Brisbane Strikers

Background

Brisbane's first representation in the National Soccer League (NSL), then known as the Philips Soccer League (PSL), came in the form of Brisbane City and Brisbane Lions. Brisbane City won the first two national knockout competitions, by defeating Marconi in 1977 and West Adelaide in 1978. Brisbane Lions won the knockout competition in 1981, also defeating West Adelaide. Brisbane City left the NSL in after the 1986 season and Brisbane Lions after the 1988 season.

National Soccer League 1991–2004

The next Brisbane team in the NSL was Brisbane United, which played from 1991 to 1993 coached by Miron Bleiberg. The team wore predominately white, with a blue and gold trim – the official colours of Brisbane. After a troubled time, with small crowds, confronting relegation and with a "disenchanted team", former Australian Soccer Federation chairman Ian Brusasco headed a trustee management group to restructure the club. The name was changed to the Brisbane Strikers for the 1993/94 season, with the colours, newly installed coach Bruce Stowell and most players retained.

Initially the Brisbane Strikers were owned by the Queensland Soccer Federation (QSF), which handed the running of the club to a Trust Management Group composed of Brusasco (also a former president of the QSF), Clem Jones (former Lord Mayor of Brisbane) and leading football official Frank Speare. Coached by Stowell for three seasons, the Strikers finished fourth in 1995/96 to qualify for their first NSL finals appearance, in which they lost a semi-final playoff over two legs to Sydney United. In the 1996/97 season, the Strikers ditched the white to wear a predominately gold kit, with blue trims, and were led by player-coach Frank Farina. The team finished second on the NSL ladder to Sydney United before going on to beat United in their semi-final to set up a home grand final – against the same team. During this period, future FIFA whistleblower Bonita Mersiades worked for the Strikers as the club's media officer. At a time when football was struggling for mainstream acceptance and credibility in Australia, NSL Grand Final – the pinnacle of club football in Australia – generally drew crowds between 12,000 and 25,000. The 1997 Grand Final, played at Lang Park in Brisbane, drew a capacity 40,446 spectators to watch the Strikers beat Sydney United 58 by 2–0 with goals by Farina and Rod Brown.

This was a watershed moment for football in Australia, but the Strikers struggled the next season, finishing 12th. A significant event in the history of the club occurred in 1998 when the QSF divested itself of its ownership, which passed to the Strikers Football Club Pty Ltd. Scarcely three years after the club had played its part in Australian club football's proudest moment, it was dealt a savage blow when Soccer Australia, as part of a restructuring of the national competition, refused the Strikers' application for a place in the NSL, citing financial concerns. Canberra Cosmos was also expelled. This left the national league without a representative from the country's third most populous state. Politicians, supporters and the general public waged a campaign to have the club reinstated to the national league. Then-Queensland premier Peter Beattie said of Soccer Australia officials: "Who the hell do they think they are?" How can you have a national soccer competition without a Queensland team? I mean, it's absolutely ridiculous. Soccer officials must be sensitive to its national obligations."

Public pressure eventually convinced Soccer Australia to reverse its decision and grant the Strikers Football Club Pty Ltd a licence for the 2000/2001 season. Back on the field, under coach John Kosmina, the Strikers finished fourth and qualified for the NSL finals. Eventual premiers South Melbourne FC prevailed over the Strikers in their two-legged semi-final. The next season saw the Strikers struggle again and led to the club parting ways with Kosmina. Despite a host of coaches showing interest in the vacancy, including some from overseas, the Strikers took the step of appointing 28-year-old club captain Stuart McLaren as head coach, assisted by Luciano Trani. Together, the two assembled a squad of unsung players from the local leagues and turning them into a team that took the club back to the 2003/04 NSL finals only to lose a memorable semi-final play-off to Adelaide United. That season was the last for the NSL. A strong reform movement within the game in Australia had seen a new Soccer Australia Board appointed (which would change its name to Football Federation Australia) under the Chairmanship of Frank Lowy and the new governing body set about creating a new national competition called the A-League. 1996/97 remained the only time a Queensland team had won an Australian national football title, until Brisbane Roar won the 2010–11 A-League title.

First A-League bid

The Brisbane Strikers were a prime candidate for the Brisbane position in the new A-League that kicked off in mid-2005. Football Federation Australia boss Frank Lowy was quoted at the time saying that the two Brisbane bids were outstanding , but the reality was that only one team would make it. The A-League decided to go with the Lions bid, who changed their name to the Queensland Roar, whose name changed once more to the present Brisbane Roar, maintaining their local link to the Lions, and its Dutch ethnic iconography.

Brisbane Premier League 2005–2007

Determined to find an outlet to continue their philosophy of developing the talents of Queensland footballers, the Brisbane Strikers joined forces with local Brisbane club North Star to field a team in the Brisbane Premier League. Coached by Bobby Hamilton, the new team qualified for the finals play-off in its first BPL season (2005) before falling to Palm Beach in a semi-final. However, in 2006 the Strikers carried all before them, winning the BPL championship, the Grand Final and the Premier Cup. Another coaching change saw Craig Collins take on the player-coach role in 2007. It was an "almost" season for the Strikers, which saw them finish runners-up in the championship to Rochedale Rovers F.C., before losing a titanic struggle in the Grand Final to the same team by the scoreline of 5–4.