There will be two additional sides taking the field when the Southern Premier League kicks off late next month.
But it might be their last season in the top league if a proposed restructuring goes ahead.
The premier league is expanding from nine to 11 teams this season.
Grants Braes Football Club is returning to the top flight after an absence of about five years, while Wanaka Football Club will make its first appearance in the tournament.
Football South chief executive Chris Wright said the expansion had been in the planning for the past few seasons.
"When I started three or four years ago we had a meeting with the premier league clubs and asked them what they wanted and it was pretty clear they wanted more teams and more games per season,'' he said.
"What we have tried to do is look for competitive teams in order to fulfil that requirement.
"With both Grants Braes and Wanaka, we felt with adding them in it could add more competitive games and enable the pathway better in those regions.''
However, the new 11-team league could be shortlived with more changes potentially afoot. Wright said Football South was looking at introducing a championship league, which would sit below the premier league.
The premier league would be reduced to eight teams and promotion-relegation games would be introduced.
If the proposal goes ahead, three premier teams will be relegated to the championship grade at the end of this season.
"Ideally, eight strong teams is where we want [the premier league] to be, and so the championship below will have the three that get relegated plus we are looking at three new teams coming in from outside the Dunedin region.''
The format for the premier league is the same as last year, albeit with the threat of possible relegation. Round one is a full round-robin.
The top three sides from the opening round will qualify for the South Island League. The remaining eight sides will play each other another two times, with the bottom three facing demotion.
The South Island League is made up of the best three Football South sides and top five sides from Mainland Football. It is a single-round tournament but there has been talk of it moving to a double round.
"It an ideal world it will be two full rounds but the challenge at the moment is finance.
"We are also waiting on the national competitions review which could change how things look in the leagues in New Zealand football.''
That review is due out later this year.
"We are kind of in a holding pattern until we have more information.''
