Harley Rodeka, Ben O’Farrell, Andy Mulligan, Chris Kessell, Niall Malone, Ross Howard, Andrew Ridden, Tom Stevens, Sam Collier, Cam Higgins, Jude Fitzpatrick, Tennesse Kinghorn, Luis Pavia, Cam McPhail
Youth Liam Whittaker, Connor Neil, Paul Ritter, Blake Porteous, Peter Coates, Matthew Brazier, Riley Anderton, John Weidling, Ryan Fleming, Anton Fitzgerald, Benjamin Wade, Mitchell Hurring, George McCall, Thomas Milton, Stewart Catto, Rahan Ali, George Edwards, Dylan van der Schuit, Bradley Holdridge, Hamish Cotter, Joel Theissen Papp, Nikolao Cockerell, Timothy O’Farrell, Rory Hannon, Christopher Kessell, Kieran Stephenson, Caleb Roberts, John Woodall, Alastair Moore, Ben Kiore
Women Alex McIntosh, Annie Gilchrist, Catlin Taylor-Lynch, Holly Johnstone, Holly White, Jade Middleditch, Jessica Fuller, Jordyn Walker, Karen Nicolson, Kate Guildford, Katreena Drake, Kelsey Kennard, Lara Wall, Maryann Cant, Megan O’Malley, Mikayla Gray, Olivia de Ronde, Rachel Christie, Renee Bacon, Ruby Coers, Sophie Dijkstra, Stephanie Lee, Tabitha Seatons
Futsal Michael Sannum, Thomas Petersen, Luuk van den Bergh, Benjamin Wallace, Benjamin O’Farrell, Daniel de Souza, Sean McIntee, Carlos Herrmann, Christopher Sannum, Fraser Hunter, Tim O’Farrell, Reid Hulleman, Michael Taylor, Conrad Sinclair, Sean Flett, Josh McDonald, Daniel Ramsay, Kasam Ali, James Govan, Rahan Ali, Cam Scott, Danniel Bocatios
