Recently, the Stadium Taskforce Report commissioned by the Queensland Government was released to the public and it could just make Moreton Bay an A-League expansion dark horse as a result.
Along with recommending that no new stadiums are built in Brisbane, the report also recommends that Ballymore should be downgraded to 5,000-seats in capacity and that it should be turned into a centre of excellence for rugby union, making it unsuitable as an A-League venue.
QSAC is slated to be reduced in capacity but it would still be under the thumb of Stadiums Queensland and it will also continue to have transport and access issues. It may not be suitable for a new A-League side trying to find its feet.
During the last round of A-League expansion, there were three bids from Brisbane, with Brisbane Strikers, Brisbane City and Ipswich. But since none of these bids have a useable stadium of their own, they would have to share Lang Park with Brisbane Roar.
As Football Federation Australia want to avoid creating another Melbourne City by basing two teams in the same stadium, it’s now highly doubtful whether any of these bids will be accepted.
Therefore, the only stadium in Brisbane which would be capable of hosting a second A-League team is Dolphin Stadium in Redcliffe. With a geographic distance from Lang Park similar to that between Lang Park and Ipswich, the club will have a clear and separate identity from the current team, unlike when Melbourne City came in.
In addition, the 10,000-seat capacity of the ground is bang on perfect for an A-League side.
The smallest market in the A-League is the Central Coast which is home to 325,000 people. Their club, the Mariners, have an average attendance this season of just over 7,000 while their average across all seasons of the A-League is about 9,000.
Alan Baro of the Mariners celebrates (AAP Image/Darren Pateman)
Central Coast Stadium only looks bad on TV because the ground holds 20,000 people which makes it look half empty. But when you think that Moreton Bay has a hundred thousand more people who are themselves condensed into a smaller area, it is quite conceivable that an A-League team could pack out Dolphin Stadium on a regular basis.
You may think that the region is a rugby league heartland, and you’d be right, but that’s also what people said about the Central Coast. I think they’ve done quite well to attract as many fans as they have, despite the poor “optics”.
But perhaps the most important thing about Dolphin Stadium is that its small capacity means that it doesn’t fall under the management of Stadiums Queensland who would be the death of any new club at Lang Park. That alone is a huge advantage in favour of a new team in Moreton Bay.
FFA are on record as being keen on the idea of having a Brisbane Derby and the report by Deloitte which they commissioned also pointed to a second team in Brisbane as a good choice. With the only suitable stadium in Brisbane, FFA will find it very hard to look past Redcliffe. The only thing missing is a formal bid.
If Moreton Bay Council were to lead a bid as Macarthur Council initially did in South West Sydney then it could well gather momentum and be a strong contender for an A-League license.
There were no financial backers behind it at the start, council set up the bid and investors came out of the woodwork when they saw an opportunity. Who knows who might step forward if Moreton Bay Council do the same?
The local people might prefer an NRL team but that would have to face strong opposition from Perth, Adelaide, Sunshine Coast and the Brisbane Bombers. An A-League side however seems like a shoe in.
Article written by Nick Symonds
Simoc
Guest
And they're building a new "State of the Art University" right next door currently which is supposed to be going to employ every man, woman but not not their dogs. If patrons need to walk 2 kms from the railway station it could be said we're also looking after their exercise requirements.
Ballymore Brumby
Roar Pro
The fact that the nearest railway station is a 2km walk away from the ground will deter use of that mode of transport especially if coming from that the other side of town.
Admiral Ackbar
Guest
Townsville would be suicide. Up there the Cowboys are like gods, and not just in Townsville but also Cairns, Mackay and even Mt Isa. I can't even think of any players from Townsville, usually the players associated with North Queensland are from Cairns (eg Frank Farina, Steve Corica, Michael Thwaite, Ben Halloran, Zenon Caravella, Shane Stefanutto etc)
Admiral Ackbar
Guest
Putting a team in Redcliffe is stupidity. With Brisbane you need a North-South rivalry or North-Southwest. If I was Chris Nikou and the Strikers could get their act together I would actually consider kicking the Roar out of A-League and bringing the Strikers in. That'd cover the north side, then you'd have to decide whether to put their "local rivals" either South (Logan) or Southwest (Ipswich).
Sydneysideliner
Roar Rookie
Yeah that's a shame. The river divide is really the closest thing Brisbane has to the East-West rivalry in Sydney. Moreton Bay is more like Central Coast and the "western corridor" is too nebulous to have any community attachment (and it's mostly Ipswich drumming up support for it)
M20
Guest
Nah MBRC are busy shoehorning more units and townhouses in the area too be concerned with an A league bid. Don't Dolphins own the ground anyway?
Jack Russell
Roar Guru
Who's coughing up the $15m licence fee? All the metrics in the world don't mean a thing unless the FFA gets paid.
Simoc
Guest
You must be a moon traveller Randy M. So out of touch with Qld. People love identifying with this area outside Logan, which I guess is where you're from. And for most it would be far easier access than Lang Park. I don't know the drawing capacity of soccer here though since the local rugby league Redcliffe Dolphins who do very well in the competition are winning without drawing big crowds. Being a national comp it may change things. But renowned as an ideal climate area it is near half full of retirees who probably aren't football followers.
josh
Guest
West is West. There is no South-West.
Nick Symonds
Guest
Central Coast - $13.4 billion
Churchman72
Roar Rookie
WSW is based a long way from Campbelltown and are geographically closer to SFC than the new side. I would have to travel near two hours by public transport to get to a match Parramatta and many people living in SW Sydney would have even longer travel times. Wanderers training ground is even further away in Rooty Hill, so there’s not a lot of connection to this area, which has always had its own identity anyway.
Nick Symonds
Guest
GROSS REGIONAL PRODUCT: Sunshine Coast - $15.7 billion Moreton Bay - $17.3 billion Illawarra - $22.7 billion Tasmania - $30.3 billion Gold Coast - $35.2 billion ACT - $38.2 billion
Nick Symonds
Guest
Found it later.
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
Sydneysideliner - also important to note that the above is made even more difficult because Brisbane Roar's Training and Administration Facility was built in Logan so they already have a presence in the area.
josh
Guest
Second team ? Since WSW were formed i've lived in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth and there's no way I could have a second team. Face it, SWS have been brought in for 2 reasons, 1) Placate the East Sydney FC tears over Southern Expansion 2) Hurt the growth of WSW because East Sydney FC cannot tolerate having the second biggest fanbase in Sydney.
Churchman72
Roar Rookie
It’s also got bus interchange facilities and is on a high frequency route that directly accesses the SE Busway. As for entertainment, isn’t that the football itself?
Churchman72
Roar Rookie
I want it too, and I do live in the area. Parramatta is too far away and there’s nothing else happening in this part of the world during the summer months. I’d happily make them my second team (after the Roar) to get a regular live football fix, seeing that I no longer live in Brisbane and I cannot bring myself to support either the Wanderers or Sydney FC.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Never let it be said that it's not worth pursuing the absolutely insane, afterall, they are about to plonk a club amongst the sheep paddocks outside of the current limits of metropolitan Melbourne, appropriately, where they filmed Mad Max.
Ad-O
Guest
Putting an A-League team in Redcliffe is insane. I don't know how you make the statement that QE2 has worse transport problems than Redcliffe. It's right on the SE Freeway about 15-20 mins drive from the CBD. Garden City, the main southern suburbs transport hub, is 10 minutes away by bus. Its almost as if you've forgotten Griffith Uni is right next door. They have no problems transporting 15K students (plus teachers and staff) into and out of the place every day. It also has the benefit of actually being in Brisbane, on the southside where over 1M people already live. Don't get me wrong, the place isn't ideal. There's not much by the way of entertainment round there. But I don't see how its worse than putting a team in a village.
Sydneysideliner
Roar Rookie
Personally I think there needs to be a North-South dynamic for the second SEQ team, with a team representing the diverse and unrepresented southern Brisbane/Logan area and the Roar holding onto the northside. The transport infrastructure is there and a boutique ground could be built in Mt Gravatt area (playing out of QEII until that happens) but that's unlikely since this stadiums report came out, which basically expects new teams to funnel into Suncorp. Moreton Bay is still a good option and has a new rail line to take advantage of too. Anything but another "City FC" overlap!