As you may or may not be aware, at the end of the 2017 football season the Football Queensland run
PlayStation 4 National Premier League (PS4NPL) licenses for both male and female competitions were
up for renewal. Additionally, FQ decided that they would create a second tier male competition called
the Football Queensland Premier League (FQPL). All three competitions were advertised as a 14-team
state-wide competition with promotion and relegation between the two male leagues taking effect at
the conclusion of the 2018 seasons. These leagues also consist of both senior and junior competitions
from adult to U13.
In addition to this, FQ also made all Skills Acquisition Program (SAP) licenses available for application.
They have also increased the number of licenses to 20. The SAP program is a small sided football (SSF)
skills based program that is for boys and girls aged from U8-U12.
Grange Thistle submitted an expression of interest for these competitions and as such received the
application documents which set out the requirements to be met by each club to be considered for
inclusion into these competitions. The criteria focused on:
- The number of teams the Licensee needs to field
- Youth development
- Coaching qualifications and capabilities
- Governance
- Finance
- Facilities
- Organisational Structure
- Membership Protection
- Medical
- Reporting
- Competition
- Commercial Rights
After reviewing the criteria, the Clubs compliance to these and the costs associated with meeting the
balance of the criteria, the Board took the decision to not pursue an application for entry into the male
or female PS4NPL or male FQPL competitions. Whilst the Club met a significant number of the required
criteria the Board felt that the Club was best served to focus on continuing the improvement of our
football and infrastructure programs that we are currently undertaking. At this stage the board is of
the opinion that the costs associated with participation in these competitions outweigh the benefits
and the financial risks involved are significant.
This does not mean that when these licenses come up for renewal that the Board would not consider
applying in the future, particularly as our infrastructure continues to improve.
The Club has applied for the boys & girls SAP program licenses and are currently awaiting the
announcement of the successful applicants.
Grange Thistle is already well down the path of providing high quality Senior and Junior Development
programs at a reasonable cost for our members. Our commitment to continuing and building upon
this progress does not change regardless of this decision.
Player enjoyment and development is a key focus for Grange Thistle and the Club firmly believes that
we are well down the path of producing some very talented players.
