Welcome!

By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

Sign Up Now!

The Orange Army. (Brisbane Roar Official Thread)

RIMB said:
Roar News:
Brisbane Roar’s B Team will compete outside NPL Queensland next season following Friday night’s 2-1 defeat to Gold Coast Knights.
While the outcome is disappointing, the Club remains committed to the purpose of its B Team programme: providing talented young Queensland footballers with meaningful senior football minutes and preparing them for the demands of the professional game.

Throughout the season, Brisbane Roar has continued to field the youngest squad in the competition, with the majority of players aged 19 or under and regularly competing against experienced senior opposition.
The pathway has continued to produce players for Brisbane Roar’s A-League Men’s squad. Over the past 18 months, eight players have progressed from the B Team to represent the Club at professional level.

Noah Maieroni and Emmett Shaw both made their Isuzu UTE A-League Men debuts last season after progressing through the B Team, while Lucas Herrington’s pathway ultimately led to a move to the English Premier League.

This season, Archie Mitchell, George Plusnin and Oscar Page have also signed long-term scholarship agreements with the Club after progressing through the same pathway.

Brisbane Roar Sporting Director James Gow said the Club would continue to place player development at the centre of the programme.
“Naturally, we would prefer to be competing in NPL Queensland next season, but the fundamental purpose of our B Team is to develop players capable of playing professional football.

“We have a talented group of young Queensland players coming through the Club and our focus is on continuing to challenge them, accelerate their development and create genuine opportunities for them to progress into our first team.”

Brisbane Roar will continue to invest in its youth pathway and provide opportunities for Queensland’s best young players to progress towards senior professional football.

The Club thanks its supporters for their continued support of the B Team and its young players throughout the season.
Click to expand...
Does that mean the B-team was relegated to QLD NPL 2?
 
Not a good result for the club.

Losing most games, and then losing the best of the crop to the senior squad on top of that does not make for the strongest youth development.

Unfortunately, we will now have our potential future senior players developing in lower level football. I would prefer to be losing against the best level possible than possibly winning at a lower level. If our youth players are able to handle the physicality that I equate with a drop.
 
Kitwally said:
Does that mean the B-team was relegated to QLD NPL 2?
Click to expand...
I don't know - they were relegated so they should drop one level.

Whether it is called NPL2 or BPL1 or whatever I don't have a clue.

Edit: It is called FQPL - Football Queensland Premier League
 
Roar Email:
[td width="510px"]

Brisbane Roar confirms A-League Men's football staff for 2026/27 ​

​
[/td]​

Brisbane Roar can confirm to you, as a valued member first, the full football staff who will work alongside Head Coach Michael Valkanis for the 2026/27 Isuzu UTE A-League Men season.

The group brings together coaching, analysis, sports science, performance and medical expertise drawn from Europe, Major League Soccer, the A-Leagues and elite Australian sport, and completes the technical structure the club began building under Sporting Director James Gow after last season's review.

Football Operations

Shane Stefanutto continues as Head of Football Operations. Few people have given the club more than Stefanutto, who made more than 110 A-League appearances at left back across six seasons in orange, winning three Championships and two Premierships. Stefanutto has been part of the club's football department since hanging up the boots. His role covers the day to day logistics and organisation, to forward plan to achieve training and match day outcomes.

Coaching and Analysis

Iacopo La Rocca continues as Assistant Coach. La Rocca joined the club following coaching roles at Melbourne City FC's Academy, Preston Lions, Football Victoria and FC Bulleen Lions. As a player he featured for Western Sydney Wanderers, Adelaide United and Melbourne City.

Maxim Gaydovskiy takes up the role of Head of Analysis. Gaydovskiy previously worked within the coaching structure at FC Zenit Saint Petersburg before relocating to Australia, where he held roles at Preston Lions FC and Heidelberg United FC. He went on to serve as Senior Head Coach at Port Melbourne Sharks SC and most recently as Head of Analysis at Avondale FC.

Thomas Fawdry returns to Brisbane as Head of Goalkeeping. Fawdry arrives from Major League Soccer side Minnesota United, where he led the goalkeeping department for three seasons and oversaw the development of Dayne St. Clair, named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2025. Before Minnesota, Fawdry spent three years at Barnsley in England and two seasons as Head of Goalkeeping at Melbourne Victory. He first came to Australia in 2018 to work in Brisbane Roar's academy, making this a return to the club where his A-Leagues career started.


Performance and Medical

Tim Schleiger continues in the role of Head of Performance, bringing more than 30 years of high-performance experience working alongside professional athletes and international footballers, including A-League players and current and former Socceroos. Schleiger holds tertiary qualifications across human movement, biomechanics, applied science, sports massage, and strength and conditioning, and has consulted to elite organisations in football, cricket, AFL, tennis and Olympic sport.

Luis Resa leads the men's medical department as Head of Medical, having returned to the club from the Queensland Academy of Sport. Resa has previously held lead physiotherapy roles with Football Australia, Cirque du Soleil and the North Queensland Fury.

Raffaele Moro joins as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, arriving from Wellington Phoenix. Moro spent his most recent seasons across the Phoenix programme before making the move to Brisbane, and works closely with Schleiger and Resa on the physical preparation of the playing group.

Tevan Sandhu continues at the Club in a restructured medical role as a full-time Club Physiotherapist. Sandhu’s capacity will be split between supporting Resa within the A-League Men’s program, however, continuing his important role as Head Physiotherapist for the A-League Women.

Dr Dougal Middleton has been appointed Chief Medical Officer. Middleton works across a range of elite Australian sport and has held senior medical roles with Softball Australia, the Brisbane Bullets and Queensland Reds Women, with earlier work spanning the NRL, QRL and national hockey programs.

Player Development and Support

Andy Bernal continues in Individual Player Development, working with players as they move between the B Team and the A-League Men's squad. The former Socceroo has been a consistent presence in the club's pathway, and his role remains central to how young Queensland players step up into the first team environment.

Lloyd Cabilan also continues as A-League Men's Kit and Equipment Officer, a role he has held through several seasons at the club and one that underpins the day to day running of the squad on training days and matchdays alike.


2026/27 Men's Football Staff
Head Coach: Michael Valkanis
Assistant Coach: Iacopo La Rocca
Head of Analysis: Maxim Gaydovskiy
Head of Goalkeeping: Thomas Fawdry
Head of Performance: Tim Schleiger
Head of Medical: Luis Resa
Strength and Conditioning Coach: Raffaele Moro
Individual Player Development: Andy Bernal
Club Physio: Tevan Sandhu
Chief Medical Officer: Dougal Middleton
Kit and Equipment Officer: Lloyd Cabilan
Head of Football Operations: Shane Stefanutto
Sporting Director: James Gow ​
 
RIMB said:
I don't know - they were relegated so they should drop one level.

Whether it is called NPL2 or BPL1 or whatever I don't have a clue.

Edit: It is called FQPL - Football Queensland Premier League
Click to expand...
FQPL1 is the league immediately below the NPL (the Qld pyramid goes down to FQPL6). Note that next year the leagues will be called QPL (Queensland Premier League), a re-branding exercise that that Football Queensland has unbelievably made a big hullaballoo about, when all it means in practice is that all clubs need to replace their kit to update it with the new QPL logo (that looks like it was designed by a 12 year old fiddling around with design software) to replace the old FQPL logo.
 
Roar News:
Brisbane Roar can confirm the club’s men’s side will take on Olympic FC at Goodwin Park on Friday 4 September, with kick-off at 6:30pm.

The fixture gives supporters on Brisbane’s southside a chance to see the 2026/27 squad up close in the lead-up to the A-League Men season, and continues the club’s commitment to taking pre-season football out into the local football community in the build up to the new campaign.


The full community program will be in place on the night, including pre-game coaching sessions with the current playing squad, a player signing session, a merchandise tent and the opportunity to register for a 2026/27 Roar membership.

The Club thanks Olympic FC for hosting the fixture and for their work in putting the night together.
 
dr. bellows said:
We will be signing Moldovan striker Virgiliu Postolachi, according to Marco:


Good age, not many goals so far. Moldova NT have persisted with him so hopefully there's something there.
Click to expand...
Maybe a hidden gem.

Watching a couple of youtube clips did not show much of him. Did not look to have fast feet so might get the ball pinched when he's close marked but, given we do create some chances, if he turns out to have a fair clinical finish that is what we need.
 
And definitely not worth adding, but if we sign him he is already equal top in the race for golden boot 26/27.
 
RIMB said:
Maybe a hidden gem.

Watching a couple of youtube clips did not show much of him. Did not look to have fast feet so might get the ball pinched when he's close marked but, given we do create some chances, if he turns out to have a fair clinical finish that is what we need.
Click to expand...
He's reasonably tall. Any of the clips show headed goals? What's our winger situation? Any of them able to throw in decent crosses?
 
dr. bellows said:
He's reasonably tall. Any of the clips show headed goals? What's our winger situation? Any of them able to throw in decent crosses?
Click to expand...
I saw nothing on headed goals but I only watched 3 or 4.

Showed him mostly around the edge of the goal box finding a shot and putting it in. Unfortunately you don't get to see how many he misses on the clips.

We have Nam in the front third, and he looked pretty bloody good in the SFC game with his corners and his vision in open play. I do think he can feed an opportunity well.

Ngor and Ilic are probably settled players in our attacking midfield, possibly Lauton in the mix too, with Vidic and Postolachi up front.

I am not suggesting that all of them will be in the starting lineup - because we are shaping up to have at least one reasonably equivalent cover player for most of our attacking midfield positions.

Ngor can deliver a ball well when he doesn't have tunnel vision.

Ilic, coming from German football, should have the technical skills to deliver a decent cross but I have not seen enough to be able to say he can.

Lauton is not a bad passer and has vision - less likely to whip in a cross but more likely to thread a pass through.

I add the quality of Nam to the sort of chances we have seen created for Vidic recently and we are not in a bad place.

As with many seasons, we have been crying out for a clinical finisher to make at least one goal from our decent chances. Guaranteed Postolachi will get chances with both head and foot - we just have to see if he can put them away.
 
Last edited:
RIMB said:
I saw nothing on headed goals but I only watched 3 or 4.

Showed him mostly around the edge of the goal box finding a shot and putting it in. Unfortunately you don't get to see how many he misses on the clips.

We have Nam in the front third, and he looked pretty bloody good in the SFC game with his corners and his vision in open play. I do think he can feed an opportunity well.

Ngor and Ilic are probably settled players in our attacking midfield, possibly Lauton in the mix too, with Vidic and Postolachi up front.

I am not suggesting that all of them will be in the starting lineup - because we are shaping up to have at least one reasonably equivalent cover player for most of our attacking midfield positions.

Ngor can deliver a ball well when he doesn't have tunnel vision.

Ilic, coming from German football, should have the technical skills to deliver a decent cross but I have not seen enough to be able to say he can.

Lauton is not a bad passer and has vision - less likely to whip in a cross but more likely to thread a pass through.

I add the quality of Nam to the sort of chances we have seen created for Vidic recently and we are not in a bad place.

As with many seasons, we have been crying out for a clinical finisher to make at least one goal from our decent chances. Guaranteed Postolachio will get chances with both head and foot - we just have to see if he can put them away.
Click to expand...
Good info. Thanks.
 
Looking up the meanings of both Postecoglou and Postolachi they are basically the same surname.

"Son of" is coglou and achi in Greek and Romanian, and Poste and Postol are derivations of Apostle.

Ange and Virgiliu are both Sons of the Messenger/Apostle (or Postman if Google is to be trusted - but we won't go there).

I do like unexpected coincidences like that. What a tiny world we live in.
 
Roar Women News:
Brisbane Roar can confirm five departures from its Ninja A-League Women squad ahead of the 2026/27 season.

Kiera Meyers, Aimee Medwin and Alicia Woods will not return to the club for the coming campaign. They follow Marianna Seidl and Ashlyn Miller, who have also departed in recent weeks.


Meyers and Medwin joined the club ahead of the 2025/26 season and both featured heavily in a squad that finished third on the Ninja A-League Women ladder, ultimately bowing out at the Semi Final stage.

For Seidl, she signed from Czech champions SK Slavia Praha and featured across defence and midfield through the campaign. She has joined SD Eibar in Spain’s Liga F.


Miller joined from the University of Texas and was one of the squad’s most consistent performers, starting the majority of the club’s matches and scoring her first A-League goal against Wellington Phoenix in January. She has signed with Brooklyn FC in the United States, linking back up with former Roar Head Coach Alex Smith.

Woods departs after three seasons in Brisbane, having come to the club as a Queensland junior. She signed a scholarship during the 2023/24 campaign from NPL Queensland side Peninsula Power, where she had previously played under then Roar Head Coach Alex Smith, and made her A-League Women debut against Western United in Round 16 of that season. She went on to become a fixture in the Roar midfield for the next three season contributing heavily and quickly becoming a fan favourite amongst the Roar members and fans.

Brisbane Roar thanks Kiera, Aimee, Mari, Ashlyn and Alicia for their commitment to the club and wishes them well for the next stage of their careers.

Additionally, the club looks forward to beginning the announcement of several players for the 2026/27 Women’s squad imminently.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top