Club History

The Club’s ancestry began in the minds of a handful of local enthusiasts keen to start a soccer team that would fill the barren desert between the Brisbane River and the coal town of Newcastle, an area served by absolutely no club of any note in the relatively recent year of 1960.

In 1961, a generous offer from the Council of the day gave the yet unnamed club an overgrown farm plot which was then enthusiastically hand cleared and levelled of jungle weeds and bulrushes.

At this time, Celtic United provided Souths with 2 strips in their traditional white with emerald green hoops, which to this day, remain Souths colours.

By 1962, the fledgling club then known as South Coast United was let loose on an unsuspecting opposition under the Presidency of the late Cyril Boland. The early 60’s clubhouse was constructed out of four badly weathered walls on a thin slab of concrete. As an afterthought, a hole was knocked in one wall and an ensuite installed.

The Club quickly expanded from 4 junior and 2 senior teams to about 20 teams by 1965. To accommodate this expansion, two more fields had to be carved out of the wilderness. About this time the ailing Triangles club merged with us.

In 1972, the existing club name of Souths United was born.

1974 saw the affiliation of Souths United Baseball Club which operated as a summer sport for the next 6 years. Also in that year a permanent lease was arranged over our grounds with the Brisbane City Council and work began on the much-needed clubhouse. After tremendous efforts by many Club members, the clubhouse was opened in 1975. Fittingly, the Senior Men’s team won the Premiership and many other prestigious awards that year.

At that time, our grounds were unimaginatively known as Runcorn Reserve. They were renamed Wakerley Park acknowledging the special efforts of the late Col Wakerley in helping to get the club established. Simultaneously, our No. 1 and No. 2 fields were named The Les Wilson and The George Waite Field in recognition of their contributions to the construction of the clubhouse.

By 1978, the floodlighting of our No. 1 field was completed to such a standard that only two other clubs in Queensland were capable of staging night fixtures on a permanent basis.

Our first women’s teams were registered in 1979 and since then, we have continued to field women’s teams.

During all of these years, our senior men’s teams and junior teams have enjoyed their share of success and probably their share of disappointments—but that’s soccer!

The club experienced a high in 1981 when our senior 1st Division side finished 5th in the Brisbane 1st Division.

The late eighties saw a rebuilding program with an extremely strong junior base being developed. 1987—1990 saw the upgrading of lighting and 1992 saw us come second in the 3rd Division Premiership and win the Grand Final. In 1998, Souths United fielded 11 Competition Junior teams, 31 RooBall teams and 5 Senior Men’s teams.

In 1998, we saw the consolidation of the club’s facilities which are now all but complete. This has been made possible by the hard work and dedication shown by both committee and members of the club over the past 9 years. 1999 saw he Club have it’s most successful year in 37 years with the 1st team and reserves being Premiers, the reserves winning the Grand Final and 3rd Division Seniors winning the Grand Final. Record numbers were experienced at Junior, Women’s and Men’s levels.

The 2000 season didn’t disappoint. Our 1st Division Ladies were Premiers, the Youth team were Premiers and won the Grand Final, the Reserves were also Premiers and the 1st Division Men’s team came second in the Premiership and won the Grand Final. Our Under 15 Div. 1 and Junior Colts Div 1 teams both won their Grand Finals and our Junior Colts Div 1 were also Premiers. A very successful season with 32 RooBall teams, 16 Divisional teams, 2 Women’s teams and 6 Men’s teams.

Season 2001 saw Field 1 lighting upgraded (with assistance from BCC) and catch nets installed behind the goals. Another record year for team numbers and players throughout the Club at all levels with teams performing well in competition.

2002 saw the upgrading of lighting on Field 2—5 and our Senior Men’s 1st Division team qualify to play Premier League in 2003. This has been a goal of the Club for many years.

In 2003, two of our Junior teams won Grand Finals as well as the Senior Men’s Metropolitan Division1 team. The Club remains in the Premier League for 2004 due to the efforts of the players and the coaching staff.

2004 saw the junior and ladies teams shine. Five junior teams competed in the grand finals with 2 being victorious. The Under 14 Div 5 team won the premiership. The ladies Premiers, Reserves and Div 3 as well as the Under 14 girls team all made it through to the finals series with 3 of them competing in the grand final. The Div 3 team also won the Premiership. The senior mens teams had a tough season but have remained in Premier League for 2005. Now the tough work begins under a new coach - Peter Tokesi.

2005 saw the Men’s Premier team cement their position in the Premier League by coming 5th in the Premiership - no mean feat coming from last on the table in 2004! The Metro Div 3 team won the Premiership and were runners-up in the Grand Final and the Metro Div 1 team won the Grand Final and were runners-up in the Premiership. The ladies teams had a mixed season. The Under 15 Div 3 team won the Premiership and were runners-up in the Grand Final along with Under 11 Div 3 and Under 13 Div 3.

In 2006. Our Metro 1 and Reserves finished in the top 4 as did our Premier Womens Reserves and Youth teams and our Under 11 Development, Under 11 Div 1, Under 14 Div 2 and Under 15 Div 2 teams. Our Under 11 Div 6 team won the Premiership and Grand Final.

2007 was another successful year. The Metro Div 1 and Reserves both finished in the top 4 of the Premiership and both teams won their respective Grand Finals. The Under 11 Div 6 team were joint Grand Final winners and the Under 13 Div 1 team won their Grand Final. Several other junior teams finished in the top four. The Premier Mens team finished a creditable 6th under Graham Hayward and the Reserves 3rd. The Womens Premier team finished 5th, the Reserves 6th and the Div 4 team finished 4th.