Gold Coast Knights to build 3000-seat stadium at Carrara’s Croatian Sports Centre

THE Gold Coast Knights will build their own 3000-seat stadium at Carrara in a move that could solve a major headache for A-League hopefuls Gold Coast United.

THE Gold Coast Knights will build their own 3000-seat stadium at Carrara in a move that could solve a major headache for A-League hopefuls Gold Coast United.

In the latest development in the long-running stadium saga on the Coast, the Knights are in the process of creating a multistage plan to build a $1.5 million facility at their Croatian Sports Centre headquarters.

Construction will be staged in 800-seat increments each year, with the first lot expected to be complete by the end of the 2019 season — the club’s first in the statewide NPL competition.

With Gold Coast United on the lookout for a home to aid their A-League and W-League aspirations, Knights president Adrian Puljich believes his club’s bold stadium plan could give their soon-to-be NPL rivals a crucial boost.

“We want the Gold Coast Knights to become a club not only for the Knights and people of the Gold Coast Knights, but for the greater Gold Coast. Why shouldn’t Gold Coast United play from our venue?,” Puljich said.

“I’ve had discussions with Sports Gold Coast and Gold Coast United in relation to what we’re looking to achieve at Gold Coast Knights and we fully support what Gold Coast United are trying to do by going back into the A-League.

Gold Coast Knights players Teddy Watson and Andrew Barisic at Carrara’s Croatian Sports Centre. Picture: Mike Batterham

“I’m a believer in what’s going on with football on the Gold Coast. It is the highest junior participation sport and there really is an opportunity to capitalise on that.

“We’re in a very unique position whereby we own our land and for us the highest and best use for our type of club … is to provide a service to the local community and an outlet for local footballers that are aspiring to do more. At the moment, Gold Coast United are playing out the back of Robina (Cbus Stadium) on rugby fields and for me as a football lover and as a neutral, it’s something that we need to fix and quickly.

“You don’t have to go and build a Cbus Stadium or a Metricon-type set up, I don’t think the Gold Coast needs that. It needs a boutique stadium that’s almost no frills, that’s inviting for families.

“As soon as you start doing something spectacular, of course there’s a price tag because it costs money to maintain it, it costs money to service it and that’s where teams get caught out.”

Puljich said he would also approach Gold Coast City Council about funding assistance for the stadium, but said the Knights had the financial capacity to go it alone if need be.

United chairman Danny Maher recently told the Bulletin the club was determined to make use of Cbus Stadium should they succeed with their A-League bid, but said a boutique stadium could be home for their mooted W-League outfit.

“We want a boutique stadium, 100 per cent, particularly for W-League if the crowds are lower. It might be suitable for some A-League games too,” Maher said.

“We need that facility.”