Four months after dramatic GF brawl, Palm Beach and Surfers Paradise meet again with plenty to play for
FOUR months on from the explosive grand final brawl that rocked the Gold Coast Premier League, the effects of that day in November are still being felt as the two teams involved prepare to face each other for the first time since the 2020 decider.
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FOUR months on from the explosive grand final brawl that rocked the Gold Coast Premier League, the effects of that day in November are still being felt as the two teams involved prepare to face each other for the first time since the 2020 decider.
Champions Surfers Paradise Apollo travel to Palm Beach Sharks on Sunday for the highly-anticipated grand final rematch, with a gilt-edged chance to inflict further pain on their hosts.
The fallout from the grand final brawl led to Palm Beach having three 2021 competition points deducted from their total, leaving the Sharks trailing the rest of the pack before a ball had even been kicked in anger.
Now as the two rivals prepare to meet on Sunday, Apollo has the perfect opportunity to set Palm Beach back even further - a win would leave the Sharks eight points adrift of top spot after just three rounds.
The Bulletin understands Palm Beach appealed the original decision to deducted three competition points, however the penalty was upheld on appeal, and the Sharks began their 2021 campaign three points behind the rest of the competition.
Surfers Paradise have been flawless through two rounds so far, with an incredible 13-0 for-against confirming they will again be the team to beat in 2021.
Palm Beach's campaign has started with one win and one draw, ahead of Sunday's blockbuster rematch.
Surfers Paradise coach Alex Morrison said his side knew what it was coming up against when they take on the Sharks.
“They are a fantastic team who pushed us the whole way last season. We expect them to come out with the same level of play they have had over the past few years and make it a tough afternoon,” he said.
With Brett Budwee’s side coming off a solid victory over Southport Warriors last weekend, they will be eager to keep the momentum rolling against the early season benchmark.
“They have improved their player stocks over the off season and in the first two games have looked outstanding.," the Palm Beach coach said of Apollo.
“We are not looking at the grand final and using that as motivation for this game. What happened there is finished and now the new challenge is ahead of us."
With rain forcing both sides to alter preparations earlier in the week, the stage is set for a fiery yet well-spirited battle between two teams with premiership hopes.
'We're not a bad club': Fallout from Gold Coast Premier League grand final brawl
November 15, 2020 - Eliza Reilly
PALM Beach Soccer Club president Michael Hanns is confident his club has the right culture in place to overcome the isolated brawl in the aftermath of the Gold Coast Premier League grand final on Saturday night against Surfers Paradise.
Tension between supporters built as the match went on before Surfers Paradise was crowned champion and a fight broke out between supporters.
Palm Beach supporters were bussed in at 2pm to watch their reserves and senior teams play back-to-back grand finals, meaning heat and excessive alcohol consumption played a role in the fracas.
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It’s understood the supporters who instigated the fight were not known to the club.
Hanns said he had been working extensively with members of his club and the Gold Coast football community in the past three years to mentor upcoming juniors and the incident was not a reflection of the culture they’d built.
“We’ve been driving these programs for years and putting things in place to help mentor our juniors but at the end of the day, the behaviour we saw on Saturday night was unacceptable. We’re not a bad club, that’s definitely not the case. It was completely unforeseen circumstances and it probably comes largely down to intoxication but we’re not trying to dodge a bullet, we don’t condone any bullying or blueing.
“We’ve got to look at what good can come of this and we’ll certainly be working to make sure nothing like this ever happens again at any club.”
Hanns said his club had been commended by Football Gold Coast for establishing a positive culture in its junior program and Palm Beach’s rate of red cards and on-field incidents was one of the league’s best.
Palm Beach is also a committed partner of Beyond Blue and the charity’s advertising appears on players’ kit and around the club.
“We’re big on mental health and working with children and adults to ensure nobody is suffering,” Hanns said.
EARLIER:
PALM Beach Soccer Club President Michael Hanns has vowed to undertake a cultural overhaul after an ugly brawl broke out between Sharks and Surfers Paradise supporters in the aftermath of the Gold Coast Premier League grand final on Saturday night.
Police were called to Lex Bell Park on Salerno Street in Surfers Paradise around 8:40pm when a fight broke out between opposing supporters.
It’s believed the ‘Palm Beach Palmy Army’ grew increasingly rowdy as the game progressed, swearing at Surfers Paradise players and allegedly throwing drinks at players as they were taking sideline throw-ins as they watched their side crash to a 3-1 loss.
It’s alleged a female Surfers Paradise supporter was assaulted while the game was still ongoing, elevating the tension between opposing camps.
Around three Palm Beach supporters continued to instigate trouble walking back and forth between their supporter camp behind the players’ benches and the Surfers Paradise clubhouse where a bar was located.
Police arrived shortly before 9pm after the major scuffle had largely broken up.
One stable male patient was transported to Gold Coast University Hospital with an eye injury after being punched in the face.
Palm Beach President Michael Hanns condemned the behaviour of Sharks affiliated supporters and said the club was already in the process of instigating educational programs to ensure Palm Beach juniors understand respectful behaviour.
“The loss wasn’t on my mind at all the night after the game. I was up until 3am in the morning trying to think about what we could do to fix it,” Hanns said.
“It is at the top of my agenda to start change. I want a strong culture but Saturday night is not what I’ve been trying to endorse at all.
“I’m absolutely disgusted, I have no other word for it.
“I wouldn’t bring my kids to the game last night.
“We want to develop a code of behaviour and educational programs with our juniors to stop the trend and break the cycle.
“We’ve even thought about creating a photo database of our core supporters to create ownership and put the emphasis on our guys to set a standard.”
It’s unclear whether the aggravating supporters were directly linked to Palm Beach’s core group of supporters or even whether they travelled on the Sharks’ supporter buses to the venue.
Surfers Paradise president Telly Karadimos said his club would work with Palm Beach and Football Gold Coast to investigate the incident.
“It was very disappointed, it was disgusting,” he said.
“We will be investigating our spectators as well and if we believe anyone was involved, it’ll be taken very seriously.
“It didn’t take the gloss of our win. We created a record at our club, going undefeated and winning the grand final. It’s never happened before in our history.”
Only two security guards were on hand to manage the venue and both were incapable of stopping the brawl from escalating.
“We weren’t expecting a crowd that big,” Karadimos said.
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