FQ CEO Robert Cavallucci recently featured on an episode of The Subs Bench podcast to discuss an improved stadium in Brisbane in a bid to grow the game further.
Football Queensland and Football Australia’s push to upgrade the state’s spiritual home of football, Perry Park, has been a hot topic of discussion for a good amount of time.
In a submission to a federal inquiry into Australia’s preparedness to host the Olympic Games, Football Australia called for an upgrade of Perry Park to become a 10 or 15,000 seat stadium with improved internal facilities.
Cavallucci discussed why this upgrade needs to be completed following the rise of the games popularity.
“The question should be, does football require a more appropriate stadium that reflects its needs? Absolutely it does,” he said on The Subs Bench podcast.
“The city and the state needs a football appropriate that reflects football’s very unique requirements and the fact we don’t have one is symptomatic of 20 or 30 years of failure as a code to actively advocate for our needs. Thats obviously changing dramatically and very quickly.
“Perry Park obviously has a lot of suitable elements, it’s in the inner city, which is perfect, it’s on a train line which is even better, it’s on major road infrastructure. You can access it from everywhere and very quickly.
“Importantly it links in with the broader sporting spine on those train lines so you can get from there to Suncorp to the Gabba and get to Perry Park from all those places.”
Cavallucci added that this upgrade is necessary for the sport to advance in the state and shed light on how it would affect all tiers of the football pyramid.
“There’s no question it’s been on our top three infrastructure priorities for four years and we’re absolutely putting in significant work to eventually bring that to life,” he said.
“It’s important for the code and it’s important for not only professional and semi-professional levels but it’s important for women’s football but also the A-League expansion as well.
“We should have a second Brisbane team; it will absolutely mobilise a broader fanbase. It can only be brought into life if we have appropriate infrastructure.”
With the Olympics a hot topic at the moment and FQ’s push to secure more funding for a second top rectangular stadium, it will be an interesting talking point that the government will have to consider to help progress football in the region.
