Brisbane Strikers are in discussion with both the Brisbane City Council and Queensland State Government about how to use their training venue for next year’s Women’s World Cup as a springboard for the future.
Strikers Chairperson Julianna Suranyi stated the club is ‘immensely proud’ of their selection, and although they are not in line to receive funding from FIFA, talks with both levels of government regarding an upgrade to the Strikers’ home of Perry Park has been positive.
“It’s fresh at the moment since the announcement, so we’re just in talks now as to what we need. Some of [FIFA’s] expectation is that upgrades are self-funded, however at this point in time the different government levels we’ve spoken to have all shown great interest,” Suranyi told Soccerscene.
“An upgrade would drive traffic and drive tourism, those key components that the state government are looking at. They need to be driving tourism and further employment, so I’ve found they’ve been open to it.”
Suranyi provided insight into FIFA’s selection process for the training venues, and stated their only request to the Strikers was a marginal upgrade to their pitch’s drainage system. “The ground itself is where I think the bulk of the interest was. We’re one of the only clubs that has a full time groundsman, so we put a lot of time, effort and energy into that. The process was them coming out, having a look at the venue, looking at the grass, and basically just testing the field,” she said.
“FIFA went through the facilities of where they can actually house a team whilst they are on premises, what potential security issues need to be sorted through, and also accessibility to the public was also important to them. They looked at the asset management side, then looked at the field integrity side, and we passed each one.”Suryani was insistent the club is not looking to leverage their selection into the development of a 30,000 seat facility, labelling any such suggestion as ‘garbage.’ While an extension of Perry Park’s current 5,000 seat capacity was not ruled out, Suranyi stated the government has left them in no doubt that a full-scale redevelopment will not occur. “There has been word in the media that we are looking at building up to a 30,000 seat stadium, which is completely incorrect. It’s gone out a number of times and we’ve never commented on it to this point, but it’s a rumour, it’s garbage,” she said.
“We had a meeting with (Queensland Minister for Tourism, Innovation and Sport) Stirling Hinchcliffe and he made it very clear they are not interested in another stadium of that size. One thing they’ve made very clear for the World Cup and going into the Olympics is that any assets need to be managed ongoing, and not at huge government expense.
“The most we would be looking at doing is increasing it to potentially a 10,000 seat stadium, but that’s a maybe, and we’ll be working with the YMCA with that because they are also part of this with us.”Instead, the Strikers are putting foundations in place to capitalise on the Women’s World Cup on the field, committing to the development of a women’s team. The club has been in long-term consultation with an unnamed club that Suranyi regards as an excellent example of a women’s program.
“We’re working with another club that runs a women’s program and runs it well. We’re studying that model, so the legacy will be that we can launch very effectively, efficiently and offer the highest resources we can. “Since the announcement of the World Cup, clubs now want to run women’s programs because of the amount of funding available. Our mantra is if you’re going to do it, do it well and keep doing it. It’s not a snatch and grab situation, we’ll make the commitment and drive it through indefinitely.
“We feel really honoured with this selection, and I mean that sincerely. It’s one thing to say, ‘you’re a central location’, it’s another thing to be acknowledged for all the hard work the board has put in. We fund a full-time CEO, a full-time groundsman, and the pride we’ve taken in being selected is immense. We absolutely see it as a point of difference in the club’s long term growth and development.”
