Queensland Roar FC

Football club infobox
clubname = Queensland Roar FC


fullname = Queensland Roar FC Pty Ltd
nickname = The Roar
founded = 2005
ground = Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
capacity = 52,500
chairman = John Ribot
coach = Frank Farina
league = A-League
season = 2007-08
position = 4th (league) Preliminary finalist (finals)
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Queensland Roar FC is an Australian Association football (soccer) club from Brisbane, Australia competing in the A-League competition, playing their home games at Suncorp Stadium.

History

Formation

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. [ [http://www.a-league.com.au/default.aspx?s=history By June 2004 two of the twenty submissions for joining the league were sought by partnerships formed in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland.] ] . On the 1st of November, 2004 the group headed by Queensland Lions Soccer Club were chosen as operators of the Brisbane team. They previously played in the defunct National Soccer League, under the name Brisbane Lions.

In March the following year the Roar were officially launched as a club. The Roar'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 player, and CEO Lawrence Oudendyk, who is also Queensland Lions CEO.

2005-06 season

The Queensland Roar made their A-League debut against the now-defunct New Zealand Knights, in a 2-0 win in front of over twenty thousand fans at their home ground of Suncorp Stadium. Unfortunately, the Roar were mediocre in the next rounds and after a series of draws and losses would not record their next win until Round 6 against the Newcastle Jets. The rest of the 2005-06 season would follow in a similar fashion as after 21 rounds of the regular season the Roar finished with seven wins, seven draws and seven losses, placing them sixth on the ladder from eight teams. It has been said the Roars first season in the inaugural A-League was more successful off-field than on. The club was the first to have 100,000 spectators pass through the gates and overall had the second highest attendance for the season (148,609) and despite failing to qualify for the finals, the club's home attendance was the second highest in the opening season (average 14,860 a game). Despite the clubs average win-loss record the club had a number of highlights throughout the year, notably the season's equal highest scoring win (5-0 over the Newcastle Jets in Round 20) and striker Alex Brosque being one of four A-League players awarded the Reebok Golden Boot Award for Top Scorer of the Year with 8 goals.

2006-07 season

The following season saw the Queensland Roar start in a far more consistent manner as the squad enjoyed an undefeated start to their opening five games of the the 2006-07 season taking 11 points and second place on the ladder. However the good form would end abrubtly with a 4-1 loss to Melbourne Victory and over their next 6 games the Roar only managed 5 points - including just one victory. This slump had seen them fall to 4th on the ladder as of Round 12, on equal points with Perth Glory.

It was in October 2006, during the string of disappointing performances that saw the Roars first club manager, that Miron Bleiberg tendered his resignation after a sloppy 1-1 draw at home to the Central Coast Mariners. Initially Bleiberg's resignation was rejected by the club's executive board, who showed faith in him to regain the form from earlier in the season. It was later released that despite the show of faith from the Roar's board, Bleiberg indicated he would step down in the event the Roar did not return a "positive result". After the Roar suffered two straight losses which included a shocking 1-0 own goal loss to bottom-placed New Zealand Knights and a loss at home to Adelaide United it was announced that Bleiberg would step down as manager of the club.Fact|date=December 2007 The search for an appropriate successor began immediately with the club announcing they had received 25 applicants, both from Australia and overseas, applying for the top job at the Roar within 24 hours of Bleiberg's resignation. On November 16, 2006 it was announced that former Australian player and Socceroos coach Frank Farina was named as Bleiberg's successor.

Despite a late season surge of positive results, including a last minute victory over premiers Melbourne Victory, the Roar found itself once again in an unenviable situation prior to their final round game against defending champions Sydney FC, needing a win to reach the finals series. The match was played in front of over 32,000 fans at Suncorp Stadium who witnessed a tense 1-1 draw with former Roar player Alex Brosque scoring for his new Sydney club. The result saw Sydney sealing 4th position in the semi-finals on goal difference with Roar finishing a close 5th.

2007-08 season

Although Farina lead Queensland to a strong end of season resurgence, failure to qualify for the 2006-2007 finals series resulted in the release of defenders Chad Gibson (the club's first captain) and Swiss import Remo Buess. In further evidence of a rebuilding period in preparation for the Roar's third season, Chinese signing Yuning Zhang was released from an inauspicious contract with the Roar. Billed as the "Chinese David Beckham", Zhang failed to live up to expectation and returned to China in search of a club within the domestic football competition. Frank Farina's first signing for the 2007/2008 season was that of experienced Australian international Danny Tiatto, who had spent the previous 11 years in England competing for Manchester City & Leicester City respectively. Tiatto was set to return to Australia and after Melbourne Victory declined to sign him, he agreed to terms with Queensland on a two year contract.

Farina looked closer to home after the signing of Tiatto and signed Australian U-17 striker Tahj Minniecon & Australian U-20 & AIS Scholarship holder Robbie Kruse. He continued to support the younger players as the contracts of 20-year-olds Chris Grossman and Ben Griffin were renewed. Although after signing Tiatto Farina had focused on signing primarily younger, fairly inexperienced players, on July 25 it was announced that one of the stars of Australia's 2006 World Cup Campaign, Newcastle United FC defender Craig Moore, was signed on a two year contract as the new marquee player for the Roar, returning to his native home state of Queensland, Australia, to play in the 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 seasons.

Despite a number of high profile signings and a positive pre-season, the Roar began the regular season with a shaky start as they managed one win from the six opening matches. Another mediocre season looked in the works for Queensland but an undefeated 8 game winning streak mid-season put them back in a strong position to reach the clubs first ever finals series. The Roar did enough towards the end of the season to guarantee themselves a finals berth, but a poor final three rounds saw the Roar finish in fourth position where they realistically had a chance at the Minor-Premiership or at least a home Semi-Final. After maintaining a 0-0 draw away from home down in Sydney, the Roar won convincingly in the second leg of the tie, 2-0 at home. This set up a do-or-die Preliminary Final match against the Newcastle Jets for a place in the 2007/2008 Grand Final. In a tense match Newcastle went ahead in the 40th minute and looked they had done enough to win until the Roar's Brazilian import Reinaldo slotted home a penalty in the dying seconds of the match. As the squads went into extra-time the fairy tale for Queensland was to end as defender Craig Moore was red-carded and Newcastle scored from a controversial penalty. The Jets scored another 5 minutes later to go up 3-1. Reinaldo scored his second in the 118th minute but it was not enough to force the penalty shoot-out as the Roar bowed out of the season 3-2.

2008-09 Season

Player Movement

¤ Reinaldo transferred to Busan I'Park at the end of Hyundai A-League 2007/08 season and returned to Queensland in July 2008.

Pre-season

After the conclusion of the 2007-08 season the Roar signed a partnership with Brazilian club Clube Atlético Mineiro, who play in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A League. The partnership will assist the Roar in footballing matters on & off the field in areas of sports medicine, physiology, fitness training and club marketing. The agreement also allows for the possibility of pre-season fixtures between the two teams, either in Brazil or Brisbane, as well as an opportunity for the Roars younger players to hone their skills with the Atlético Mineiro junior-developmentprograms. [ [http://www.qldroar.com.au/default.aspx?s=qldfc_news_item&id=21547 Queensland announce partnership with Atletico Mineiro] ]

The Roar announced that they will be continuing with their yearly Roars Against Racism campaign. The Roar played Brazilian Serie A team Palmeiras on the 12th July 2008 as part of pre season preparations, defeating an understrength Palmeiras 3-1 in front of 13,000 fans.

The Roar did not have the best of from in the Pre-Season Challenge Cup, losing 2 games and drawing 1, as well as the captain Craig Moore being Red Carded in the last game, leaving him suspended for the first Round of the A-League.

eason

As of Round 3 the roar have drawn 2 matches and lost 1. Charlie Miller has proved to be an excellent signing as has scored in each of the games. Sergio van Dijk has also scored his debut roar goal, converting a penalty against former Manchester United Goal Keeper Mark Bosnich in the round 3 match against the Central Coast Mariners

Current Squad

"Players in bold have senior international caps."

2007/08 season

Team

Largest Victory
* 5-0: vs ALeague NUJ, January 27 2006
* 5-0: vs ALeague NZK, September 15 2006Biggest Defeat
* 1-4 vs ALeague MV, October 1 2006
* 0-3 vs ALeague SFC, November 24 2006
* 0-3 vs ALeague NUJ, December 7 2006Longest undefeated streak (A-League)
* Eight matches, January 21 2006 - September 22 2006
* Eight matches, October 5 2007 - November 25 2007Longest Winning streak (A-League)
* Three matches, November 2 2007 - "November 16 2007"Longest Losing streak (A-League)
* Four matches, November 5 2006 - "November 24 2006"Most Appearances(A-League)
* 65 Matt McKay 2005-PresentMost All-Time Goals(A-League)
* 15 Reinaldo (2006-08)Most goals in a season(A-League)
* 9 Reinaldo (2005-06)

Club

Premierships: -

Runners Up: -

Wooden Spoon: -

Championships: -

Finals Appearances: 2007/08

Attendances
* Largest crowd: 36,499 vs Sydney FC (A-League 2007-08, Minor Semi Final - Second Leg)
* Largest season average crowd: 16,951 (A-League 2007-08)

upporters

The Queensland Roar have two main supporters groups: "The Orange Army" and "The Northern Element". Each group was formed to represent the diversity of fan base that exists with in the supporters. The Orange Army are positioned in the Northern stand (Bay 332) of the Suncorp Stadium, in an area known to fans as 'The Den'. The Northern Element moved to the Southern End of Suncorp Stadium during the second half of the 2006-07 season.

"The Orange Army" [http://www.orangearmy.com.au/ (Orange Army Website)] are the Official supporters club. They comprise of Roar Fans from all over the stadium, state and country, and aim to help and assist the wider fan base and were instrumental in the foundation of The Den. They also plan away trips during the season and pre season. Membership to the Supporters Club is free. The Orange Army name was adopted at the end of the 06/07 season by the club.

"The Northern Element" [http://www.northernelement.com/ (Northern Element Website)] add some casual culture to Lang Park. Created in 2005 and influenced by the British and Itialian football scenes, Northern element represents the less commercialised and more traditional supporters.

Ladder Positions & Results

Head to Head

References

External links

* [http://www.qldroar.com.au/ Official A-League Queensland Roar site]
* [http://www.qldlions.com.au Queensland Lions Soccer Club - Owner of Roar franchise]
* [http://www.orangearmy.com.au/ Queensland Roar Supporters Club]
* [http://www.northern-element.com/ Northern Element]