Second A-League team in southeast Queensland would be ‘good thing’ for Roar
A second A-League club in southeast Queensland could be just what the struggling Brisbane Roar needs to lift its own standards.
Football
Don't miss out on the headlines from Football. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A-League battlers Brisbane Roar have welcomed the likely addition of a second southeast Queensland team to the competition, believing it will help to lift their own performance on and off the field.
The Australian Professional Leagues has announced A-League expansion plans, with clubs from Canberra and Auckland to join the men’s competition for the 2024-25 season.
Fourteen teams will become 16 the following season with the addition of two clubs.
One is almost certain to be based at Brisbane and/or the Gold Coast, while contenders for the other spot include Tasmania, Wollongong, Perth and Adelaide.
Previous A-League expansions led to the formation of Gold Coast United and North Queensland Fury, but both were subsequently axed from the competition.
The Roar has been part of the A-League since its inception and was once the competition’s most feared and celebrated club, winning three titles in the space of four seasons from 2010-11 to 2013-14.
However, the Roar is now a shadow of its former self.
The club is currently in an unwanted battle for the wooden spoon with Melbourne Victory, plays in front of tiny crowds at a Redcliffe venue, are nomads in the terms of a training venue and operates on a shoestring budget.
The club recently sacked coach Warren Moon and replaced him – on the advice of legal adviser Dale Cliff – with little-known interim coach Nick Green, whose previous job was coaching a schoolboy team.
Roar general manager Ante Kovacevic has all but written this season off and is planning for the 2023-24 campaign as he looks for a new coach and some new players.
“We definitely need to improve in a lot of areas,” said Kovacevic, who added that the arrival of another Brisbane team or a Gold Coast side in the 2025-26 season would aid the Roar.
“We see it as a good thing for us. It will make sure that we’re on the ball.”
A-League officials are also hopeful another team from southeast Queensland would force the Roar to improve its operations, just as Sydney FC bettered themselves when the Western Sydney Wanderers joined the competition in 2012.
Kovacevic admitted the Roar needed a “minor miracle” to play finals football this season, but he was still hopeful Brisbane could avoid a bottom-four spot to avoid needing to win a playoff to contest this year’s Australia Cup competition.
Kovacevic was reluctant to comment on a video circulating in social media which called into question the amount of power lawyer Cliff has at the club.
However, Kovacevic said Green, who has a “UEFA A” coaching badge, had the necessary qualifications to coach the club in an interim capacity.
Originally published as Second A-League team in southeast Queensland would be ‘good thing’ for Roar
Rookie winger’s pleasant selection ‘shock’
A potential Socceroos debutant’s coffee plans quickly changed after he was notified he had been chosen in the national squad.
Striker targeting maiden Socceroos goal
Adelaide Oval looms as the perfect place for a proud South Australian to score his first goal for the Socceroos on Thursday night.