Gold Coast Suns
The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since the 2011 season, having been founded as the league's 17th active club by a consortium formerly known as "GC17" and being granted a licence to join the AFL on 31 March 2009. The team play home matches at Carrara Stadium (known for commercial purposes as "Metricon Stadium") and have their training and administrative facilities  located at the adjacent Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre. The club is one of two AFL clubs based in Queensland, the other being its main rival, the Brisbane Lions. The Suns also field teams in the AFL Women's competition and the Victorian Football League. History. Foundation. The AFL identified New South Wales and Queensland as areas for commercial and participation growth in the mid-2000s. The two states had one team each within the region, and the AFL sought to replicate the model used in the traditional Australian football states of Western Australia and South Australia, which each had  two local teams. 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), a registration which had in fact been effective from 24 December 2007. In March 2008 the AFL won the support of the league's 16 club presidents to establish sides on the Gold Coast and in Western Sydney. The new club was formally granted the license to compete in the AFL on 31 March 2009. AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou announced the club could debut in the Queensland State League in 2009  as it recruited players and prepared for its debut season in the AFL, which the league scheduled for 2011. Marquee AFL players such as Nick Riewoldt, Lance Franklin and Kurt Tippett were speculated as potential signings for Gold Coast, though all three men ended up re-signing with their existing clubs. In June 2008 it was announced that the new team would play in the TAC Cup in 2009 and the Victorian Football League in 2010 ahead of its entry into the AFL in 2011. Later that year the board of business-people who had been appointed to set up  the club, and were known as the "GC17" bid, appointed WAFL coach and former player Guy McKenna as senior coach. Essendon administrator Travis Auld was selected as head of the GC17 board, and would go on to lead the club in an off-field capacity for several years. The AFL were able to successfully negotiate with the Queensland Government to redevelop Carrara Stadium as the club's new home ground. The announcement of the redevelopment, of which a small portion was funded by the AFL, was made in May 2009. On 22 July 2010 club administrators announced that the club  would be known as the "Gold Coast Suns", and adopt the colours red, gold and blue. 2009–2010: TAC Cup and VFL. The club's newly assembled junior squad competed in the 2009 TAC Cup under 18 competition and won most of their 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. Below is the inaugural TAC Cup team to play for the Gold Coast Football Club, as well as a table of results and fixture for the 2009 and 2010 seasons: Inaugural TAC Cup  team 2010: VFL In November 2009 the team signed twelve 17-year-olds around the country to compete in the Victorian Football League (VFL) year through the under age access rules. These players included Luke Russell (Burnie), Maverick Weller (Burnie), Taylor Hine (Calder), Josh Toy (Calder), Matt Shaw (Dandenong), Piers Flanagan (Geelong), Hayden Jolly (Glenelg), Alex Keath (Murray), Jack Hutchins (Sandringham), Tom Nicholls (Sandringham), Brandon Matera (South Fremantle), Trent McKenzie (Western Jets). The Gold Coast was also given permission (by the AFL) to play David Swallow in 2010, despite not being the correct age. The deal that was struck with  the AFL stated that Swallow would still need to go through the 2010 AFL Draft to officially join the team, while the other under age recruits contracts would run through 2011. These are the results and fixture for the 2010 season, in which the club competed in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Inaugural VFL team 2011: AFL debut. Concessions on entry into the AFL Players acquired through concessions Initial 2011 playing squad recruitment 2011–2014: McKenna era. Guy McKenna would continue to coach the team throughout the 2011 season and beyond, after successfully guiding the club through its journey in the  TAC Cup and VFL in 2009 and 2010. The Suns would play their first four "home" games of the 2011 AFL season at the Gabba in Brisbane, whilst their home stadium (Metricon Stadium) underwent final redevelopment works. Gold Coast had a bye in Round 1, and played its first AFL game 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 went on to win by 119 points . Gold Coast won its first game in Round 5 on 23 April 2011, defeating Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. Gold Coast trailed by 40 points late in the third quarter, before coming back to win by three points, after Port Adelaide's Justin Westhoff missed a set shot after the siren. Michael Rischitelli was the best on ground. Gold Coast won two more matches for the season, winning the inaugural QClash against in Round 7 by eight points (which became the most-watched AFL match on pay television ever), and defeating by 15 points in Round 17 in the first  AFL match ever played at Cazaly's Stadium in Cairns. However, the Suns also suffered several more very heavy defeats during the year, including a 139-point loss to in Round 6 – in which Essendon scored a record 15.4 (94) in the first quarter – and a 150-point loss against in Round 20. The Suns went on to win the wooden spoon. Gold Coast endured a poor pre-season in 2012 which included a 13-point loss to fellow AFL newcomers . Their solitary win in that time was a narrow win over in the triangular round of the 2012 NAB  Cup. The home-and-away season did not begin well for the Suns either, losing their first fourteen matches in succession to be the only winless team after Round 15 of the 2012 AFL season. Among the losses included losses by more than ninety points to and (twice), seven-point losses to and at home and a 27-point loss to the newest AFL franchise, . Their fourteen losses to start the season was the worst by any team since lost its first 17 matches of the 2001 season. Their horror start to the season ended in round 16 with a  narrow 2-point win against Richmond. They had a lead of up to 36 points halfway through the second quarter, which then shrank to 24 points after 2 quick goals before half time from Richmond. Richmond then had a six to two goal quarter, snatching the lead back. The lead then went to 18 points Richmond's way before Gold Coast snatched it back to just 4. With 5 seconds left, a kick from the right forward pocket in Gold Coast's 50 was marked by Karmichael Hunt. After the siren sounded he kicked the goal to make Gold Coast  2-point winners. The Suns then won two more matches for the season, a 30-point win against in Round 20 and a 12-point upset win over in Round 22, both at home. The team finished 17th at the end of the season, only above Greater Western Sydney on the AFL ladder. In November 2012 the club announced their "20-ONE-3" plan that targeted signing twenty thousand members and winning a premiership within three years - by the conclusion of the 2015 AFL season. The plan was criticised as being overly ambitious. By the end of the 20-ONE-3 period , the Suns had a highest membership of 13,643 (achieved in 2015) and a highest ladder position of 12 (10 wins - achieved in 2014). In the 2013 AFL season Gold Coast made a much improved effort, highlighted by victories over seasoned opponents in Collingwood, , the and . Their improvement on the past two seasons was so stark that they were considered possibilities of securing an unlikely finals berth up until the final round after Essendon lost all their premiership points. The Suns finished with 8 wins for the season and ended the season placed 14th on the ladder. Captain Gary Ablett won  his second Brownlow Medal, the first such medalist to win the award at the club. Despite losing veterans Jared Brennan and Campbell Brown ahead of the 2014 season, some experts predicted Gold Coast to "give the top 8 (finals) a nudge", though the general consensus was that the Suns would likely finish around 13th. Though beginning the season promisingly and entering Round 11 with a 7–2 record following impressive wins on the road against Melbourne, North Melbourne (who had defeated minor premiers three weeks earlier), and St Kilda, the Suns would stumble severely through the second half of the season . After captain Gary Ablett was injured in a win over Collingwood in round 16, the club went on to lose the next two matches, including one in the QClash against Brisbane. In round 19, the club recorded its inaugural win without their captain, defeating St Kilda. The club went on to lose the remaining matches of the season, finishing in 12th. Inaugural coach Guy McKenna was sacked at season's end, leaving the club after 88 games in charge and winning just over 25% of them. 2015–2017: Rodney Eade. Following McKenna's departure, the Suns announced Rodney Eade as their  new coach. Eade had coached the Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs to multiple finals series and was regarded by some pundits as a good choice to push the Suns into a maiden finals campaign. In his first season, Eade made the decision to rush back Gary Ablett Jr into the side, which led to the on-field targeting of the star midfielder, whilst key position players Charlie Dixon and Harley Bennell were traded to other clubs as the Suns lost their opening four games and never recovered, finishing the 2015 season in 16th place with only four wins. The club  started the 2016 season with three consecutive wins and defeated minor premiers , giving the impression it was on the verge of achieving sustained on-field success. However it would only win a further three matches for the season and Ablett was again sidelined with a serious shoulder injury, whilst other players were lost to a combination of injury and suspension. The Suns hit the mid-to-late stage of the following season in reasonable form with a 6–8 win–loss record, though disastrously lost their last eight matches and finished in 15th place. Divisions between some of the players and  Eade's cautious game-style emerged and by Round 19 club officials sacked Eade, citing a poor win–loss record. Eade's departure was exacerbated at the end of the season by Ablett's request to be traded back to his original club , despite having another year to serve on his contract with the club. 2018–present: Stuart Dew. The club appointed and premiership player Stuart Dew as coach ahead of the 2018 season. Under Dew, the Suns adopted a draft strategy of recruiting young players, which in part contributed to a second-last finish in 2018 and last place  finish in 2019, the latter being the club's second wooden spoon. David Swallow was appointed captain in 2019 and emerging talent such as Izak Rankine and Matt Rowell have shown signs of propelling the club to better results in the future. Stadium. Gold Coast began playing at Carrara Stadium in their foundation year of 2009. Although the ground had existed since 1987, the Gold Coast Football Club's establishment in late 2008 prompted the club to use the stadium as their home ground during the 2009 TAC Cup. The ground opened in 1987 and was used by the Brisbane  Bears for the first six years of existence and was later used by the North Melbourne Kangaroos and several professional Rugby league teams. The insufficient and outdated facilities at Carrara Stadium led to the Australian Football League investigating several stadium options for the Gold Coast's inaugural AFL season in 2011. A new $172 million stadium in Helensvale was a strongly considered option. The AFL eventually brokered a deal with the Gold Coast City Council and the Queensland Government to redevelop Carrara Stadium. The $144.2 million upgrade would increase the stadium capacity to 25,000. Construction for the redevelopment  of Carrara Stadium began in December 2009 and the Gold Coast was required to find a new home ground for the 2010 VFL season. The team shared their games among local grounds Fankhauser Reserve, H & A Oval and Cooke-Murphy Oval. The redevelopment ran into the 2011 AFL season and the Gold Coast were again required to find a temporary home ground. The Suns elected to use the Gabba for their first three home games of the 2011 season. The redeveloped Carrara Stadium (commercially known as Metricon Stadium) was officially opened on 22 May 2011 by Queensland Premier Anna Bligh . Six days later the Gold Coast Suns hosted their first home match at the redeveloped Carrara Stadium against the Geelong Cats in front of a sell out crowd. Two months later, the Suns attracted the largest crowd ever at the Carrara Stadium in a game against Collingwood that attracted an attendance of 23,302, a record broken in round 16 of 2014 when 24,032 attended also against Collingwood. The seating capacity was temporarily upgraded to 40,000 as part of the Gold Coast's successful bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Whilst the Suns have played most of their home games  at Metricon Stadium, there have been several times when the club has played home games away from Carrara. In 2011, the club played had to find a temporary home ground as the redevelopment ran into the 2011 AFL season. The Suns elected to use the Gabba for their first three home games of the 2011 season. The Gabba was again used in 2018 AFL season as Carrara was being prepared for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In that season, they also played a home game in Cairns at Cazaly's Stadium, Perth at Optus Stadium and played the second of their  home games in Shanghai at Jiangwan Stadium. This was following the club hosting the first ever AFL game outside Australia or New Zealand in 2017 in Shanghai. The club took a home game to their academy zone, Townsville at Riverway Stadium in 2019 before signing a deal with AFL Northern Territory to play a home game in their new academy zone Darwin at TIO Stadium from 2020 to 2024. The match scheduled for Darwin in 2021 was moved however due to COVID-19 and was played as a Suns home game at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In late June, all 18  AFL clubs relocated to Victoria due to various lockdowns due to COVID-19. This resulted in a number of games being relocated including a Thursday night home game from Metricon Stadium to Marvel Stadium. Brisbane Lions borrowed Metricon stadium for there game v St Kilda Football Club as Greater Brisbane was still considered a red zone under Victorian COVID rules List of AFL Stadiums Other home grounds used for the Suns include: AFL Pre Season: Metricon Stadium (2012-2021), Fankhauser Reserve (2011, 2013, 2018), Riverway Stadium (2015, 2018), Merrimac Oval (2017), Great Barrier Reef Arena (2017, 2019) AFL Women's: Metricon  Stadium (2020-2021), Great Barrier Reef Arena (2020) Corporate. Membership base and sponsors. – ¹ as of 9 September 2020 Club symbols. Guernseys. The three types of guernseys are: Mascot. The Suns' Mascot Manor representative and club mascot is "Sunny Ray". In June 2018 the Suns introduced their new mascot, "Skye". Song. The team song is "Suns of the Gold Coast Sky". Rivalries. Brisbane Lions. The Gold Coast Suns have a rivalry with fellow Queensland AFL team the Brisbane Lions. The two teams contest the QClash twice each season. The first QClash was held in 2011, with Gold Coast winning by  8 points; the game established the highest pay TV audience ever for an AFL game, with a total of 354,745 viewers watching the game. The medal for the player adjudged best on ground is known as the Marcus Ashcroft Medal. It is named after former footballer Marcus Ashcroft, who played junior football on the Gold Coast for Southport and 318 VFL/AFL games for the Brisbane Bears/Lions between 1989 and 2003. He later joined Gold Coast's coaching staff and was the first Queenslander to play 300 VFL/AFL games. Lion Dayne Beams has won the medal three times , the most by any player. The trophy awarded to the winner of the game is currently known as the "QClash Trophy". The trophy is a "traditional style" looking silver cup with a wooden base and a plaque. The plaque's inscription reads from left to right, "Brisbane Lions AFC", "QCLASH", "Gold Coast Suns FC". Administration. A three-man committee of former Brisbane Lions chairman Graham Downie, Southport Sharks director Alan Mackenzie and lawyer and community leader John Witheriff established the club's administration. 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. Recruitment. 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 professional rugby league footballer 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. 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. 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). At the end of 2010 season, the club had been given the following concessions : AFL Women's team. In September 2017, Gold Coast were granted a license by the AFL to compete in the AFL Women's league from the start of the 2020 season. The club plays most home games at Carrara Stadium, though has occasionally played at Fankhauser Reserve in nearby Southport, and the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay. The Suns women won only two of their sixteen matches across the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Inaugural coach David Lake left the club at the end of the 2021 season. Lake was replaced by former North Melbourne football manager Cameron Joyce in  June 2021. Reserves team. The Gold Coast Suns fielded a reserves team beneath the AFL team in the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) competition between 2011 and 2019. Following the dissolving of the NEAFL at the end of the 2019 season, the Suns reserves team entered the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 2021. Suns TV. Suns TV was a television program hosted by Jessica Skarratt that was carried by the Seven Network and was shown thirty minutes prior to Gold Coast Suns games in Queensland. The program featured highlights as well as interviews with players and coaches in the  lead up to the match being played that week. It was no longer shown on TV as of 2015.