The AFL Commission today announced that it had granted the Gold Coast Football Club a provisional licence to become the 17th team in the AFL competition, starting in 2011.
The licence has been granted conditional on all funding commitments being finalised by agreements with the AFL and also:
- Finalisation of the agreement between the Queensland State Government and the Gold Coast City Council on the terms by which the land for the stadium will be transferred and
- A decision by the Federal Government on funding for the Gold Coast City Council’s application to redevelop the stadium at Carrara as part of the Federal Government’s Community Infrastructure Fund.
The AFL will continue to work to secure these agreements and to finalise the governance structure for the Gold Coast Football Club. AFL Chief Executive Officer Andrew Demetriou said the AFL had reached agreement with the Queensland Government to contribute $60 million towards the redevelopment of Carrara and to vary the GABBA agreement to allow the Gold Coast Football Club to play home games on the Gold Coast.
The funding agreement was signed today by Mr Demetriou and Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, paving the way for today’s announcement of the conditional licence. He said the Gold Coast City Council had also resolved to contribute $20 million and to transfer ownership of the land needed for a new AFL stadium at
He said AFL Chairman Mike Fitzpatrick, in a message to the GC17 board had said: “This is an historic decision of the AFL Commission and it is only the sixth time since the AFL Commission was established that a licence has been awarded to a new club. “It is not a decision that the Commission has made lightly and it has been made after a long period of investment in Queensland and a rigorous process over the past two years in which the Gold Coast football, business and wider communities have made clear their support for and ability to sustain an AFL team. “It is also a decision that we have made after a rigorous process to validate the business model for a Gold Coast Football Club. We are confident that we grant the licence knowing that you have put in place the foundations to build a strong and sustainable club which will serve well the Gold Coast community.”
"This is an historic decision of the AFL Commission and it is only the sixth time since the AFL Commission was established that a licence has been awarded to a new club."Mr Demetriou praised the work of GC17 and in particular chairman John Witheriff. “John’s interest in an AFL team on the Gold Coast is not because he grew up as a fanatical AFL supporter but because he has spent his life as a fanatical supporter of the Gold Coast and saw the benefits an AFL team could bring to the region,” Mr Demetriou said. “The granting of the conditional licence is also a tribute to his board members – Graeme Downie, Alan “Doc” McKenzie, Bob Gordon and Dale Dickson and the incredible support of the Gold Coast community which has come together to back an AFL team on the Gold Coast.”
He also paid tribute to Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and her government which has committed $60 million to the redevelopment of Carrara and the Gold Coast City Council which has committed $20 million. The AFL will contribute $10 million while a decision by the Federal Government on the Gold Coast City Council’s funding application for the stadium redevelopment is imminent. “Thank you to Premier Bligh for her support of this team and for the jobs it provides to the Gold Coast community. Her Government has firmly backed the stadium redevelopment to allow a Gold Coast team and we will continue to work closely with the Premier and the Gold Coast City Council to finalise these agreements as soon as possible so that the construction of the stadium can begin.”
Mr Demetriou said the stadium redevelopment would deliver an estimated 350 construction jobs while the Gold Coast Football Club would support 440 direct and indirect jobs when it was up and running at full tilt. “It will also contribute more than $34 million in annual economic activity to the region - 92 per cent of which will go to benefit non-AFL businesses such as Gold Coast accommodation providers, retail outlets, transport operators, tourism operators, restaurants and cafes and the various services industry,” Mr Demetriou said.
