Brisbane football fans get innovative in petitioning State Government for a boutique stadium

Grassroots football fans in Brisbane are making a stand about a fit-for-purpose stadium for their sport, and are using innovative means to get their point across.

Australia’s third largest city currently has just two stadiums that regularly host sporting events for crowds above 15,000 – Suncorp & the Gabba – and the only professional football team in Brisbane is now having to vacate their game at the former this weekend due to circumstances out of its control. 

Fans of the Brisbane Roar have had enough it seems, launching a campaign to petition the State Government for a boutique football stadium in the city to address this issue.  

Round Ball Australia caught up with the organisers this week to find out more..

Postcards to the Premier

John Lang is secretary of the Roar Supporters Federation, a club-sanctioned body that regularly meets with the club to give feedback on the views of the fans. 

His campaign partner Chris McCoy is one such Roar supporter, as well as being the co-founder of grassroots organisation Fair Funding for Football , who aim to  highlight the funding disparity that exists between football and other sporting codes in Australia. 

The two Brisbane-based volunteer organisations joined forces this month to put their weight behind the campaign for a boutique stadium in the city, and started by launching a Go Fund Me page to help finance their plans. 

Amazingly, they raised the $1000 they needed in just 3 days, with the funds going towards printing 5000 postcards they intend to send to the Queensland Premier. 

“We have been blown away by the response, and it shows the support is there from the Brisbane football community for this project,” commented John enthusiastically. 

The next stage of their campaign is to get all 5000 postcards signed by Roar fans, a process they started at the Roar women’s game in Brisbane last weekend.

John & Chris are planning on getting the remainder of their postcards signed this Saturday evening at the Roar men’s home game against Perth.

As they explain, the timing couldn’t be better, as the game is ironically being played away from their regular home at Suncorp due to recent concert activity at the stadium making the pitch unplayable. 

“The trigger for this current campaign was the announcement in mid-February that the Roar were moving another home match to Kayo Stadium because the pitch at Suncorp was unlikely to be fit to play football on,” said Chris.

Given Kayo Stadium – home of Brisbane’s second NRL club Redcliffe Dolphins – is 40 kilometres north of the city centre, this is not ideal for many fans, particularly on the South side of the city. 

And the temporary move isn’t the first time this season, as John points out. 

“Brisbane Roar have had to be moved to Kayo again this Saturday, for the third time this season. Roar season ticket holders were promised only two non- Suncorp home games this season – this will be the fourth,” he outlines ruefully. 

After also moving a game to the Sunshine Coast in November last year, fans are becoming used to the upheaval. The postcard campaign is their response, at least for these two organisations. 

A permanent alternative to Suncorp

What’s clear from our conversation with both campaign organisers is that Suncorp Stadium – where the Roar have played on and off since the launch of the A-League in 2005 – is no longer a viable solution for professional football in Brisbane. 

Last week’s news that the Queensland Government plans to almost double the number of concerts at the Stadium to 21 per year (from its current cap of 12), has merely highlighted the need for another venue. 

Problems with stadium availability due to this move – which is part of the State Government’s plan to generate $2 billion in events revenue annually – will surely only increase.

Add to that the damage to the playing surface – already regarded by the Professional Footballers Association as one of the worst for football in the country – and it’s clear a permanent alternative to Suncorp is long overdue. 

And both John and Chris are clear on their preferred alternative.

“Success for us is a boutique stadium – up to 15,000 seats – for football in Brisbane, ideally close to public transport links. Perry Park ticks all those boxes,” announces John. 

Perry Park is the current venue of amateur club Brisbane Strikers, who were once the city’s sole representative in the old NSL but now play in Football Queensland’s FQPL1 division, two steps below the A-League.

It’s for this reason the ground, which currently holds 5,000 spectators, is seen as the ‘spiritual home of football in Brisbane. 

Yet the venue, much like its current tenants the Strikers, have seen better days. 

The two campaigners explain to us that while Perry Park did receive a minor upgrade – mainly to their changing rooms – in order to host training facilities for teams competing in the Women’s World Cup in 2023, the grandstands haven’t materially changed since the early 2000’s. 

The ground as it stands doesn’t meet A-League standards, which is why the Roar women – who played there in the 2024/25 season on a temporary basis – have had to move to Brisbane City’s Spencer Park for this season’s home fixtures. 

While John and Chris are at pains to point out that Perry Park isn’t the only solution – a brand-new boutique stadium would also be a viable solution subject to planning permission and cost – they are clear that something needs to change.

“We want a fit-for-purpose boutique stadium for football in Brisbane that can be used all year round. This would fill a gap in stadium infrastructure for the city and relieve the event congestion at Suncorp,” confirms Chris. 

Their current campaign hopes to achieve just that, but it’s not the first time the issue has been raised.

Olympic legacy for football?

As Round Ball Australia reported last year, the 2032 Olympics were seen as a potential catalyst for a boutique football stadium in Brisbane.

The State Government’s ‘Olympic Infrastructure Review’ looked into the issue in early 2025, a process that resulted in a new Olympic Stadium being confirmed as the centrepiece of Brisbane’s planning for the Games.  

The problem for football was that the issue of a fit for purpose football stadium was overlooked, as the new Olympic Stadium will hold 63,000 spectators – hardly suitable for the city’s professional football team when their average home attendance is just over 7,500. 

Last July, Queensland Sports Minister Tim Mander commented that his Government had  “committed to making sure that we have a great facility for football and those discussions are continuing,” he said 

Nothing has been mentioned since, although Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie did tell the Brisbane Times last week that “investigations into the Perry Park upgrade are underway in partnership with Football Queensland.”

That may be welcome news to Chris and John – and proof the issue is finally gaining traction again – but it’s far from an Olympic legacy for the round ball game, as John points out. 

“The Olympics is a once-in-a-generation event for Queensland and the legacy for football is currently non-existent. Now is the time to build a stadium that suits our game, which is still the biggest participation sport in the State,” he comments. 

Chris is equally forthright in his opinion, adding that “the current plans for the Brisbane Olympics mean that two non-Olympic sports [AFL & Cricket] get a new stadium to play in.”

The Olympic Stadium will become the new home for Test cricket in Brisbane after the Games, as well as being the permanent home to the AFL’s Brisbane Lions. 

Which will leave football left to share a cavernous Suncorp with NRL’s Brisbane Broncos as well as a multitude of international music acts when they perform in the Sunshine State. 

It’s not exactly the legacy Australia’s number one participation sport would have hoped for from such a landmark event, and the postcard signing campaign this Saturday will continue the push for this to be addressed. 

As we leave John and Chris to continue their plans for this weekend, they explain that the 5000 postcards will be distributed not just to the Premier, but also the Sports Minister and Deputy Premier as well. 

They even intend to deliver some in person to maximise their impact. Whether it has the desired impact with those in Government remains to be seen..