Brisbane Roar keen to move a home match from Suncorp Stadium to Perry Park

An A-League club wants to move one of their home games to a much smaller venue after being forced to play it midweek due to the scheduling of a concert.

Roar midfielder Jay O'Shea celebrates after scoring a goal at Suncorp Stadium last season. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images

A country music star’s concert booked for Suncorp Stadium has forced Brisbane Roar to shift a January weekend home game that was set to be broadcast on free to air TV to a midweek date in April that the club believes better suits a community ground which holds just 5000 people.

The Roar were supposed to play Adelaide United at the 52,500-capacity Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, January 25 in one of two A-League games scheduled to be shown that day on 10 Bold.

However, the Queensland club has now been bumped off its home ground by American country singing star Luke Combs, who has been booked for concerts at the venue on January 24 and 25.

It has led to the Roar-Adelaide clash being shifted to the night of Tuesday, April 22.

The fixture is currently scheduled to take place at Suncorp Stadium, however Roar chief operations officer Zac Anderson will ask A-League officials about the possibility of playing the match at Queensland’s traditional home of football, the 5000-capacity Perry Park, where several Australia Cup games have been played in recent years.

The Roar fear that the midweek scheduling of the rearranged fixture will result in them attracting a smaller crowd than usual that would be dwarfed by the size of Suncorp Stadium.

Last season the club’s average home attendance was 6707 across 13 matches, including one game that was played at Ballymore that had a season-low home crowd of 3178.

𝗙𝗶𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 📆 Our Isuzu UTE A-League Round 15 clash against Adelaide United has been rescheduled to be played on Tuesday, April 22.https://t.co/QE5a6K8AOv

— Brisbane Roar FC (@brisbaneroar) September 19, 2024

The Queensland Rugby Union-owned Ballymore is not due to host any Roar home matches this season, but that may change if Suncorp Stadium stages any more concerts that clash with Brisbane games which despite being booked for the venue can be moved to accommodate other events that take precedence over A-League matches.

Anderson was confident the Suncorp Stadium playing surface would be in good condition for the club’s home game against Western Sydney Wanderers on January 31, less than a week after Combs completes his two concerts at the venue.

Last season, the Roar were unhappy with the state of the venue’s playing surface after concerts.

“Lessons have been learnt from the mistakes of last year,” Anderson said.

The January 25 5pm (AEDT) timeslot that was to belong to the Roar-Adelaide game has now been allotted to the match at McDonald Jones Stadium between the Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory, which will be shown on 10 Bold.

The Australian Professional Leagues has also made changes to the timings of some other men’s A-League games in the upcoming season.

In round four, Adelaide United will now meet Western United on November 9 at Coopers Stadium at 7.35pm (AEDT), while Sydney FC will host Macarthur FC the following night at Allianz Stadium at 6pm (AEDT).

The round seven match between Central Coast Mariners and Sydney will now take place at 6pm (AEDT) on December 8.

The December 27 clash involving Perth and Macarthur at HBF Park will now start at 10.45pm (AEDT).

The round 15 game between Western United and Newcastle has been moved to January 17 and will kick off at 5pm (AEDT).

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Originally published as Brisbane Roar keen to move a home match from Suncorp Stadium to Perry Park