Souths United FC

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}} {{Infobox football club | clubname = Souths United Football Club | image = SouthsUnitedFC.png | image_size = 150px | alt = Souths United FC Emblem | fullname = Souths United Football Club | nickname = Souths | founded = 1961 | ground = Wakerley Park | capacity = | chairman = Tracey Confessore | mgrtitle = Head coach | manager = Vedran Becirbegovic | league = {{Australian soccer updater|SouthsUnited}} | season = {{Australian soccer updater|SouthsUnited2}} | position = {{Australian soccer updater|SouthsUnited3}} | website = http://www.southsunited.org.au/ | pattern_la1 = _celtic1213h | pattern_b1 = _celtic1213h | pattern_ra1 = _celtic1213h | pattern_sh1 = _darkgreenbottom | pattern_so1 = _hoops_green_2 | leftarm1 = celtic1213h | body1 = celtic1213h | rightarm1 = celtic1213h | shorts1 = _black_stripes_adidas | socks1 = _hoops_green_2 | pattern_la2 = _greenborder | pattern_b2 = _green thinhorizontal | pattern_ra2 = _greenborder | leftarm2 = 000000 | body2 = 000000 | rightarm2 = 000000 | shorts2 = 000000 | socks2 = 000000 | pattern_so2 = _greentop | pattern_sh2 = }}

'''Souths United Football Club''' is an Australian football (soccer) club based in Runcorn, a southern suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed in 1962, and currently competes in the Brisbane Premier League.<ref name="SUFCH">{{cite web | url=http://southsunited.org.au/page/club-history| title= Club History | work=Souths United official website | access-date=18 July 2017}}</ref> In May 2017, Football Queensland announced Souths United FC were among the 14 clubs accepted to form the Football Queensland Premier League for its initial season in 2018.<ref name="PPQPL">{{cite web | url=http://footballqueensland.com.au/2017/05/29/football-queensland-unveils-expansion-clubs/| title=Football Queensland Unveils Clubs For New Two-Tiered State Competition | work=Football Queensland website | date=29 May 2017 | access-date=12 June 2017}}</ref>

==History== The club was formed as '''South Coast United Soccer Club''' in 1962. The grounds that were to become the club's headquarters were provided by the Brisbane City Council in the early 1960s, originally consisting of an overgrown farm plot. This wasteland of jungle weeds and bulrushes was cleared by the club's founding members and became the Runcorn Reserve, later renamed Wakerley Park in the mid-1970s. The club's emerald green and white hooped colours originated in this early stage in the club's history, when Scottish champions Celtic F.C. provided Souths with 2 strips in their traditional white with emerald green hoops, which to this day, remain Souths colours.<ref name="SUFCH" /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://southsunited.org.au/page/club-strip| title= Club Strip | work=Souths United official website | access-date=19 July 2017}}</ref>

South Coast United joined senior competition entering the third tier of Brisbane soccer in the 1964 season.<ref name="SUFC">{{cite web | url=http://www.elitetograssroots.net/qbst/9_current_clubs/souths_united.htm| title=Souths United FC | work=Brisbane Football (Soccer) Tables | access-date=10 August 2018}}</ref> The club absorbed the Triangles Soccer Club (previously known as YMCA Soccer Club) after the 1965 season contributing to a rapid expansion in its playing numbers.<ref name="SUFCH" /> This increased participation led to a third-place finish in 1967, then promotion to Division 2 the following season.<ref name="SUFC" />

The club changed its name to '''Souths United''' at the end of the 1972 season. After relegation to Division 3 in 1974, the club won its first senior grade premiership in 1975 and returned to Division 2 after a single season. With the formation of the Queensland State League in 1979, South United played two seasons in Division 1, but after relegation in last place in 1980 the club remained at the second or third tier of Brisbane soccer for the next two decades. In 1981 South United's Division 1 team finished 5th in the Brisbane First Division.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://southsunited.org.au/page/club-history|title=Club History {{!}} Souths United Football Club|website=southsunited.org.au|language=en|access-date=2018-08-03}}</ref> One highlight from this era was winning the Division 1 South premiership in 1999, however the club was not promoted to the Brisbane Premier League.<ref name="SUFC" />

In 2002 Souths United achieved a long sought after goal, achieving promotion to the Brisbane Premier League for the first time.<ref name="SUFCH" /> The club finished second in Division 1<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.socceraust.co.uk/2002/QLD/Div1/fixtures.html| title=Brisbane Division One 2002 Fixtures/Results | work=socceraust.co.uk website | access-date=18 July 2017}}</ref> then won a promotion/relegation play-off 3–2 against Eastern Suburbs over two legs.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.socceraust.co.uk/2002/QLD/PO/fixtures.html| title=Brisbane promotion/relegation playoffs 2002 | work=socceraust.co.uk website | access-date=18 July 2017}}</ref> Souths United remained in the BPL for ten seasons with its best results occurring between 2005 and 2008 when it just missed the finals series finishing fifth in 2005 and sixth in the following three seasons.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.elitetograssroots.net/qbst/brisbane_premier_league_season_tables.htm#bpl2005 | title=Brisbane Premier League Tables 1983 to 2017 (2005 season)| work=Brisbane Football (Soccer) Tables | access-date=10 August 2018}}</ref> In 2007 South United achieved its best cup run, progressing to the final of Brisbane Premier Cup which it lost 2–1 to Pine Rivers United.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.socceraust.co.uk/2007/QLD/Cup/fixtures.html| title=Brisbane Premier Cup 2007 Fixtures/Results | work=socceraust.co.uk website | access-date=19 July 2017}}</ref>

Souths United fell two divisions to Capital League 2 after being relegated in 2012 and 2014, but bounced back to win successive promotions in 2015 and 2016 to return to the BPL for the 2017 season. This period included a 3–0 grand final victory over Western Spirit to win the 2015 Capital League 2 championship.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.socceraust.co.uk/2015/QLD/Div2/fixtures.html| title=Brisbane Capital League Division Two 2015 | work=socceraust.co.uk website | access-date=18 July 2017}}</ref> Souths United bolstered its squad for the 2017 BPL campaign by signing former Socceroo Jon McKain.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/southeast/souths-united-make-presence-felt-with-signing-of-former-socceroos-player-jon-mckain/news-story/7891efccdad03f22209ec1514e471d2a | title= Souths United make presence felt with signing of former Socceroos player Jon McKain | work= Quest Newspapers | author= Brayden Heslehurst |date=22 December 2016}}</ref>

In May 2017, Football Queensland announced Souths United FC were among the 14 clubs accepted to form the Football Queensland Premier League for its initial season in 2018.<ref name="PPQPL" />

In 2021, Souths United was relegated into Football Queensland Premier League 2, although disappointment from the Men's team, the National Premier League Women's team reached the quarter final in the Kappa Cup. The following seasons saw success for the Women's team, in which they achieved runners up in both 2022, and 2023 in the Kappa Cup.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fixture for Kappa Women's Super Cup |url=https://websites.mygameday.app/comp_info.cgi?c=0-9386-0-602445-0&a=FIXTURE |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=GameDay |language=en}}</ref>

In November 2023, Souths United brought in former Socceroo Jade North as club ambassador.

As of the 2024 season, the club competed in the Football Queensland Premier League 2 for men, Football Queensland Academy Leagues for junior boys and the National Premier League Women's for women and junior girls. The club also fielded male and female teams for seniors and juniors in divisional competitions along with Miniroos teams.

==Recent seasons==

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%;width:95%; text-align:center" ! rowspan=2 width=3%|Season ! rowspan=1 colspan=11 width=28%|League ! rowspan=2 width=6%|FFA Cup |- ! width=9%|Division (tier) ! width=2%|{{Tooltip|Pld|Played}} ! width=2%|{{Tooltip|W|Games won}} ! width=2%|{{Tooltip|D|Games drawn}} ! width=2%|{{Tooltip|L|Games lost}} ! width=2%|{{Tooltip|GF|Goals scored}} ! width=2%|{{Tooltip|GA|Goals against}} ! width=2%|{{Tooltip|GD|Goals difference}} ! width=2%|{{Tooltip|Pts|Points}} ! width=2%|Position ! width=5%|Finals Series |- |2008||Brisbane Premier League (3) ||22||9||4||9||38||32||6||'''31'''||'''6th'''|| DNQ||rowspan=6|''Not yet founded'' |- |2009||Brisbane Premier League (3) ||24||9||3||12||34||47||−13||'''30'''||'''8th'''|| DNQ |- |2010||Brisbane Premier League (3) ||26||8||3||15||42||51||−9||'''27'''||'''9th'''|| DNQ |- |2011||Brisbane Premier League (3) ||26||8||2||16||40||66||−26||'''26'''||'''12th'''|| DNQ |- |2012||Brisbane Premier League (3) ||26||1||1||24||23||119||−96||'''4'''||bgcolor=pink|'''14th ↓'''|| DNQ |- |2013 |Capital League 1 (4) ||22||7||3||12||31||32||−1||'''24'''||'''9th'''|| DNQ |- |2014 |Capital League 1 (4) ||22||3||4||15||16||49||−33||'''13'''||bgcolor=pink|'''12th ↓'''||DNQ||Preliminary Round 1 |- |2015 |Capital League 2 (5) ||22||18||1||3||95||25||70||'''55'''||bgcolor=gold|'''1st ↑'''||bgcolor=gold|'''Champions'''||Preliminary Round 3 |- |2016 |Capital League 1 (4) ||22||14||5||3||66||28||38||'''47'''||bgcolor=gold|'''1st ↑'''||Preliminary Final||Preliminary Round 4 |- |2017 |Brisbane Premier League (3) ||22||8||5||9||45||41||4||'''29'''||'''8th'''||DNQ||Preliminary Round 5 |- |2018 |Football Queensland Premier League (3) |24 |13 |5 |6 |66 |36 |30 |44 |'''4th''' |Semi Final |Preliminary Round 5 |- |2019 |Football Queensland Premier League (3) |18 |4 |0 |13 |29 |59 | -30 |13 |'''8th''' |DNQ |Preliminary Round 4 |- |2020 |Football Queensland Premier League (3) |20 |3 |3 |14 |30 |65 | -35 |12 |'''10th''' |DNQ |FFA Cup Cancelled - COVID-19 |- |2021 |Football Queensland Premier League (3) |20 |5 |0 |15 |28 |54 | -26 |15 |bgcolor=pink|'''9th ↓''' |DNQ |Preliminary Round 5 |- |2022 |Football Queensland Premier League (4) |22 |9 |3 |10 |44 |52 | -8 |30 |'''6th''' |DNQ | |- |2023 |Football Queensland Premier League 2 (4) |22 |5 |3 |14 |26 |53 | -27 |18 |'''10th''' |DNQ | |} Source:<ref name="SUFC" />

{| class="wikitable" |- | style="background:Silver;"|'''Key:''' | style="background:Gold;"|Premiers / Champions | style="background:PaleGreen;"|Promoted ↑ | style="background:Pink;"|Relegated ↓ |}

''The tier is the level in the Australian soccer league system''

==Honours== ''Due to frequent restructures and re-classifications of divisions in Brisbane football, the club's first team honours below are listed by tier in the Brisbane football pyramid.''

'''Tier 2''' *Brisbane Division 1 South – Premiers 1999 *Capital League 1 – Premiers 2016

'''Tier 3''' *Brisbane Division 3 – Premiers 1975 *Capital League 2 – Premiers and Champions 2015

==Notable players==

* Ben Griffin Former Brisbane Roar FC player * Nathan Coe Former Inter Milan, PSV Eindhoven, F.C. Copenhagen, Melbourne Victory FC And Australia men's national soccer team Player * Matt McKay Former Brisbane Roar FC Player * Jonathan McKain Former Australia men's national soccer team player

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== * [http://www.southsunited.org.au Souths Official Website] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20161220093740/http://www.footballbrisbane.com.au/home.aspx Football Brisbane Official Website] *Football Queensland Official [https://footballqueensland.com.au/ Website]

Category:Soccer clubs in Brisbane Category:Men's soccer clubs in Australia Category:Brisbane Premier League teams Category:Football Queensland Premier League Category:Association football clubs established in 1962 Category:1962 establishments in Australia