Gold Coast Knights F.C.

Gold Coast Knights

Full name	Gold Coast Knights Football Club
Nickname(s)	Knights
Founded	1979;45 years ago (1979)
Ground	Croatian Sports Centre
Capacity	1,000
Chairman	Adrian Puljich
Manager	Scott McDonald
League	NPL Queensland
2023	1st of 12, (Premiers & Champions)
Website	Club website
Current season

Gold Coast Knights Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Carrara, Queensland, Australia. The Croatian Australian backed club play in the National Premier Leagues Queensland, the top level of the Football Queensland and the second level of the Australian soccer league system. The club has won three NPL Queensland championship, one premiership, one state cup and a variety of regional honours.

Gold Coast Knights was established in 1979, with the first senior team fielded within the Gold Coast's second division in 1979. The club originally played at Musgrave Hill until 1982, when it moved to the Croatian Sports Centre in Carrara. The club won its first major honour in 1981, where the club won the Gold Coast top division President's Cup under the former name, St. Anthony's Soccer Club. The club has been one of the most successful soccer clubs based on the Gold Coast.

Gold Coast Knights soccer club has hosted the Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament in 1995, 2012 and 2018.

History

1978−1999: Formation and name changes

Gold Coast Knights Soccer Club was formed by a group of Croatian migrants in the Gold Coast region in 1978, under the name St. Anthony's Soccer Club. The club has just one side, an U-14 side, which was coached by Mladen Marinac. The side trained at Aquinas College and played its home games at Musgrave Hill. In 1979, a senior team was formed and entered the local Men's 2nd Division competition. The growth of the Croatian migrant population in Gold Coast coincided with the growth of the club. In 1981, under the leadership of Željko Bambić, a Men's 1st Division side was entered. In 1982, the club bought land in Carrara, Queensland, where two fields were put down and a small clubhouse built. The first game was played at Carrara in 1984, a year in which, under the leadership of coach Charlie Runje, the club won the Premiership and the Presidents Cup. In the late 80s, St. Anthony's became Gold Coast Croatia Soccer Club. In 1991, the club decided to redevelop the clubrooms to cater for the expanding needs of the club. In the 90s, the football federation requested "Croatia" to be removed from the club's name and so, after spending a year as Gold Coast C.S.C., the club settled on the name Carrara Cro's Soccer Club in 1993. They kept this name until 1999, when the club became known as Gold Coast Knights Soccer Club. The name change followed a meeting with National Soccer League side Melbourne Knights FC, with whom a sister-club relationship was formed. ^[1]

1999−2019: Gold Coast leagues

The 2003 Gold Coast Premier League season saw the Gold Coast Knights win both the President's Cup and the premiership. The club wouldn't crown another premiership for another 5 years, where they earned the 2008 trophy. In 2014, Gold Coast Knights experienced the first relegation in the club's history, falling from the Gold Coast Premier League to Division 1. In 2015, the Knights just avoided successive relegations, finishing just two points above the relegated Nerang Eagles, collecting only 15 points in 21 games that season. ^[2]

At the club's Annual General Meeting in 2015, businessman Adrian Puljich became the new chairman. Knights immediately underwent a rebrand, which saw a new logo introduced. Work commenced on new change room facilities and tower lights for the pitches at the Croatian Sports Centre were installed. The 2016 season started well, as the Knights took out the BLK Pre-Season Cup. Success continued and the Knights earned the right of promotion back to the Premier League for the 2017 season after winning the Division 1 title. Having only lost one game all season, the Knights continued their form into the finals series and took out the double by winning the championship.

The 2017 season saw further success for Gold Coast Knights, winning the Premier League title for the first time in nine years in the first season back in the top flight of Gold Coast football. ^[3] In the finals series, Knights lost to Broadbeach United on penalties in the preliminary final, but beat the Burleigh Heads Bulldogs to qualify for the grand final. There, Knights lost again to Broadbeach, this time 2–1. ^[4]

Knights qualified for the 2018 FFA Cup Round of 32 when it defeated Sunshine Coast, scoring two late goals to take the game out 3–2 after extra-time. ^[5] It was the third straight NPL Queensland side that Knights had defeated on their way to the Round of 32. In the Round of 32, Knights drew A-League side Newcastle Jets, going down 1–0 at Robina Stadium in front of 2,220 people. ^[6] The club won the Gold Coast Premier League premiership with two rounds to spare, following a 2–0 win over Palm Beach Sharks, with a record of 14 wins, 2 draws and 0 losses. In the finals series, Knights lost 2–1 to Broadbeach United in the qualifying final, its first loss all season, before beating Surfers Paradise Apollo 5–4 in the elimination final and then Broadbeach 5–1 in the grand final, handing the club its first ever Gold Coast Premier League championship. ^[7]

Since 2019: National Premier Leagues Queensland

In November 2017, it was announced that Knights would join the National Premier Leagues Queensland from 2019, becoming part of the top-flight of football in the state. ^[8] Knights took the place of Gold Coast City FC, who dissolved and hence gave up their place in the competition.

In March 2019, Gold Coast signed Mitch Nichols in one of the highest profile coups in the club's history. ^[9] Later that season, the club also signed Matt Smith, a former Socceroo and Brisbane Roar championship-winning captain. ^[10] In its first season in the NPL Queensland, the Knights finished in 2nd position, 4 points off premiers Queensland Lions, with a 22–4–2 record. ^[11] In the finals series, the Knights beat Peninsula Power 2–1 at home, ^[12] setting up a Grand Final against Olympic FC who had defeated the premiers Lions FC. A 10-man Knights held out to defeat Olympic 2–1 and claim its first NPL Queensland championship. ^[13]

After a 4–1 loss to bottom side Sunshine Coast Wanderers on Sunday 30 August 2020, Knights parted ways with head coach Grae Piddick. ^[14] Before their loss to the Wanderers, the Knights had not dropped a game since July 2019. ^[15]

Knights named Scott McDonald as its new senior head coach on 26 August 2021 for the upcoming 2022 season. ^{[16] [17]} McDonald was capped 26 times for the Australia men's national soccer team during his playing career.

Gold Coast Knights finished in 2nd in the regular season of 2022. ^[18] In the finals series, Knights defeated Peninsula Power 3–1 in the semi-final and Olympic 2–0 in the grand final to achieve its second ever NPL Queensland championship. ^[19]

Managers

Name	Nationality	From	To
Mladen Marinac		1978	1980
Željko Bambić		1981	1983
Charlie Runje		1984	unk
Paul Osborne	England	1 November 2014	30 October 2015
Oscar Langone	Argentina	1 November 2015	1 April 2016
Alex Morrison	Australia	1 April 2016	2 October 2017
Grae Piddick	Australia	1 November 2017	30 August 2020
Adem Poric	Australia	31 August 2020	17 July 2021
Max Wragg	Australia	17 July 2021	24 October 2021
Scott McDonald	Australia	25 October 2021	present

Facilities

Gold Coast Knights are based at the Croatian Sports Centre, located on 181 Nerang Broadbeach Rd, Carrara QLD 4211. The site is the central hub of the Croatian community in the Gold Coast region. The centre was established in 1983 on approximately six acres of land and features a modern-club house and two full size soccer fields.

In 2012, the club started a project to increase the amount of change rooms from two to six. Over the summer of 2015–16, Knights added four new light posts, increasing the lighting on the pitches to 220 lux. ^[20]

Current squad

As of 11 May 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   AUS Joshua Langdon 2 DF   AUS Jaiden Walker 3 DF   AUS Oskar Dillon 4 DF   AUS Tyson Martin 5 DF   AUS Austin Ludwik 6 MF   AUS Jean-Philippe Lasm 7 FW   AUS Godfrey Debele 8 MF   AUS Emilio Martinez 9 FW   AUS Joel Russell 10 FW   AUS Brad Inman 11 MF   JPN Taisei Kaneko 12 DF   AUS Shelford Dais 14 MF   AUS Aaron Reardon 15 DF   JPN Keitatsu Kojima 18 MF   AUS Luke Beckwith 20 GK   AUS Casey Went 22 MF   AUS Sam Klein 23 DF   AUS Trent Millard 99 FW   AUS Zander Guy

Honours

Football Queensland

• National Premier Leagues Queensland (first tier)
  • Premiership
    • Winners (2): 2023, 2024
  • Championship
    • Winners (3): 2019, 2022, 2023
• Kappa Pro Series
  • • Winners (1): 2023

Football South Coast

• FQPL 3 − South Coast / Gold Coast Premier League (first tier)
  • Premiership
    • Winners (5): 1984, 2003, 2008, 2017, 2018
  • Championship
    • Winners (1): 2018
  • President's Cup
    • Winners (4): 1981, 1984, 1986, 2003
• FQPL 4 − South Coast / Men's Coast League 1 / First Division (second tier)
  • Premiership
    • Winners (1): 2016
  • Championship
    • Winners (1): 2016
  • Pre-Season Cup
    • Winners (1): 2016

See also

• Queensland portal

• List of Croatian football clubs in Australia
• Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament

References

1. "History – Gold Coast Knights Soccer Club Inc. – SportsTG". SportsTG. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
2. "Football Gold Coast | Fixtures & Results". Archived from the original on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
3. "Club Focus Article #5- The Red Knight Rises – Football Gold Coast". Football Gold Coast. 27 February 2018. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
4. "Results for Men's Premier League". SportsTG. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
5. O'Neill, Brent (10 June 2018). "Knights one step closer to an A-League showdown". Gold Coast Bulletin.
6. "Gold Coast Knights FC vs Newcastle Jets, FFA Cup, Round of 32, 7th Aug 2018". FFA Cup. 26 June 2018. Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
7. "Results for 2018 Men's Premier League". SportsTG. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
8. "Gold Coast Knights To Enter National Premier Leagues QLD In 2019". Football Queensland. 10 November 2017. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
9. "A-League news: Mitch Nichols signs for Gold Coast Knights | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
10. "Ex-Socceroo signs for Gold Coast". FTBL. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
11. "Ladder for NPL QLD 2019". SportsTG. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
12. "Football Queensland – NPL Match Centre". SportsTG. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
13. "Football Queensland – NPL Match Centre". SportsTG. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
14. "Club Statement: Grae Piddick". Gold Coast Knights. 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
15. "Subscribe to the Gold Coast Bulletin". www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
16. "Former Celtic striker Scott McDonald launches managerial career in Australia". 67 Hail Hail. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
17. "Former Socceroo Scott McDonald appointed Gold Coast Knights Head Coach". National Premier Leagues. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
18. "Ladder for NPL Men's 2022". GameDay. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
19. "Results for NPL Men's 2022". GameDay. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
20. "Club Focus Article #6- Facilities Fit For A Knight – Football Gold Coast". Football Gold Coast. 28 February 2018. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.

External links

• Official website