Gold Coast United FC: Rise and fall of Clive Palmer-funded A-League club

Gold Coast United FC launched with great fanfare, backed by Clive Palmer and with an impressive debut. Then it all went wrong. INSIDE THE FALL

The Gold Coast has worked hard to rid itself of the reputation as the city where national sporting teams go to die.

Today we are home to an AFL and NRL side and are bidding for an NBL licence, while preparing to co-host the 2032 Olympic Games.

It’s an exciting time to be a sports fan.

But it was a different story in the late 1990s when we lost both our first NBL team, the Rollers, and our rugby league team, the Chargers.

It was a dark time but by the late 2000s, things were ramping up.

Gold Coast United star player Jason Culina on Surfers Paradise beach

The Titans entered the NRL in 2007, the same year the Blaze made their debut in the NBL, the latter folding in 2012.

The city’s bid to become the 17th team in the AFL was gaining pace while mid-2008 saw businessman Clive Palmer announce he would bankroll the Gold Coast’s entry into the A-League competition.

That team, Gold Coast United, made its debut in the top-flight competition 15 years ago this weekend.

2009: The leaders Gold Coast's four national sporting teams - Travis Auld of GC17 (later the Gold Coast Suns), Dave Claxton of Gold Coast Blaze, Clive Mensink of Gold Coast United, and Michael Searle of the Gold Coast Titans. By 2012 only two survived.

The team was given the green light on June 3, 2008 after Mr Palmer announced it would have $6m made immediately available for star-up costs.

He also vowed to fly his players to and from matches in his own private jet.

“Having the jet at the players’ disposal will be good for team bonding,’’ he told the Bulletin on the night before he was granted the licence.

Mr Palmer claimed the club would become the city’s biggest team within a handful of years.

‘‘Take rugby league, it’s just going round in circles,’’ he said.

“The NRL is the same story told over and over. It’s not going anywhere.

“Eventually the public will get sick of it and crave the sort of international competition only soccer can bring. Soccer is the future for Australian sport.

Gold Coast Jason Culina and Fulham's Mark Schwarzer ahead of the pre-season friendly which United won.

“We’re going to be bigger than the Titans in time and we’re going to be the team every player is going to want to play for.

“Why would you want to live in Newcastle and play for the Jets when you can come to the Coast and be in the best place in the world?”

Former Queensland Roar coach Miron Bleiberg was tapped as the club’s first leader.

The 2009-10 pre-season was an exciting affair, with the club playing a friendly against English Premier League side Fullham FC and winning 2-1.

The “Beautiful Game” finally arrived for the Gold Coast on August 8, 2009 when United played their debut match at Suncorp Stadium, defeating the Roar 3-1.

The debut match between the Brisbane Roar v Gold Coast United at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane.

It saw goals from key players Shane Smeltz, captain Jason Culina and Brazilian superstar Robson.

‘‘There’s a lot of improvement in us,’’ Smeltz said after the game.

‘‘We know we can do better than we did at Suncorp and if we do we’re going to be even harder to beat.”

Mr Palmer predicted big things going forward.

Gold Coast United fans Pedro Gomez and Dallas Constable.

‘‘It’s crazy for people to imagine we can get regular 20,000 gates when the population base of the Gold Coast is under 500,000,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s not about the quality of the game or the club, it’s how many people live in the area.

“We will be expecting gates of around 5000 to 7000. That’s equivalent to a crowd of around 120,000 in Melbourne with their population (of just under four million).

‘‘For Fulham we had 10,800, and that’s probably the most we can expect in the market we’re operating out of.’’

Sadly, it did not pan out.

Football Federation Australia Chairman Frank Lowy terminated the club’s licence in February 2012 after a public falling out with Mr Palmer.

The A-League took control of the team which was allowed to play the final four games of the season before shuttering.