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Brisbane Roar

Full name	Brisbane Roar Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Roar or “Roarcelona”
Short name	BRFC
Founded	1957; 62 years ago (1957)
Ground	Suncorp Stadium
Capacity	52,500
Owner	Bakrie Group
Chairman	Rahim Soekasah
Manager	Darren Davies (Interim)
League	A-League
2017–18	A-League, 6th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Active teams of Brisbane Roar FC
A-League team (Men's)	W-League team (Women's)	Youth & NPL team (Men's)

Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional Australian soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland.^[1] and has won the domestic title on three separate occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat.^[2]

Brisbane competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia.^[3]

The club was formed in 1957 as Hollandia-Inala, and became Brisbane Lions, before it transitioned into Queensland Roar, playing under that name from the inaugural 2005–06 season of the A-League until the 2008–09 season.^[4] Since joining the A-League, the club has won two league Premierships, three Championships and has competed in five AFC Champions League competitions^[5][6]

Brisbane Roar holds the record for the longest unbeaten run at the top level of any Australian football code, which stands at 36 league matches without defeat.^[7] Brisbane Roar are also the first and only club to win back to back Hyundai A-League Championships.

The club plays home matches at Suncorp Stadium, a 52,500 seat multi-use venue in Milton, with First team training taking place at Logan Heritage Park which also hosts the clubs administration staff. In March 2018, the club relocated its Playing and Administration Headquarters to a purpose built, $9 million Center-of-Excellence in Logan hosting training, sports science and medical facilities for the A League team, W-League team and over 16 youth development teams; the new CoE also host the club's administration staff as well .^[8]

The youth team competes in the National Youth League and the women's team competes in the W-League. Commencing in 2014, the youth and women's teams also compete in the NPL Queensland in order to maintain fitness and further develop their abilities. The youth team competes in the senior men's division while the women's team compete in the U15 boy's division. The youth and women matches are played at various locations across Brisbane, including Heritage Park, Goodwin Park, QSAC, A.J. Kelly Park, Perry Park and occasionally Suncorp Stadium.

History

Origins and formation (1957–2004)

The origins of Brisbane Roar are traced back to the founding of Hollandia-Inala in 1957, by Dutch immigrants. The club was based in the Brisbane suburb of Richlands. After adopting the name Brisbane Lions in the 1970s, the club joined the National Soccer League (NSL) as one of the founding clubs in the 1977 season and competed until the end of the 1988 season before reverting down to the Brisbane Premier League thereafter. In the 1990s, the club again changed its name to Queensland Lions after coming to an agreement with the Australian rules football club, Brisbane Lions.^[9][10]

At the time of conception of the A-League, teams from several capital cities were preferred to form the foundation clubs. By June 2004, two of the twenty submissions for joining the league were sought by partnerships formed in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland.^[11] On 1 November 2004, the group headed by Queensland Lions were chosen as operators of the Brisbane team. On 2 March the following year, Queensland Roar FC were officially announced. The clubs's first-ever board consisted of chairman John Ribot, a former CEO of both National Rugby League clubs Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm, deputy chairman Gary Wilkins, former Queensland and Australian international player, and CEO Lawrence Oudendyk, who was also Queensland Lions CEO.

Early years (2004–2009)

Roar playing at home in 2006.

Miron Bleiberg was appointed as the then Queensland Roar's inaugural manager on 2 March 2005. Under pressure from the fans to deliver on his promises of attractive, attacking and successful football he resigned on 12 November 2006 following a poor start to the 2006–07 season. After much speculation, Bleiberg was replaced by former Australian national team coach, Frank Farina just three days after Bleiberg's resignation.

Frank Farina's arrival led to a mini-revival which saw the club narrowly miss out on what would have been the Roar's first finals appearance, on goal difference. The 2007–08 season, however, saw Farina make up for the shortfall of the previous season, qualifying for the finals for the first time in the club's history. A memorable performance in the second leg of the semi-final saw the Roar defeat arch rivals 2–0 (2–0 agg.) Sydney FC in front of a (then) club record 36,221 fans to qualify for the preliminary final against the Newcastle Jets. The Roar would controversially lose 3–2 to the Newcastle side, who would ultimately go on to win the Grand Final. Farina again qualified for the finals in 2008–09, where the Roar dispatched of Central Coast Mariners 4–2 on aggregate, however they ultimately lost, again in the preliminary final, to Adelaide United after failing to capitalise on their dominance.

In 2009, the club was officially renamed to Brisbane Roar Football Club due to two other Queensland-based clubs entering the competition; that being Gold Coast United and North Queensland Fury.^[12]

On 10 October 2009, Farina was arrested by Queensland Police for Driving under the influence.^{[citation needed]} He was initially suspended by the Roar and asked to show cause as to why he should not be sacked for tarnishing the name of the club. It was announced that assistant manager, Rado Vidošić would step into a caretakers role until a decision had been made which would include the M1 Derby, which the Roar lost 1–0 at home. Farina was ultimately sacked on 14 October 2009, with the club tasked with finding a replacement for the remainder of the 2009–10 season.

Postecoglou era (2009–2012)

Besart Berisha, became the clubs top-scorer.

Ange Postecoglou arrived mid-season armed with the task of picking up the pieces of a season in tatters. Postecoglou's first season ended as the worst in the club's short history, finishing second from the bottom. Postecoglou completed a turn-around in the 2010–11 season. He made wholesale changes to the squad, commencing with the replacement of the "old-guard" of Charlie Miller, Craig Moore and Danny Tiatto and brought in his own squad which was a mixture of youth and talented experience. Under his brand of possession/attacking football, he would lead the team to win the club's inaugural premiership and go on to complete the club's first Double by also wrapping up the championship in a memorable 2011 A-League Grand Final in front of a then club record 50,168 supporters. The club went on an Australian sporting record 36-match unbeaten run which commenced in the 2010–11 season and ran through to the 2011–12 season. After much speculation on his future at the club, it was reported that Postecoglou had signed a three-year contract extension.^[13]

With such a successful season behind him, there was much talk as to whether the Roar could equal or better that in the 2011–12 season.^{[citation needed]} Their title credentials were in doubt when the club went on a club-record worst losing streak of five matches immediately following the ending of their record 36-match unbeaten streak. Postecoglou remained steadfast in the club's footballing philosophy and the club went on to record just one loss in the last 14 games of the regular season to finish league runners-up. Unable to retain the Premiers Plate, Postecoglou led the club to back-to-back championships in the 2012 A-League Grand Final in front of a club-record 50,344 supporters. Postecoglou also led the Roar's initial foray into the 2012 Asian Champions League as reward for their success in the previous season. Success was mixed, picking up two draws from four matches.

On 24 April 2012, Postecoglou left the club by way of mutual consent, citing a desire to seek "a new challenge".^[14] Ange leaves the club as the most successful manager in the club's history.

On 26 April 2012, it was reported that Postecoglou did not, in fact, sign a new contract at the conclusion of the 2010–11 season due to the uncertainty around the club's ownership at the time. That allowed his original two-year contract with the club to expire at the conclusion of the 2011–12 season and leave to join Melbourne Victory without the Victory needing to pay out his "contract" with the Roar.^[15]

Mulvey era (2012–2014)

On 25 April 2012, Rado Vidošić was promoted to the manager's position after serving seven years as Assistant Manager under the three previous managers before him.^[16] On 18 December 2012, Vidošić was removed as coach, taking up the role of technical director for the club, with Mike Mulvey, then coach of the Melbourne Victory women's named as his replacement. Vidošić was only manager for 13 matches before transferring to the new role, similar to the one offered to Postecoglou before his exit earlier in 2012.^[17] At the end of the 2012–13 season, the Roar finished in 5th place, carried by striker Besart Berisha's 14 goals during the season. The club made it to the semi-finals in the finals series, bowing out to premiers Western Sydney Wanderers 2–0.

The 2013/14 season began in terrific style, with the Roar winning 8 of their first 10 games. This form continued for the rest of the season as the club became dominant premiers. Players like Ivan Franjic, Luke Brattan and Dimitri Petratos shone while the return of former captain Matt McKay bolstered the midfield. Brisbane won the grand final 2–1 after extra time against Western Sydney Wanderers. Club talisman Besart Berisha and star utility Ivan Franjic would leave the club over the off-season for Melbourne Victory and Torpedo Moscow respectively.

Frans Thijssen (interim) 2015

After a run of poor results at the beginning of the 2014–15 season, Mulvey stepped down from the head coach role. Frans Thijssen was appointed caretaker coach for the remainder of the season.

Thinssen's first game in charge was a 1-1 draw against Perth Glory and ended with a 1-2 defeat against Urawa Red Diamonds. In total Thijssen was in charge for 28 games, winning eleven, drawing five and losing twelve.^[18]

Captain Matt Smith left the club in December to join Bangkok Glass, and was replaced by former captain and club favourite Matt McKay. The season ended with the club recovering to finish in 6th position and qualify for the finals series. Brisbane were knocked out by Adelaide United in the elimination final 2–1.

Aloisi era (2015–2018)

On 26 May 2015, John Aloisi was appointed head coach. Amidst off-field drama regarding the club's ownership during his first season as head coach, Aloisi led the Roar to an encouraging 3rd place on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the championship in the last game of the season and finishing only one point behind eventual champions Adelaide.

The 2015/16 performance was sufficient for the Roar to enter qualification for the 2017 Asian Champions League. After defeating Global F.C. and Shanghai Greenland Shenhua F.C. in 2017, Brisbane qualified for the ACL Group Stage for the fourth time in their history. Brisbane were knocked out in the group stage, winning just 1 match, and losing four, including a 6–0 to Ulsan Hyundai FC. This 6–0 loss, coupled with the Western Sydney Wanderers' 5–1 loss to Shanghai SIPG F.C. on the same day led to Fox Sports commentators Mark Rudan and Mark Bosnich labelling the matchday as "the darkest day in Australian club football".^[19][20][21]

Brisbane Roar's 2017/18 season started amid concerns over the quality of player signings, with the signing of former Serie A marksman, Massimo Maccarone, and former Ligue 1 duo, Fahid Ben Khalfallah, and, Eric Bautheac. Roar's first competitive match of the season was a round of 32 FFA Cup tie with Melbourne Victory FC at local ground, Perry Park. The home side started with an experimental side with some players playing in positions they were not usually deployed in. The game ended in a shambolic fashion for Aloisi's side, who lost 1-5 to their Melbourne opponents with the only positive coming from Petros Skapetis, who scored his first goal for the club with a shot coming from outside of the box and nestling in the top left corner of the Victory net. The season did not improve much with Brisbane without a win after 6 matches creating their worst ever season start. The Roar finally got their first win of the season at home to Melbourne City FC , the score was 3-1 with central defender, Avraam Papadopoulos scoring an unlikely brace. Brisbane Roar slowly climbed the A-league ladder with wins against Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Adelaide United FC, and, Perth Glory FC in the new year.

After finishing third on the A-league table in the 2016-17 season, Brisbane Roar gained entry into the second qualifying round of the Asian Champions League where they were drawn against Filipino, Ceres-Negros F.C.. The match was to be played at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre. This match proved to be arguably the worst moment in the club's history with the Roar crashing out of the competition at the hands of the Filipino side.

After this horror show, Brisbane Roar's results slightly improved with more wins against Central Coast Mariners FC, Adelaide United FC, and surprise victories over then current champions and future premiers, Sydney FC and future grand final winners, Melbourne Victory FC. Brisbane ended the regular season with wins over Central Coast Mariners, and, Perth Glory. Brisbane Roar scraped a sixth-place finish on the table earning just two more points than seventh placed Western Sydney Wanderers. This sixth-place finish gave the Roar qualification for the A-League Finals Series, where they played Melbourne City in a preliminary final away. The Brisbane-based side put on a poor display and were outplayed with the performance being reflected on the scoreline, 2-0.

The post season review saw numerous changes behind the scenes. The club finally moved in to its purpose built $10m City of Logan training facility in time for pre-season training^[22] and a new strength & conditioning coach was hired (from Western Sydney Wanderers), along with a former English Premier League physiotherapist. In addition, Darren Davies was appointed second Assistant Coach at Aloisi's request.

In addition new player signings were made early, avoiding mistakes of previous seasons, with 21/23 players reporting for pre-season training^[23] and - amid growing optimism for the new season with Aloisi promising to turn Suncorp Stadium in to a “fortress”^[24] - membership and club sponsorship approached record levels.

Aloisi's team again exited the FFA Cup at the first hurdle, losing 0-1 at home to Melbourne City despite having been back in pre-season training for 6 weeks prior to the game.^[25] The game was held at Dolphin Oval in Redcliffe in front of a club record FFA Cup home crowd of 6,151^[26]

Ahead of the new season Aloisi was very optimistic about Roars chances following a near-perfect pre-season free from off-field distractions^[27] with Aloisi claiming his side “has never been better”.

The season opened with a tense, come-from-behind 1–1 draw vs Central Coast Mariners^[28] in front of nearly 15,000 fans. Mariners would go on to record the worst ever start by any A-League club ever,^[29] a poor start that subsequently would only be slightly worse than Aloisi's Roar side. A second home game the following week saw a dire 0-0 draw vs Wellington Phoenix in front of more than 15,000 fans.^[30] The next two games were away from home with a come from behind 2-2 draw away to Western Sydney Wanderers at the Glen Willow Sports Complex, followed by a 1-2 defeat at Perth Glory.

After the first 4 games, all against sides who'd failed to make finals the previous season, Roar were winless with 3 points but then managed a 2-0 home win against Melbourne City, who had sacked John Aloisi for poor results five years earlier,^[31] putting Roar into a finals ladder position for the first time.

Roar would go on to lose their next 4 games under Aloisi, including conceding four goals in consecutive matches, to slump to 9th on the ladder.

As the season start went from bad to worse, Aloisi had to defend his team from multiple criticisms including that many players were too old and generally over the teams very poor start; with fan discontent^[32] increasing the pressure on Aloisi increased.^[33]

On 28 December 2018, despite having received a “vote of confidence” from the Board two weeks earlier, John Aloisi resigned as manager of Brisbane Roar following the club's poor start to the season, with the Roar second-last on the A-League ladder with just 1 win in 9 matches at the time of his departure^[34][35][36] and in the worst start to a season ever by a Brisbane Roar team.

He left as Brisbane Roar's longest serving manager.^[37] But after a promising first season the statistics showed that in subsequent seasons goals per game declined,^[38] the number of passes attempted and completed declined.^[39] and disciplinary issues increased^[40]

Darren Davies (interim) 2019

Following Aloisi's departure, Darren Davies was appointed ‘Interim Head Coach’ for an unspecified period.^[41] Davies tenure began with an encouraging 1-2 defeat away to Sydney FC and a 2-2 draw away to Newcastle Jets.

Crest and colours

Previous club crest (2005–14)

Roar's first kit

During the first two seasons the Roar played in a predominantly orange home strip with blue shorts and maroon socks. Queensland sporting teams traditionally play in maroon but the original home strip kept with the colours used by the team in its earlier incarnations. The colours of orange and blue honour the club's Dutch origins. On 31 July 2007 the club announced that it had ordered a strip that was half orange and half maroon, but that the colours were manufactured for prominence on television. For season three the home kit had been redesigned, the home strip is still orange but features maroon sleeves, the shorts are maroon instead of blue and orange socks are worn. Danny Tiatto and Craig Moore modelled in the strip launch on 1 August 2007^[42]

Before the 2009–10 A-League season, in accordance with the name changing of the club from Queensland Roar to Brisbane Roar, the club's logo was also changed with "Queensland" being dropped to make way for "Brisbane". On 20 May 2009, Reinaldo and Sergio van Dijk unveiled a new kit for the club, which would be worn for the next two seasons. The club stuck with the maroon and orange they had used for the last kit, but instead opted to drop the white slashes on the home kit. The orange used for the previous kit was brightened to the one used in season 1 of the A-League, with the design of both the new home and away kits changing. The slashes were dropped for a shoulder-pad style. The maroon shoulder pads would be displayed on an orange body, with maroon shorts. This was reversed on the away kit, with the shoulder-pads being orange on a white body with orange shorts.^[43]

Prior to the 2011–12 A-League season, the club announced that maroon, which had featured in some way on the clubs' kits since the A-League inception, would be removed and replaced with black.^[44] On 5 September 2011, the club released their kits for the upcoming season. The club showed off their home kit, which was orange with black diagonal shoulders with a thin, white line under the black. This was supported by orange with black banded socks. The away kit would turn out to be predominately black, with only the orange shoulders on the top with the white line underneath and the black with orange banded socks. The same pants would be used for both the home and away kits, which would sport two orange bands and a white band on black pants.^[45] The kits released were almost identical to the same design used by Tottenham Hotspur during their 2010–11 season with the only difference being full diagonal sashes and a collared neck instead of a "V" neck.

After two seasons in the diagonally sashed kit, both yielding Final Series football, the first season, winning the Grand Final, Puma released a new set of kits, including, for the first time, an alternative strip, deemed by the club as an "Event" kit. The home kit consisted of the usual orange, with black sides, black arm cuffs and a black V-neck collar, which also had a white piece of round-collared fabric attached, which had 3 centrally based lines, white in the centre, orange on the left and black on the right with white on the outside of the black and orange lines. The away kit reverted to the white with orange sides, black arm cuffs and a black V-neck collar. As with the home kit, the away kit had an orange piece of collared fabric attached to the collar, which had 3 centrally based lines, orange in the middle with a white stripe on the left and black on the right of the orange stripe with orange on the outside of the black and white lines. The alternative, or "event" strip, was silver with a top left to bottom right, orange diagonal sash. It also had black arm cuffs and a black V-neck collar with the inner silver fabric and the 3 centrally based stripes. Silver stripe in the middle with a black stripe on either side of the silver stripe and silver on the outside of the two black stripes.^[46]

On 15 August 2014, before the 2014 FFA Cup game vs Stirling Lions of the 2014–15 season,the Roar would reveal that Umbro would be making their kits for the next 4 years, ending a 4-year tenure with Puma.^[47] Two days later, Brisbane Roar changed their logo to a more "traditional" shield type crest, the biggest change since the club was renamed ahead of the 2009–10 season.^[47] The revelation received mixed reviews, some saying it lost the plastic, American franchise logo feel and some saying it's too bland and that not enough time was put into it. Another 2 days later, the Roar would release their new Umbro home kit, ditching the black pants and going with an all orange kit. The top would be completely orange with white piping on the collar with the pants being orange as well and have a white vertical strip going 3/4 of the way up the sides of the pants from the bottom, topped off with orange socks.^[48]

Sponsors

On 30 November 2007, the club signed a two and a half year deal with cafe chain The Coffee Club to be their main shirt sponsor.^[49] The Coffee Club would re-sign with the Roar in August 2010 for another 3 years, making it one of the longest sponsorship deals in the A-League.^[50] After the club's licence was taken back by Football Federation Australia in March 2011, the Coffee Club committed their future to the club, signing a $2 Million dollar, 3-year contract extension, sealing their future as sponsors until at least 2015.^[13]

At the conclusion of the 2010-11 A-League season, the League's collective kit deal with Reebok came to an end meaning that all A-League clubs could enter into their own separate kit manufacturer agreements. On 2 August 2011, the Roar announced that Puma would be the clubs' first kit manufacturer decided by the club, and agreed to a three-year deal with the sports brand. The club announced that Puma would manufacture the official playing kits for all Brisbane Roar teams, including the Youth and Women's teams as well as replica kits and other merchandise.^[51]

Before the start of the 2014/15 A-League season Brisbane Roar announced that Umbro would be replacing Puma as the clubs playing kit and apparel partner for the next four seasons.^[52]

On 24 February 2015, it was announced that Griffith University would be the principal kit Sponsor for the 2015 AFC Champions League campaign.^[53]

On 3 July 2015, it was announced that former front shirt sponsor, The Coffee Club would not renew its sponsorship with the club for the 2015/16 season. It was then announced that Ladbrokes would be the front shirt sponsor for the Roar's friendly against Liverpool on 17 July 2015.^[54]

Steadfast were announced as "Principal Partners" and "Front of Shirt Sponsors" by the club on 10 August 2015 for the duration of the 2015-16 A-League season. Steadfast had previously sponsored the rear of the men's teams' shirts and this new partnership would see the Steadfast logo feature on the shirts of all three Brisbane Roar teams.^[55]

Season 2017/18 commenced without a formal sponsor in place so the Roar featured the Starlight Children's Foundation branding on the front of its kits for the initial rounds of the 2017–18 A-League season.^[56][57][58]

In February 2018 Roar announced Central Home Loans (CHL) had been secured as principal partner and would feature on the front of the men's shirt for the remainder of the season^[59]

in July 2018 Roar announced Australian company ActronAir as principal partner, with the company logo to be displayed on the front of the men's shirt as well as feature on the women's team shirts.^[60] The value of the two-year deal was undisclosed.

Commercial painting company BBC Painting was later signed as Platinum Partner and back-of-shirt sponsor for the 2019 season.^[61]

Stadium and facilities

Brisbane Roar play home matches at Lang Park.

Since their inception, Brisbane Roar have played their home matches at the 52,500-capacity Lang Park (known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons) in the inner-city suburb of Milton. The stadium was also the home ground for the Brisbane Strikers in the now-defunct NSL. The stadium was also one of five venues in the successful 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship where the ground hosted seven matches. Suncorp Stadium has hosted Australian international fixtures, games at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, 2008 Rugby League World Cup and concerts, including the U2 360° Tour.^[62]

At the beginning of the 2010–11 Season, during negotiations with the operator of Suncorp Stadium, there were suggestions that the club may move its home games to Ballymore Stadium where the club had its administration and training facilities. However, the owners of the club opted to stay at Suncorp Stadium on a new restructured contract that would ensure the financial viability of hosting games at the more expensive Suncorp Stadium.^[63]

Following the flooding of Suncorp Stadium in the 2010–2011 Queensland floods, the Roar were forced to move two home games against Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Heart to the regular home of Gold Coast United at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast. These matches are the first 'home' league fixtures that the Roar have played at a venue other than Suncorp Stadium in the club's history.^[64]

In a spectacular 2011 A-League Grand Final, the 50,168 strong fans would make history, being the largest crowd to watch both the Roar and a football match in Brisbane. This was bettered the following season when 50,334 people saw Brisbane defeat Perth in the 2012 A-League Grand Final.^[65] The attendance of the 2012 Grand Final would be bettered two years later when the 2013–14 Premiers, the Roar, would do the double, beating Western Sydney Wanderers in the 2014 A-League Grand Final in front of 51,153 passionate fans.^[66]

During their 2015–16 campaign, the Nathan campus of Griffith University became Brisbane Roar's new training base, with the Roar's contract at long-time training venue Ballymore Stadium expiring, and the field at their previous Perry Park administration base not meeting the standards required by the Roar.^[67]

In 2016, Brisbane Roar announced the club would move to a permanent administration and training facility in Logan City. The $9 million Logan Metro Sports Park would also be the headquarters to the club's academy, youth and women's sides, as well as Football Brisbane.^[68]

In mid-2017, Roar announced a 5-year deal with QUT to locate their U12-U16 Academy teams at QUT's Kelvin Grove sportsground in Brisbane's North.^[69] Prior to the commencement of the 2016–17 season, it was announced that Brisbane would return to Ballymore until their new Logan training centre is complete.^[70]

In March 2018 the club formally opened their state-of-the-art Logan Center-of-Excellence with Administration moving in immediately and pre-season training for the men's team commencing in June 2018^[71]

Affiliations

• 
  Queensland Lions – Founded the club and played a part in Queensland Roar's inaugural roster.


• 
  Academy Partners - Roar have affiliations with several local clubs as part of their Academy Preparation Program. Partnerships include Souths United,^[72]Gold Coast City,^[73] Orange Thistle F.C., Sunshine Coast Wanderers F.C., Cairns F.C., Logan Lightening F.C. and Olympic FC^[74][75]


• 
  Gareth Edds Soccer Academy - in Townsville, QLD, the BRFC Academy is represented by GESA^[75]


• 
  Player Development Project - in July 2018 Roar were announced as a founding partner in the ‘Player Development Project’ along with Birmingham City FC, Fulham FC and AIK FC. A program designed to help clubs create a learning environment for their coaches^[76]

Ownership and finances

Currently, the club is owned by:

• 
  The Bakrie Group – 100%

Brisbane Roar was established by Queensland Lions SC in March 2005 as the team that would represent Brisbane in the newly formed A-League. Queensland Lions held a majority share in the club through to 2008. It is understood that in 2008 the 25% share owned by Queensland Lions was bought by the Roar board at a discount. This led to financial instability in the club and rumours of the club handing back its A-League licence to Football Federation Australia (FFA). On 16 April 2009 reports surfaced that the FFA were willing to purchase up to a 55% share in the Roar to ensure its financial stability. This 55% encompassed CEO Lawrence Oudendyk's 15% per cent interest, the 25% previously owned by Queensland Lions and the 15% share owned by Rob Jones and Rob Jansen. FFA advised that any takeover by the FFA would see Oudendyk replaced as CEO.^[77] Ultimately a new Brisbane-based ownership structure was formed with investors Emmanuel Drivas, Emmanuel Kokoris, Claude Baradel and Serge Baradel taking over 100% ownership of the club.

On 30 April 2009 the FFA confirmed their offer to take a controlling share in the Roar.^[78] The new ownership group declined the FFA's assistance on 22 May 2009.^[79] The owners' commitment to the club was reinforced in a statement released by Emmanuel Drivas on behalf of the owners on 12 April 2010 after further speculation that the Roar would require financial assistance from the FFA after a poor 2009–10 season.^[80]

In March 2011, just a week after the club won its first Grand Final, the FFA would take back the club's licence, agreeing to fund the club until new owners were found. Football Federation Australia CEO Ben Buckley thanked the previous owners for pouring money into the Roar, who could not keep up with the future costs for the club.^[81]

On 4 October 2011, The World Game reported that Indonesian mining magnate, The Bakrie Group, would takeover ownership of the club from the FFA under a 10-year term. Under the terms of the deal, The Bakrie Group paid A$8 million for a 70% share of the club, with the FFA retaining the remaining 30% share. Under the terms of this deal, the Bakrie Group had the option to purchase a further 20% stake in the club with the FFA holding the remaining 10% share. Following this change of ownership, the new chairman of the Roar was announced as Dali Tahir.^[82]

After becoming the first majority-share foreign owner of an A-League team, on 6 February 2012, the FFA announced that Bakrie had acquired 100 percent ownership of the Brisbane club.^[83]

On 30 June, it was reported that the Roar's owners, The Bakrie Group, were 9 billion dollars in debt, after having promising to inject 3.5 million dollars into the club. It was later revealed that players and staff, who were due to paid on 15 June – had yet to be remunerated for the month amid growing concerns over the ongoing viability of the three-time champion under the control of the Bakries.^[84]

It was announced on 10 July 2015, Brisbane Roar owner The Bakrie Group would sell the A-League club and a new owner would own the club later that month.^[85] On 25 July the Football Federation Australia threatened to wind up the Brisbane Roar due to unpaid debts^[86]

Support

Brisbane Roar supporters at an A-League match against Western Sydney in 2013

Brisbane Roar maintains one of the highest average attendances in the Hyundai A League, normally above the competitions' season average, and in the 2016/17 average crowds were 14,152.^[87]

Brisbane has two main supporters groups. The first (and oldest) is 'The Den' which is the 'Active Support Group' located in Bay 332 of the Northern stand of Suncorp Stadium, where they have been since the inaugural season of the A-League.^[88][89] The second and more recently formed in 2016, is the 'Roar Supporters Federation' or 'RSF' which is a broad based supporters group intended to give a voice to all fans with club owners and management.^[90]

In October 2017, fans launched a dedicated supporters group for Brisbane's W-League side – 'The Roar Corps'^[91] to be modelled on support groups in the American National Women's Soccer League.

Rivalries

• 
  Perth Glory - the rivalry with Glory stems from the 2012 A-League Grand Final which Brisbane won 2-1 thanks to a late, and controversial, penalty from Besart Berisha. Such was the feeling amongst Perth fans they bombarded Roars social media and the vitriolic sentiment filtering through to the club such that Roar elected to keep future team travel schedules over to Perth confidential.^[92] Relations were further strained when Roar poached striker Jamie MacLaren^[93] who was dissatisfied at Glory, and then in 2018 striker Adam Taggart followed the same path to Brisbane further straining relationships when Glory owner Tony Sage took to social media to attack the transfer^[94]


• 
  Sydney FC  – As the Roar were originally the only A-League team from Queensland and in keeping with the long-standing rivalry between New South Wales and Queensland, specifically for Queensland and all things Sydney-centric, the Roar developed a natural rivalry with Sydney FC. This was initially evident by the increased interest reflected in attendances at home games against Sydney FC. The first evidence of this rivalry on a football pitch was the 2007–08 A-League Finals Series when Brisbane Roar (then known as Queensland Roar) secured victory over Sydney FC after two hard fought legs with the second leg being played in front of a then club record crowd of 36,211 at Suncorp Stadium. After being fairly tame on the pitch for the following seasons, the rivalry between the biggest clubs in their respective states re-ignited after Sydney FC ended the Brisbane Roar's record-breaking 36-game unbeaten streak in the A-League on 4 December 2011. The return clash in Brisbane saw an on field confrontation between Sydney's Pascal Bosschaart and Brisbane's Besart Berisha following Brisbane Roar's late 2–1 victory at Suncorp Stadium.^[95]


• 
  Gold Coast United – Now defunct. Known as the M1 Derby, it shared the name of the main highway between the two cities, the M1. Due to Brisbane's close proximity to the Gold Coast, Brisbane Roar's geographical derby opponent was naturally going to be Gold Coast United. The glitzy Coast side only won 1 more game between the two (4 to 3), having won the first 3 games, all in Gold Coast's first season of 2009–10. They would, however, win only 1 of the 6 other games the two sides would play. The rivalry, however, concluded on 5 April 2012 when Football Federation Australia officially announced the axing of the Gold Coast side.^[96] There was also a rivalry with (now defunct) North Queensland Fury due to both clubs being in the same state although it was widely considered a regular match due to the distance between the two teams. The Fury was axed just a year prior to Gold Coast United being culled.

Players

First team squad

As of 19 October 2018^[97]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Brendan White 2 FW Dane Ingham 3 DF Luke DeVere 4 DF Daniel Bowles 7 MF Thomas Kristensen 8 MF Jacob Pepper 10 FW Brett Holman 11 MF Éric Bauthéac 12 DF Ruon Tongyik 13 MF Stefan Mauk 14 MF Álex López 15 DF Stefan Nigro 16 FW Charles Lokolingoy 17 MF Matt McKay (Captain) 18 MF Joe Caletti 19 DF Jack Hingert

No. Position Player 20 FW Shannon Brady 21 GK Jamie Young 22 MF Tobias Mikkelsen 23 FW Dylan Wenzel-Halls 24 DF Connor O'Toole 26 FW Nicholas D'Agostino 31 GK Macklin Freke (Youth) 33 FW Henrique 34 DF Aaron Reardon (Scholarship) 35 MF Jay Barnett (Scholarship) 36 FW Daniel Leck (Scholarship) 37 FW Bryce Bafford (Scholarship) 38 DF Izaack Powell (Youth) 40 FW Mirza Muratovic (Scholarship) 42 DF Kai Trewin (Scholarship)

Women's squad

Youth team squad

Club officials

Management

Position	Name[98]
Chairman	Rahim Soekasah
Director	Helmi Rahman
Managing Director	David Pourre
Chief Executive Officer	Faisal Arief Subandi
Football Director

Football Staff

Position	Name
First Team[99]
Head Coach	Darren Davies (caretaker)
Assistant Coach
Goalkeeping Coach	Jason Kearton
Football Manager
Football Executive Assistant
Head of High Performance
Kit Manager
Head Physiotherapist	Jasraj Sidhu
Assistant Physiotherapist
Performance Analyst
Youth Team[100]
Youth Team Head Coach
Youth Team Assistant Coach	Chris Grossman
W-League Team[101]
W-League Head Coach	Melissa Andreatta
W-League Assistant Coach	Garrath McPherson
W-League High Performance	Jessie Griffin
W-League Team Manager	Stephanie McPherson
Academy
Academy Director	Drew Sherman

Office Staff

Position	Name[98]
Events & Operations Manager	Nicholas Shirlaw
Events & Operations Coordinator	Jessica Dillon
Membership & Ticketing Manager	Joshua Springfield
Partnerships Manager	Nancy Hsu
Media Manager
Digital Coordinator	Aaron Cooper
Community Football Manager	Andy Pinches
Community Football Team Leader	Dene Almond
Community Football Team Leader	Martin Wilkes
Sporting Schools Coordinator	Laura Bryant
International Relations – Admin	Rizka Laya
Accounts – Admin	Novita Dumais

Captaincy History^[102]

Dates	Name	Notes	Honours (as captain)
2005–2006	Chad Gibson	Inaugural club captain
2006–2007	Stuart McLaren
2007–2009	Craig Moore
2009–2012 2014–Present	Matt McKay	Longest serving captain, most successful captain	2010–11 A-League Premiership 2010–11 A-League Championship 2011–12 A-League Championship
2012–2014	Matt Smith		2013–14 A-League Premiership 2013–14 A-League Championship

Honours

Domestic

• A-League

Premiers (2): 2010–11, 2013–14

Runners-Up (1): 2011–12

• A-League Grand Finals

Championships (3): 2011, 2012, 2014

Finals appearances (10): 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18

• A-League Fair Play Awards

2008-09, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2015-16.

Continental

• AFC Champions League

Brisbane have competed in the ACL on five occasions, reaching the group stage on three of those occasions: 2012, 2015, 2017

Records

Key

• Tms. = Number of teams


• Pos. s. = Position in league during regular season


• Pos. af. = Position in league after finals series

See also

• Brisbane Roar FC (W-League)


• Brisbane Roar FC Youth

References

External links

• Official website