Surfers Paradise president Telly Karadimos confident Gold Coast City Council will fix Lex Bell Oval

SURFERS Paradise president Telly Karadimos is confident the club can keep hold of its Premier League squad after a “very positive” meeting with Gold Coast Council about Lex Bell Oval.

SURFERS Paradise president Telly Karadimos is confident the club can keep hold of its Premier League squad after a “very positive” meeting with Gold Coast City Council over the state of Lex Bell Oval.

Desperate to rectify a Lex Bell surface described as being like “in Syria” earlier this year, Karadimos and Football Gold Coast general manager Damien Bresic last week met with Councillor Gary Baildon and sport and recreation officer Bruce Flick to discuss off-season plans for the field.

The state of the playing surface had raised concerns that coach Alex Morrison and players would walk away from the club, but Karadimos said the meeting had put the wheels in motion to keep the preliminary finalists together.

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Lex Bell Oval in July.

“We’ve got the ball rolling and we don’t think we’re going to lose any players,” he said.

“(Council) have assured us they will come back and visit in November. They’re going to put a bit more effort in than what they have in the last couple of years.

“They are going to aerate (the field) and level it out a bit because some of the areas have gone flat. I think they know now that we’re very serious.

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“We’ve spoken about the lights … and that’s going to be looked into as a priority as well. The lights have been there for about 10 years and apparently they should be maintained every three years and they’ve never been maintained.

Surfers Paradise president Telly Karadimos. Picture: Jerad Williams

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“The third thing we looked at was fencing, which is a requirement by Football Gold Coast. I’ve put my hand up to go and knock on the neighbours’ (doors) around the complex because apparently that’s been the issue with putting it up, the neighbours. It’s for safety reasons we need it up.

“We’re ecstatic about the outcome, it was very positive and we’re looking forward to November.”