Re-United in bid to get into A-League
IN their bid to resurrect Gold Coast United, powerbrokers admit they have learnt from the mistakes made during the club’s ill-fated A-League tenure.
United yesterday announced they will be reborn as a National Premier Leagues Queensland outfit with the ultimate ambition of one day returning to the A-League.
The club will field men and women’s NPL teams from next year, joining Palm Beachbased Gold Coast City in the statewide competition.
United are finalising negotiations to make the Robina Raptors rugby league field near Cbus Super Stadium their home base but have other options on the table including at Carrara and Runaway Bay.
After an up-and-down stint in the nation’s top soccer competition under the ownership of Clive Palmer – that ended with the licence being revoked in 2012 – the brand’s re-emergence comes after a two-year, $300,000 study by Sports Gold Coast.
That research found the need for a Gold Coast sports team to be led by the community rather than be forced upon them, United chairman Danny Maher said.
“What has happened in a lot of sports at the Gold Coast is the sporting marketeers have looked at the Gold Coast and gone, ‘Wow, we want a team at the Gold Coast’ and they have imposed a team at the Gold Coast,” Maher said.
“It has never before actually come from the community. It has to be community driven, it has to be grassroots driven.”
As part of that, a logo, colours and playing kit will be decided by the public to ensure that “right on day one they feel like they’re all part of this”.
“The research was clear that Gold Coast United was the name that people wanted back,” United chief executive Troy Bingham noted, however.
The approach to United’s design and appearance is despite Maher’s personal preference
to see the club’s colours and logo maintain a link to its history.
The community focus will also see every Gold Coast club be granted membership in United.
Maher clarified that a return to the A-League is the “ultimate plan of course”.
“These are five-year licences and there is a possibility of promotion/relegation looming between NPL and A-League so we have got to be successful immediately,” he said.
“We have got to invest big, we have got to have the highest levels of professionalism so that we get to the A-League as soon as possible.”
He declared another major bonus of United’s admission will be the fierce derby rivalry it will create with City.
“I will expect a big rivalry now and it will be hard to stay on the friendly side of that,” he said, adding businesses were already lining up to sponsor a local derby cup.
Underpinned by Sports Gold Coast, United’s NPL licence replaces the second-tier Queensland Premier League licences that had recently been issued to Gold Coast Athletic and Gold Coast Galaxy in what is a merger deal.
United have already attracted interest from former players of their A-League days and are close to locking in a head coach.
They will soon announce a technical director described by Bingham as “the best in the country”.
Bingham also said he wants United to build their playing roster around plenty of homegrown talent.