Brisbane Knights Football Club is an Australian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club from

Rocklea Rocklea is a southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Rocklea had a population of 1,672 people. Low-lying parts of the suburb are flood prone. Geography Rocklea is located 9 kilometres south of the city. The ...

, a suburb of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Queensland, Australia. They will be competing in the

Football Queensland Premier League 2 The Football Queensland Premier League (known by its abbreviation FQPL) is a men's soccer league contested by clubs in Queensland, Australia that consists of two divisions; FQPL 1 and FQPL 2. It is administered by Football Queensland and runs as ...

, the 4th division on the football pyramid of Australia, after achieving promotion from

Brisbane Premier League The Brisbane Premier League was the first tier of senior soccer in Brisbane, Queensland (fourth tier in Queensland and fifth overall in Australia). It was run and administered by Football Queensland Metro. The competition folded and was revam ...

in 2024.

History

The club was initially formed in 1952 under the name HNK Croatia Brisbane but struggled to sustain a full squad of players for the entire season, so the club disbanded. With the steady growth of the Croatian community in following years, the club was reformed in 1957. On 15 May 1957 the club was registered with the governing federation as an official soccer club. The club also played under the names New Farm SC (from 1971–1974), Sunnyside United SC (1975–1987), Croatia Soccer Club (1988), Brisbane Croatia Soccer Club and Rocklea United SC(from 1989–2012). In the early years the club played at council grounds throughout Brisbane until 1970, when the local Croatian community purchased 50-odd acres of land at

, an inner city south-west suburb of Brisbane. In the 1980s the club competed in the

until relegation in 1994.

Recent History

After relegation from the

Capital League 1 The Capital League was a soccer league based in Brisbane, Queensland which was founded in 2013 and ran as the third, fourth, fifth until 2021 when then league folded in place of the Football Queensland Premier League – Metro's fourth, fifth, ...

in 2013, the Knights managed immediate promotion in 2014, finishing runners up in the

Capital League 2 The Capital League was a soccer league based in Brisbane, Queensland which was founded in 2013 and ran as the third, fourth, fifth until 2021 when then league folded in place of the Football Queensland Premier League – Metro's fourth, fifth, ...

. In 2015, Knights finished fifth in League 1. Brisbane Knights hosted the 41st annual Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament in October 2015. It was the fourth time the Queensland club hosted the tournament, having previously hosted in 1982 (winning the tournament for the first and only time to date), 1989 and 2001.

Melbourne Knights FC Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Victoria, Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, t ...

took out their sixth title at the tournament. After another mid-table finish in 2016, Knights finished in third place in League 1 in 2017 and were promoted back to the Brisbane Premier League due to a league re-structure, where

Football Queensland Premier League The Football Queensland Premier League (known by its abbreviation FQPL) is a men's soccer league contested by clubs in Queensland, Australia that consists of two divisions; FQPL 1 and FQPL 2. It is administered by Football Queensland and runs as ...

became the new state-wide second tier and the BPL became the third state tier. The Knights finished in the lower half of the BPL table in both 2018 and 2019. In January 2020, it was announced that

Gold Coast Knights SC 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 se ...

had assumed control of Brisbane Knights Football Club. The COVID-19 pandemic saw the Brisbane Knights field one Men's Brisbane Premier League squad. All matches were played as away fixtures whilst extensive repairs were conducted to the fields of the Brisbane Knights by the Gold Coast Knights Football Club. In 2021, the Brisbane Knights re-assumed control with the guidance from the Gold Coast Knights Football Club with teams in the Men's Brisbane Premier League, Masters Competition and Women's Brisbane City League. Their home continues to be the Croatian Club Brisbane in Rocklea and in February 2021, the main playing field was re-named the Ivan "Johnny" Mesic Memorial Field, named in honour of one the founders of the Club. In 2022 it saw the Brisbane Knights finish mid-table once again. 2023 was a pivotal year for the Brisbane Knights as it saw them finish as premiers and grand final champions in the new Football Queensland Premier League 4 – Metro system and promote into

Football Queensland Premier League 3 – Metro The Brisbane Premier League was the first tier of senior soccer in Brisbane, Queensland (fourth tier in Queensland and fifth overall in Australia). It was run and administered by Football Queensland Metro. The competition folded and was revam ...

. 2024 was once again another successful year for the Brisbane Knights as it saw them again gain promotion from

, after once again winning a back-to-back premiership, a first in the clubs history.

Honours

(as Brisbane Knights) * Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament Champions 1982 * Ampol Cup Runner Up 1985 *

Premiers 2024 * Division 2/Capital League 1/Queensland Premier League 4 -Metro Premiers 1987, 2023 * Division 2/Capital League 1/Queensland Premier League 4 -Metro Runner Up 1990 * Capital League 2/Queensland Premier League 5 -Metro Runner Up 2014 (as Rocklea United) * Division 1/Capital League 1 Final Champions 1999 * Division 1/Capital League 1 League Runner Up 1998, 1999

Players

First team squad

Notable players

Dario Vidošić Dario Vidošić ( ; ; born 8 April 1987) is a former Association football, soccer player and current coach who is the manager of Women's Super League club Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C., Brighton & Hove Albion. Born in Yugoslavia, he represented ...

* Takeru Okada * Bright Machida

References

External links

Rocklea United Official Website
Soccer clubs in Brisbane Brisbane Premier League teams Croatian sports clubs in Australia Association football clubs established in 1952 {{Australia-footyclub-stub