| Names | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Gold Coast Football Club |
| Nickname(s) | Suns |
| 2011 season | |
| Premiership | 17th (last) |
| Pre-season Cup | Quarter-finals |
| Leading goalkicker | Danny Stanley (20 goals) |
| Best and fairest | Gary Ablett |
| Club details | |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Colours | Red Gold Blue [1] |
| Competition | Australian Football League |
| Chairman | John Witheriff |
| Coach | Guy McKenna |
| Captain(s) | Gary Ablett, Jr. |
| Ground(s) | Metricon Stadium[2] (capacity: 25,000) |
| Other information | |
| Official website | goldcoastfc.com.au |
| Guernsey: |
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| Current season: 2011 |
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The Gold Coast Football Club, nicknamed The Suns, is an Australian rules football club based on the Gold Coast, which began playing in the Australian Football League (AFL) competition for the first time in 2011. The club is the product of a sole consortium, formerly known as "GC17", tendering against established criteria for a licence to be the 17th club in the AFL competition. The club played its first game as a part of the AFL in the pre-season NAB Cup competition in February 2011 before beginning the season proper in April 2011.
On 31 March 2009 the club was granted a provisional licence to join the AFL competition[3] and the AFL proposed that the new club would enter the national competition in the 2011 season.[4] The following year, on 22 July, during a press conference, the club announced its new nickname, logo, club song and three new home, away and clash guernseys.
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In January 2008, it was reported that the AFL officially registered the name Gold Coast Football Club Ltd with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).[5] The registration was effective from 24 December 2007.[6] The registration was of a public company limited by guarantees rather than by shares, the corporate personality common to 15 of 16 of the current AFL teams, the exception being the Fremantle Football Club.[7] In March 2008, the AFL won the support of the league's 16 club presidents to establish a side on the Gold Coast and an 18th side in Western Sydney.
AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou announced in early 2008 that the club could debut in the Queensland State League in 2009 as it recruits players and prepares for its debut season in the AFL. At one stage it was rumoured that Michael Voss would coach the Gold Coast team and that he had been offered a six-year contract.[8] However, these rumours were proved false when Voss was appointed coach of the Brisbane Lions from the beginning of the 2009 season.[9] Amongst the first players targeted by the Gold Coast were current St Kilda captain and Gold Coast junior Nick Riewoldt,[10] Hawthorn forward and 2008 Coleman Medallist Lance Franklin[11] and Adelaide forward Kurt Tippett.[12]
In June 2008 it was announced that the new team would play in the TAC Cup in 2009 [13] and then in the VFL in 2010.
Guy McKenna was appointed coach in August 2008.[14] In early 2009, the Host Plus superannuation fund was named as the club's major sponsor.[15] On 15 May 2009, it was announced that highly respected Essendon administrator Travis Auld would be the CEO of "GC17".[16][17] Former Brisbane Lions Shaun Hart and Gold Coaster Marcus Ashcroft were also appointed to the coaching panel. On 1 October 2009, the club announced it had signed Guy McKenna as head coach until 2012.[18]
In early 2009, the Queensland Government announced that it would contribute sufficient funds allowing the redevelopment of Gold Coast Stadium. The capacity of the new stadium will be 25,000 and is scheduled to be complete in May 2011. All home matches other than the games versus Brisbane Lions will be played at the new Gold Coast Stadium. They have also been confirmed to play their first AFL game at The Gabba in Round 2 against Carlton after a bye in Round 1.[19] Their first game at the new stadium will be against Geelong in round 10, 2011. Also amongst the blockbuster games at home for the Suns in 2011 are both 2010 AFL Grand Finalists Collingwood and St Kilda (both of whom the Suns will only play once) and Geelong.
The club's junior squad competed in the 2009 TAC Cup under 18 competition winning a number of games, eventually finishing in 5th place. They defeated the Northern Knights in the elimination final but then lost their semi final to the Geelong Falcons. These are the results and fixture for the 2009 season:[20][21]
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These are the results and fixture for the 2010 season, in which the club competed in the VFL.[22]
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| Inaugural Gold Coast team (Round 2, 2011 season) | |||
| B: | Seb Tape | Nathan Bock | Campbell Brown |
| HB: | Jarrod Harbrow | Karmichael Hunt | Nathan Krakouer |
| C: | Trent McKenzie | Daniel Harris | Michael Rischitelli |
| HF: | Danny Stanley | Charlie Dixon | Alik Magin |
| F: | Jared Brennan | Zac Smith | Brandon Matera |
| Foll: | Josh Fraser | David Swallow | Gary Ablett (c) |
| Int: | Marc Lock | Harley Bennell | Dion Prestia |
| Josh Toy | |||
| Coach: | Guy McKenna[23] | ||
The Gold Coast debuted in Round 2 on 2 April 2011 against Carlton at the Gabba in front of a crowd of 27,914. The first five goals were scored by Carlton, before Charlie Dixon scored the first ever goal for the Gold Coast Suns. Carlton extended their lead at every break, finally winning the game by 119 points with the score of 7.10.52 - 26.15.171. Charlie Dixon was the major goal scorer for the Gold Coast with two.
The following week the Western Bulldogs beat the Gold Coast by 71 points, although commentators noted signs of improvement.[24]
In round 4 Gold Coast played the Melbourne Demons. It was a very promising start for the Suns but it was not enough as the Demons ran out 90 point winners.
The Gold Coast Suns had their first AFL win on 23 April 2011, when they defeated Port Adelaide by 3 points at AAMI Stadium after they were trailing by a whopping 40 points late in the third quarter, with final scores 15.14 (104) to 15.11 (101). Brandon Matera was a standout performer booting 4 goals.[25] Michael Rischitelli was the best on ground.
In round 6 against Essendon they conceded the highest quarter time score in VFL/AFL history, being 15.4.94 to 0.1.1. They lost the game by 139 points, their biggest loss of the season so far.
In Round 7, Gold Coast bounced back and won their second game of the season against the Brisbane Lions in the inaugural QClash by 8 points. Jared Brennan was best on ground and won the Marcus Ashcroft Medal and Nathan Krakouer kicked 5 goals. The game established the highest pay TV audience ever for an AFL game, with a total of 354,745 viewers watching the game.
Round 10 saw the Suns play at their newly renovated Metricon Stadium for the first time against Geelong. The Suns shocked many when they led the then-undefeated Cats by 11 points at halftime, but switched off in the second half and lost by 11 goals. Further losses to West Coast, North Melbourne, Hawthorn, the Western Bulldogs (for a second time), Fremantle and Sydney followed before upsetting Richmond by 15 points in the first premiership match played in Cairns.
To date, the Suns' highest score ever was 18.16 (124) achieved in its Round 7 win over the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba. Their lowest score is 4.12 (36), in a 70-point defeat by the Sydney Swans at home, which is also their worst defeat at home.
Also amongst the blockbuster games at home for the Suns in 2011 are both 2010 AFL Grand Finalists Collingwood and St Kilda (both of whom the Suns will only play once, in rounds 18 and 19 respectively).[26]
Despite finishing their inaugural season with the wooden spoon, many have hailed the Gold Coast's debut season as a "success". The Suns won three games this season.
In the leadup to the 2009 AFL Draft, the AFL allowed the Gold Coast to recruit 12 players born between January and April 1992, with all other AFL clubs being restricted to players born in 1991 or earlier.
Karmichael Hunt, a former professional rugby league player with the Brisbane Broncos and rugby union side Biarritz Olympique in France's Top 14, was signed to swap codes to play for the Gold Coast from 2010.[27]
Gary Ablett, Jr., dual premiership player with Geelong and winner of the 2009 Brownlow Medal, signed a deal reportedly worth $9.6 million over five years to captain the Gold Coast during their starting years.[28]
Other significant signings to the current junior team that played in the VFL included Stanis Susuve (a member of Papua New Guinea's International Cup winning team) and Brandon Matera (whose father Wally Matera and uncles Peter and Phil all played senior AFL football with the West Coast Eagles).[29]
At the end of 2010 season, the club had been given the following concessions:[30]
| Senior list | Rookie List | Coaching staff | |||||||
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2013 Pre-listed player
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Head coach Assistant coaches
Updated: 18 December 2011 |
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TAC Cup (2009)
Victorian Football League (2010)
Australian Football League (2011–)
| Year | Pos | Coach | Captain | Club Champion | Leading goalkicker | Iron Man Award | Community Award | Most Professional | Most Improved | NEAFL Player of the Year |
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| 2009 | 5/13 | Guy McKenna | Marc Lock | Marc Lock | Matt Fowler (43) |
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| 2010 | 10/14 | Guy McKenna | Marc Lock | Sam Iles | Charlie Dixon (22) Brandon Matera (22) |
Daniel Harris |
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| 2011 | 17/17 | Guy McKenna | Gary Ablett, Jr. | Gary Ablett, Jr. | Danny Stanley (20) | Michael Rischitelli | Alik Magin | Michael Rischitelli | Karmichael Hunt | Jacob Gillbee |
The Gold Coast Suns played their first Australian Football League game in the 2011 AFL Premiership Season in Round 2 of Season 2011 in Brisbane at The Gabba, against high profile Victorian team Carlton. The Suns attracted their biggest ever home crowd at that game. The Suns achieved their first AFL win in Round 4 against the Port Adelaide Power. They also hosted the inaugural QClash at the same venue against rival side the Brisbane Lions in front of 25,504 fans. The Suns ended up winning the game. The Suns moved into their home stadium on the Gold Coast, Metricon Stadium in time for their Round 10 clash against the Geelong Cats. Despite just winning 3 games in their opening 15 matches and finishing in last place on the AFL ladder, the Suns have made a stunning impact on the Gold Coast scene, consistently outranking rival NRL side the Gold Coast Titans in terms of attendances and the like.[40]
Metricon Stadium recorded its biggest ever figure when 23,302 people watched the Suns tackle defending premiers Collingwood in Round 18 of the 2011 AFL season.
| Year | Members | Change from previous season | Finishing position | Average home crowd (including finals) | Major sponsor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 14,064 | — | 17th | 21,871 (as of Round 17, 2011) | HostPlus Superannuation Fund, Virgin Australia |
The team song is Suns of the Gold Coast Sky.[41]
A three-man committee of former Brisbane Lions chairman Graham Downie, Southport Sharks director Alan Mackenzie and lawyer and community leader John Witheriff will establish the club's administration.[5] As part of the AFL bid criteria, the GC17 consortium required a commitment from 20,000 locals to become football club members, a $5 million net asset base and 111 sponsors (at least one major, 10 secondary level and 100 tertiary) by mid-October 2008.[42]
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