Soccer was first played in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

on a regular basis in

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 ...

, in 1884. It is the most participated team sport in the state with 341,917 players in 2024 just under a third of which are female. The game in Queensland is administered by the peak body,

Football Queensland Football Queensland (FQ) is the governing body for soccer, futsal and beach soccer in the Australian state of Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australi ...

, together with several subordinate zone councils, each representing regions of Queensland.

History

The Brisbane Football Club (Queensland's first football club) formed in 1866 under

Australian Rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

rules but dabbled in both soccer and rugby football for much of its history, but appears to have been involved in many of the early soccer matches in Brisbane from 1867 to 1870. The earliest mention of matches under London Association rules is a July 1867 match Between Brisbane FC and the Volunteer Artillery World eleven. Volunteer Artillery later switched to Australian rules. Brisbane FC also played soccer at Woogaroo (now

Goodna Goodna is a Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb on the eastern edge of the City of Ipswich in Queensland, Australia. In the , Goodna had a population of 10,391 people. Geography Goodna is from the Brisbane central business district, ...

), west of Brisbane, in 1875 against the inmates and warders of the Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum." The following year at a meeting at the Railway Hotel, Petrie Terrace in April 1876, a new club was being formed in Brisbane to play under London Association rules is made with the intention of starting a neighbourhood league. The Anglo-Queensland Football Association (a predecessor of Football Queensland) began in 1884. The ''

Brisbane Courier ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...

'' reported in early May 1884: :''A MEETING of those favourable to the "Association" game of football as played in the home countries was held at the Australian Hotel last night ... was resolved that it was desirable to form an Anglo-Queensland Football Association, and as a beginning the meeting formed the first club, the name selected being "St. Andrew's Football Club." ... It was announced that already from twenty-seven to thirty promises to join the club had been received, and it was resolved to play a practice match tomorrow afternoon, if possible, in the Queen's Park.'' The first fixture match was played on 7 June 1884, on the Pineapple Sportsfield (now part of Raymond Park), Kangaroo Point (refer to

History of association football in Brisbane, Queensland The earliest known records of regular association football, soccer games in Brisbane date from the early 1880s, when a group comprising mostly Scottish immigrants commenced playing at Queen's Park, adjacent to Alice and Edward Streets in the c ...

for more information). By 1886, the game had spread west to

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

and then to other regional centres.

Administration of football in Queensland

Football Queensland

Football Queensland was preceded by a number of organisations: * 1884-1889: Anglo-Queensland Football Association * 1890-1919: Queensland British Football Association * 1920-1927: Queensland Football Association * 1928-1939: Queensland Soccer Council * 1940-1961: Queensland Soccer Football Association * 1962-2005: Queensland Soccer Federation * 2006-Present: Football Queensland

Queensland Zones

The game is administered locally by zone councils:

Participation

National representation

National Soccer League (NSL) 1977-2004

There were a number of Queensland teams that played in the now defunct

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

A-League (2005-present)

The

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

, a privately owned football club (originally formed by the Brisbane-based Queensland Lions FC), was the only Queensland team to compete in the inaugural season of the national

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

(2005). In the 2009-10 Hyundai A-League season, two other clubs joined the Roar,

Gold Coast United FC Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian Association football, soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first ...

and the

North Queensland Fury FC Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from th ...

(Townsville). However, the Fury team withdrew from the competition after season 2010-11, citing financial difficulties. Gold Coast United also left the A-league after the 2011-12 season. They have now reformed in August 2017 and currently compete in the

National Premier Leagues Queensland The National Premier League Queensland (NPL Queensland or NPL QLD) is the top tier state-level soccer competition in the Australian state of Queensland. The conference, run by Football Queensland, is a sub division of the National Premier Leagues ...

Club competitions

Queensland statewide competitions

The Queensland State League (QSL) was established in 2008 to provide a second tier competition between the A-League and the Queensland regional competitions. The QSL consisted of a single division, comprising nine teams without provision for promotion or relegation. In 2013 the QSL was replaced by the

(NPL Qld) which forms a division within the

National Premier Leagues The National Premier Leagues (NPL) is a men's national association football competition in Australia which acts as the second tier of the sport in the country below the A-League. The NPL consists of the highest level state league in each state- ...

(NPL). The winner (top of the table after the regular season) enters a national finals series against the winners of the other NPL divisions. In 2018 the NPL Queensland will introduce promotion from and relegation to, a new league the

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 ...

Regional competitions

Below the NPL Qld there are local competitions run in each of the zones.

Seasons in Queensland soccer

Women's football

have a team in the national W-League that represent Queensland's female footballers.

Footnotes

External links

Football Queensland official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Association Football in Queensland Qu