Queensland Lions Football Club, known as Lions FC, is a soccer club based in Brisbane, Australia. Founded in 1957 as Hollandia Inala Soccer Club, the club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Queensland.
The club was founded in 1957 as Hollandia-Inala Soccer Club by Dutch immigrants. From the start they were based at grounds in the Brisbane suburb of Darra and then moved to Pine Road, Richlands, where they play today. In the early 1970s, all clubs were required to abandon 'ethnic' names and they then adopted the name Brisbane Lions.
In 1977 the Lions were invited to play in the National Soccer League and played in the league as Brisbane Lions until the end of the 1988 season. Former Manchester United and Northern Ireland legend George Best made four appearances for the team during the 1983/84 season. Notable players around this time include, Bob Latchford (1981, from Everton ), Col Bennet, Jim Hermiston, Ron Millman.
From 1989 the Brisbane Lions played in the Brisbane Premier League. After coming to an agreement with the newly formed Brisbane Lions AFL club,[1] they changed their name to the current Queensland Lions.
In 2004 it was announced that the Lions had won the right to compete in the newly formed A-League. Operating as Queensland Roar the club was once again represented in an Australian national league.
Subsequent changes to the ownership structure of the Roar allowed the Queensland Lions to re-enter the Brisbane competition in Premier Division 1 in 2008.[2]
In 2012, Lions FC was accepted into the inaugural 2013 Brisbane Premier League, the top local competition in the Brisbane region.[2] In 2016, the club went back-to-back claiming the premiership and Grand Final.[2]
When the National Premier Leagues Queensland expanded in 2018, Lions FC were one of the clubs to join the competition. In its first season in the NPLQ, Lions won the league and grand final double.[3][4] In 2019, the club followed it up with a back-to-back premiership, winning the league with 2 games to spare.[5] However, in the finals series, Lions went down 2–1 to Olympic FC in the semi-final.[6]
Darren Sime
