Gold Coast Italo-Australian Club rocked by deep divisions

A major split has caused turmoil at a popular Gold Coast sports club amid concerns about a controversial business deal.

ACCUSATIONS of a “toxic environment’’, cancelled memberships, blocked meetings, and allegations of bullying have revealed deep divisions within membership at the Gold Coast’s Italo-Australian Club.

The split follows controversy over the club’s association with the Queensland Football School (QFS), which put forward a proposal last year to lease club property for a soccer school that the club board says would have brought in $250,000 a year.

The Gold Coast Italo-Australian Club at Clear Island Waters. Picture: Jerad Williams

The school was promoted as opening in January this year, but this did not happen and the body behind the school proposal has withdrawn its application to the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board to establish itself at the club site.

The club board however insists it still has a lease.

More than a dozen club members who have raised concerns over business decisions say they have been blocked by the board from meeting to discuss the matter.

“It has become a toxic environment and members don’t want to stay,’’ said a life member, who asked to remain anonymous.

“There was meant to be hundreds of thousands coming in a year but that has never arrived. We don’t know because we can’t discuss it with the board.”

But the club board claims turmoil within the ranks has been led by a faction with business interests.

It has also insisted to members that the school has “stalled” but the lease will be moving ahead.

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Club president Robyn Wallace told the Bulletin the club was in a “very strong financial position”, had “no toxic culture” and was not dependent on the lease.

And in a letter to members, she said: “Over the years there has always been a handful of members that go out of their way to cause trouble for no apparent reason.”

The dispute escalated in December when the memberships of two now-former members, one aged in his eighties, were cancelled after they were accused of bullying staff and being on club premises after hours.

The pair had raised concerns in a public letter in November.

They have denied the accusations against them and sought to appeal.

The club has also ended two other recent business ventures during this time, and sources say there has been significant turnover of kitchen staff.

Gold Coast Italo-Australian Club president Robyn Wallace.

In response, a group of 17 concerned members sought an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) for Sunday, March 8.

Proposed meeting business included a presentation of unaudited financial statements, an update on the status of the football school and an update on the status of junior soccer at the club. 

A motion also sought to outsource management of the club to a business belonging to one of the cancelled members.

This was the group’s second attempt in as many months at setting up a meeting which has since been ruled out of order.

The board previously faced scrutiny in late 2018 when more than 15 full members of the club moved to hold an EGM to table a motion of no confidence, following a disputed election at the annual general meeting.

Ms Wallace said the latest EGM attempt had been rejected because the motion breached the Liquor and Gaming Act and the club’s constitution.

The group was happy to remove the contested motion, and plans to still hold the meeting on March 8 to discuss the other finacnal concern.

In her letter to members, Ms Wallace called the attempt a “distraction”.

She denied accusations she threatened members who had signed to support the EGM.

The board also said the QFS, which the Bulletin reported last year had been established by director Martin Calvert and advertised to open at the Italo-Australian Club in January, had entered into a lease and was working towards approvals.

“At this point in time we still have a signed lease with them. They have since signed a sublease to Merrimac Soccer.”

Ms Wallace told the Bulletin the club was in a “very strong financial position” and “performance will be detailed to members at the AGM”.

“Financial members are always welcome to discuss the club finances with the board members,” she said.

Deep divisions have rocked the Gold Coast Italo-Australian Club at Clear Island Waters. Picture: Jerad Williams.

A date for the AGM, which is due in May, has yet to be set.

A life member told the Bulletin the group has been pushing for the EGM since November because members feared an AGM would be delayed, as it had been the year before.

“Every time it gets dismissed on technicalities but all we want is an open forum to discuss what is happening,” he said.

“People are being pressured not to pursue this, people don’t want trouble.

“It has become a toxic environment and members don’t want to stay.

“There was meant to be hundreds of thousands coming in a year but that has never arrived. We don’t know because we can’t discuss it with the board.”

The foundation member said he was saddened by the decision to dismiss other members over alleged bullying.

“I know what happened and they did not do anything wrong. They should not have been dismissed,’’ he said.

“The only reason my membership wasn’t cancelled is because I am a foundation member and they can’t get rid of me.”