Pursuit of the Cup

The Brisbane Strikers commenced their existence in 1994 in Australia’s then premier club competition, the National Soccer League, emerging from the demise of Brisbane United, who had been Queensland’s representative in the NSL for the previous two seasons.

In the 1996/97 season the Strikers were led by player-coach Frank Farina and finished second on the NSL ladder to Sydney United before going on to beat United in their semi-final to set up a home grand final – against the same team.   The 1997 Grand Final, played at Lang Park in Brisbane, drew a capacity 40,446 spectators to watch the Brisbane Strikers beat Sydney United 2-0 with goals by Farina and Rod Brown.

When Strikers lost the race to be awarded Queensland’s sole licence in the A-League to the Queensland Lions (who eventually entered the A-League with a team named the Queensland Roar), Brisbane Strikers joined forces with local Brisbane club North Star to field a team in the Brisbane Premier League.  Strikers played in the BPL for four years, before moving into the newly formed Queensland State League.

In 2013 the QSL was replaced with the National Premier Leagues in Queensland, and Strikers remain in the NPL today.