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).
Full name | Brisbane Knights Football Club |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Croatia, Brisbane Croatia, Rocklea United |
Founded | 1957 |
Ground | Croatian Sports Center, Rocklea |
Capacity | 1,500 |
League | Brisbane Premier League |
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]
Honours
- Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament Champions 1982
- Ampol Cup Runner Up 1985
- Division 1 Champions 1999
- Division 1 Runner Up 1998
Notable Players
References
- "Croatian Community Centre Brisbane - Brisbane Knights". Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- "Ladder for Capital League 1". SportsTG. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- "Ladder for Flight Centre Premier League". SportsTG. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- "Ladder for Premier League". SportsTG. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- "Gold Coast Knights Football Club assumes control of Brisbane Knights Football Club. – Gold Coast Knights". Retrieved 24 January 2020.