Brisbane Knights FC

Brisbane Knights Football Club is an Australian soccer club from Rocklea, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The club currently plays in the Brisbane Premier League, the first tier of senior football in Brisbane (third tier in Queensland and fourth overall in Australia).

Brisbane Knights
Full nameBrisbane Knights Football Club
Nickname(s)Croatia, Brisbane Croatia, Rocklea United
Founded1957
GroundCroatian Sports Center, Rocklea
Capacity1,500
LeagueFQLD 4 − Metro
20231st of 12 (Premiers) & (Promoted), FQPL 3 – Metro 2024

History

The club was initially formed in 1952 under the name HNK Croatia Brisbane but struggled to sustain a full squad of players for the entire season, so the club disbanded. With the steady growth of the Croatian community in following years, the club was reformed in 1957. On 15 May 1957 the club was registered with the governing federation as an official soccer club.

The club also played under the names New Farm SC (from 1971-1974), Sunnyside United SC (1975-1987), Croatia Soccer Club (1988), Brisbane Croatia Soccer Club and Rocklea United SC.[1] In the early years the club played at council grounds throughout Brisbane until 1970, when the local Croatian community purchased 50-odd acres of land at Rocklea, an inner city south-west suburb of Brisbane. In the 1980s the club competed in the Brisbane Premier League.

Recent History

After relegation from the Capital League 1 in 2013, the Knights managed immediate promotion in 2014, finishing runners up in the Capital League 2. In 2015, Knights finished fifth in League 1. Brisbane Knights hosted the 41st annual Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament in October 2015. It was the fourth time the Queensland club hosted the tournament, having previously hosted in 1982 (winning the tournament for the first and only time to date), 1989 and 2001. Melbourne Knights FC took out their sixth title at the tournament.

After another mid-table finish in 2016,[2] Knights finished in third place in League 1 in 2017 and were promoted back to the Brisbane Premier League due to a league re-structure, where Football Queensland Premier League became the new state-wide second tier and the BPL became the third state tier. The Knights finished in the lower half of the BPL table in both 2018[3] and 2019.[4]

In January 2020, it was announced that Gold Coast Knights SC had assumed control of Brisbane Knights Football Club.[5]

The COVID-19 pandemic saw the Brisbane Knights field one Men's Brisbane Premier League squad. All matches were played as away fixtures whilst extensive repairs were conducted to the fields of the Brisbane Knights by the Gold Coast Knights Football Club.

In 2021, the Brisbane Knights re-assumed control with the guidance from the Gold Coast Knights Football Club with teams in the Men's Brisbane Premier League, Masters Competition and Women's Brisbane City League.

Their home continues to be the Croatian Club Brisbane in Rocklea and in February 2021, the main playing field was re-named the Ivan "Johnny" Mesic Memorial Field, named in honour of one the founders of the Club.

Honours
  • Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament Champions 1982
  • Ampol Cup Runner Up 1985
  • Division 1 Champions 1999
  • Division 1 Runner Up 1998

Notable players

See also

References
  1. "Croatian Community Centre Brisbane - Brisbane Knights". Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  2. "Ladder for Capital League 1". SportsTG. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  3. "Ladder for Flight Centre Premier League". SportsTG. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  4. "Ladder for Premier League". SportsTG. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  5. "Gold Coast Knights Football Club assumes control of Brisbane Knights Football Club. – Gold Coast Knights". Retrieved 24 January 2020.


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