Brisbane Roar CEO Kaz Patafta reveals need for new home for the A-League club

Brisbane Roar CEO Kaz Patafta has revealed the team’s $10 million plan to revamp Perry Park, without the need for government funding, reports ERIN SMITH.

Transforming Perry Park into a state-of-the art 25,000 seat football stadium and making it the new hallowed ground for elite level football in Queensland is no longer a 10-year-dream – it is something CEO Kaz Patafta says can happen very soon.

Patafta, who took charge in July last year, said it was a vital part to putting one of the A-League’s most successful clubs back in the upper echelon.

Reviving the 5000 seat stadium which is home to NPL club Brisbane Strikers and used regularly by the Roar’s women’s team, has been talked about for years.

In July Football Queensland revealed it hoped to upgrade the facility to a 15,000-20,000 seat venue – a project estimated to cost $200 million – with the help of government funding.

Patafta said Brisbane Roar club owners were willing and in a position to invest $7-$10 million for the first phase of the upgrade and wouldn’t need to rely on public funding.

Brisbane Roar have revealed a plan for elite level football in QLD. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

It is a move that solves a number of problems for Patafta – the biggest one being the huge drain on the budget hosting games at Suncorp Stadium has on the club- especially with last season averaging just 6700 fans to a home game.

“Perry Park is not a secret to us or our fans – it is the spiritual home of football,” Patafta said.

It doesn’t mean the club would look to completely abandon Suncorp Stadium – just keep it for its bigger home games.

“We respect that as a home ground, there is a lot of nostalgia, a lot of history there, we’ve won some big matches there. So for our fans that is home for now which is why it was important that we move back,” Patafta said.

“But there is also the reality of where we are at as a club and we’re not currently in a position where we’re able to sell out Suncorp – I believe we will get back to that point at some stage – but it takes a lot of factors – it is getting things right on the field, off the field and try and build success sustainably.

New Brisbane Roar CEO Kaz Patafta says a new state of the art stadium could be built sooner rather than later. Picture: Supplied Brisbane Roar

“Suncorp is always going to be home but an alternate boutique venue that’s fit for purpose for football, fit for purpose for both of our teams and even the youth teams as well, I think is ideal for us, because our fans need a consistent home base where they can watch the women play, they can watch the men play, they can watch our youth teams playing as well, rather than having everyone scattered around Brisbane.”

It isn’t something that could happen overnight – it would be a phased approach – the first step being to bring the existing stadium up to an A-League’s men’s level.

“We’d love to activate the stadium, we would like to start now and have some type of capital investment now to get to a standard where you could have 6000-7000 seats, that is perfect for us in terms of where we’re at as a club and the amount of content here in Brisbane,” he said.

“The atmosphere would be amazing, from a broadcast perspective it would be amazing, from a corporate hospitality perspective it would be amazing – the location is perfect is grow our fan base and sport.

“The capital investment would make sense for us because we are spending so much money to play (at Suncorp) anyway.

“I don’t want this to be a 10-year thing.”

South Pine Sports Complex at Brendale where the Brisbane Roar’s new high performance centre is located. Picture: Supplied

The completed project would include a 20-25,000 seat multi-sport stadium, with a club house and even an allied health centre – something fans could have a real sense of ownership over.

They wouldn’t be the first A-League club to go down this road with Western United finally opening their new stadium at Tarneit mid-last season.

“We are the only professional football club in Queensland. It’s important that we work on a plan to give our fans a home base and that goes beyond a stadium, it is community, it is about a place fans can get together,” Patafta said.

Brisbane Roar will take a first step to creating a home ground when it looks to relocate at least its women’s team and youth squads to a new $22 million facility at Brendale by the new year.

The new facility would be fit to purpose both the men’s and women’s teams. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images

The high performance facility, built by Moreton Bay City Council, is equipped with a gym, change rooms, and multiple fields.

There are no grandstands yet but Patafta said the club was exploring the possibility of putting temporary grandstands there to host a couple of women’s A-League matches to showcase the team to the wider Brisbane community.

“It is really exciting and I think as a fan the next couple of seasons are going to be really exciting,” Patafta said.

“There’s an emphasis on youth, an emphasis on development but there’s a huge emphasis on really investing into real assets that are going to sustain us regardless of any of the external factors around us.”

Originally published as Brisbane Roar CEO Kaz Patafta reveals need for new home for the A-League club