Gold Coast making new A-League play
IT’S now or never. That is Gold Coast United’s plea to Football Federation Australia after they officially launched yesterday a bid for a return to the A-League in 2019-20.
With the Coast becoming flooded with top-level sporting teams – a Suns AFLW side is on the way in 2020 and others such as cricket’s Big Bash League remain a strong possibility in future – United chairman Danny Maher called for action to get football back in the limelight.
“All sports and all governing bodies regard Gold Coast as a prized piece of territory and there is a fight on here now to capture the sporting minds of the Gold Coast,” Maher said.
“If the FFA don’t get here with us to fight it now, then it is going to be very hard territory to grab back later.
“Now is the time. We have the Commonwealth Games coming here now; this is a great time to announce our bid for an A-League licence.”
While Maher doesn’t feel United are in direct competition with the Titans and Suns, he believes there is plenty of reason to be confident about their ability to pull a crowd.
“We are the biggest sport in the world. We are the biggest sport in Australia. We are the biggest sport at the Gold Coast and we’re the only ones with men and women and we’re the only ones with the grassroots structure,” Maher said.
Those factors, plus the quality of their academy and access to facilities including Cbus Super Stadium and Bond University’s high performance centre have United sure they can do better than their first life, when they were kicked out of the A-League in 2012 after many dramas.
“This time is different because it’s grassroots driven,” Maher said.
“Crowds come based on the way that you engage the community, the way that you market the club and the model that you have.
“We have already built everything to have an ALeague club on top of it.
“There will be no other bid in the country that has all these things in place.”
It may be six months or more before United learn whether their bid is successful.
Maher confirmed the club had begun lining up marquee players.
“We are looking specifically at some Asian players because we are very keen on creating links in the Asian market,” he said.
NOW IS THE TIME. WE HAVE THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES COMING HERE NOW UNITED’S DANNY MAHER