Queensland To Lose Roar

Interesting news during the week that Queensland are shifting their headquarters from the current home at Richlands to the Ballymore complex in Herston. This step will further distance the club from its original parent club Queensland Lions.

The Roar is an interesting case in the A-league as they were the only club that was granted a licence where a strong ethic background was already in place. As most football fans know the Queensland Lions were once known as the Hollandia Inala Soccer Club and still today maintain a strong Dutch flavour through the social club. The Roar’s prominently Orange strip is an acknowledgment of their history as an ethic backed club.

The move to Ballymore though will help the Roar to put some distance between themselves and Hollandia and begin the process of widening their appeal to all segments of the Brisbane public. With the Lions Social Club no longer part of the Roar, there is talk already of completely re-branding the club in the move. Although the club denies it, a change of name and strip would seem to be on the cards.

The Queensland name seems unwarranted now that two additional teams from Queensland are joining the club next year and changing the name to be more Brisbane oriented would seem to make a lot of sense. Also dropping the orange and switching to a maroon strip with a touch of blue would help identify the club more closely with Queensland.

The move to Ballymore is a fantastic for the club. Located only a couple of kms from the city centre, it will provide a terrific location for a training base as well as a match day stadium. It is well documented that the Roar have a poor stadium deal with Suncorp that results in the club is making zero dollars from the gate. The ability to transfer to the smaller Ballymore on a better package would be key to the long term success of the club and the current redevelopment there will provide the Roar with a first class training establishment that includes swimming pool, gym and elite medical centre as well as one of the best football surfaces in the country.

In an added bonus of course it also would allow The Roar to sidestep one of the great curses in the A-league, The Roar Home Record at Suncorp is nothing short of horrible. Of the 37 matches they have played there, they have won only 10. This is simply not good enough and there is no doubt the record has hurt the Roar’s ability to draw fans to its home games. Sydney claim that title of second most supported team in the A-League but the Roar are not far behind and some improvement in their home form could see them quickly leap frog Sydney in crowd numbers.

Many Roar fans would be hoping for a far happier experience at Ballymore.

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