Football Queensland announced Redlands United received a new five-year licence and would be a part of the NPL Queensland competition in 2018.
Redlands is the only team in the region in the NPL Queensland and with over 4000 members, is one of the state’s largest clubs.
Redlands United president Norman Schroeder is excited with this renewed opportunity to build on the club’s past achievements.
“Our successful submission and subsequent issuing of a licence will ensure our journey continues, as we are committed to providing a development pathway for our talented players,” Schroeder said. “We play an important role, in not only promoting our game, but we also support and are sponsored by many local businesses, charities and community groups,” he said.
The 2018 season sees the introduction of Lions FC and Mackay and Whitsundays Magpies Crusaders United.
“There can be no doubt expanding and welcoming these two new teams to the NPL will enhance the competition and add another comparative benchmark to our game,” Schroeder said.
It was also announced there would be a new league, Football Queensland Premier League, with 14 teams joining the second tier competition. This sees the introduction of a relegation and promotion system.
Currently, relegation and promotion will be based on the points accumulated from the U18’s, Youth and Men’s NPL teams.
“Details are still to be confirmed but there can be no doubt proposed changes will now require a greater focus on winning,” Schroeder said.
“We have seven U18s players named and playing in our first and/or U20s team, which could be playing in our current U18s team if we were results driven.”
The Showgrounds has over 80,000 visitors in a 12-month period coming from as far as North Queensland and with the club expected to celebrate its 100th year in 2018, it is looking to upgrade the club infrastructure.
Last year, the Westfield FFA Cup and the NPL grand final were moved from the Showgrounds due to inadequate facilities. They are afraid if funding is not put into infrastructure, they could end up behind the rest of the competition.