Barry Maranta (born 18 December 1934),
[ is an Australian businessman and co-founder of the ]Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...
rugby league team. As well as being a founder of the Broncos he is currently a Sky Shades president. His grandson Lachlan Maranta
Lachlan Maranta (born 17 April 1992) is a professional Rugby league footballer who plays on the for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in the Queensland Cup.
He previously played for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League.
Maranta played ...
, became a Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...
player.
An Old Boy of Marist College Rosalie
, motto_translation = Whatever you do, do wholeheartedly and well
, established = 1929
, closed = 2008
, type = Independent, Roman Catholic, single-sex, secondary
, grades = 8–12
, colors = Cerise and blue
, city = Paddington, Brisb ...
in Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
and a former first grade cricketer and rugby league footballer, Maranta became a sports consultant and entered into a partnership with Wayne Reid
Wayne Vivian Reid OBE (12 January 1938 – 30 June 2021) was a tennis player and sports administrator who was president of the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia (LTAA), the Melbourne Football Club, the Asian Tennis Circuit, the Confedera ...
, forming the organisation, International Sports Management. After seeing an interstate Australian Rules Football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
match that utilised "state of origin" selection rules in 1978, he started trying to convince Queensland Rugby League
The Queensland Rugby Football League QRL Constitution, 2009: 3 (QRL QRL Constitution, 2009: 2) is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL Commission) and selects the membe ...
president Ron McAuliffe
Ronald Edward McAuliffe OBE (25 June 1918 – 16 August 1988) was a politician and sports administrator in Queensland, Australia. He is best remembered for his years running the Queensland Rugby League, and his instrumental role in the formatio ...
to instigate a similar concept in rugby league. This would ultimately have long-ranging effects as the State of Origin series
The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons.
Referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the ...
phenomenon took off, becoming one of Australia's biggest sporting events.
By 1984 Maranta had been active in property development in Queensland for over fifteen years and was closely associated in business with former test cricketer and prominent Brisbane businessman, Greg Chappell
Gregory Stephen Chappell (born 7 August 1948) is a former cricketer who represented Australia at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). The second of three brothers to play Test cricket, Chappell was the pre-eminen ...
.
In 1985 Barry Maranta expressed interest in fielding a Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
-based team in the New South Wales Rugby League
The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...
's Winfield Cup
The Winfield Cup was an Australian rugby league trophy awarded to the winner of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership (NSWRL) Grand Final from 1982 to 1994, and then to the winner of the newly-founded Australian Rugby League (ARL) Grand Fin ...
premiership, the top-level rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
football competition at the time. He was one of the principal owners of International Sports Management who had contributed to the advent of rugby league's State of Origin concept. In 1986 Maranta joined Paul Morgan, Gary Balkin and Steve Williams to form the Brisbane club. All men had played for Brisbane domestic teams. Four organisations made bids for the team which would be established in 1987. Ron McAuliffe
Ronald Edward McAuliffe OBE (25 June 1918 – 16 August 1988) was a politician and sports administrator in Queensland, Australia. He is best remembered for his years running the Queensland Rugby League, and his instrumental role in the formatio ...
, had the support of the NSWRL over the Maranta-Morgan group, other groups included 'International Syndicate' led by John Sattler
John William Sattler (born 28 July 1942) is a former professional and national representative rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a rugged Prop forward who captained his club, South Sydney to four premiership vi ...
and Bob Hagan
Robert F. Hagan (born March 31, 1949) is an American politician and member of the United States Democratic Party, Democratic Party who held a seat in the Ohio House of Representatives for the 58th District from 2007 to 2014. He represented the ...
, and one by Darryl van der Velde
Darryl van de Velde (born 3 October 1951) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, coach and administrator. He played club football in Queensland for Souths and represented his state on one occasion in 1977. After playing ...
(who would later be CEO of the South Queensland Crushers
The South Queensland Crushers were an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, a ...
).
When the NSWRL decided not to have a Brisbane club in 1987, the groups went down, but in a final bid for the 1988 season both McAuliffe and Maranta-Morgan bid for the club. The NSWRL finally decided to have a Brisbane-based team and thus the Brisbane Broncos
The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...
were born. The rights originally were going to go to the McAuliffe based group, but when it was realised they didn't have the funds to support the club, it was given to Maranta-Morgan.
However the Maranta-Morgan group did not please everybody, especially Australian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...
chairman Ken Arthurson
Kenneth Richard "Arko" Arthurson AM (born 1 October 1929) is an Australian rugby league football identity. Affectionately known as "The Godfather of Manly", he played, coached and was later an administrator at the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles cl ...
, who decided to add other (now defunct) Queensland-based teams, Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
for the 1988 season and the South Queensland Crushers
The South Queensland Crushers were an Australian rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. In 1992 it was decided that the team would be admitted into the New South Wales Rugby League competition, along with three other teams, a ...
in 1995 season.
Maranta was instrumental in the takeover of the ailing London Crusaders club in the English capital. London, who were founded as an offshoot of Fulham Football Club
Fulham Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, London, which compete in the . They have played home games at Craven Cottage since 1896, other than a two-year period spent at Loftus Road whilst Craven Cottage un ...
inside nine weeks and played their first competitive fixture in late August 1980, had a patchy existence until the company that owned the club went into receivership in the early spring of 1994.
The club, the only British professional rugby league club outside of the code's northern heartlands at the time, was run by the Rugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...
while a new owner could be found. Maranta and his Brisbane colleagues saw London as a way into another top flight competition although London were playing in the second tier of British rugby league at the time.
Brisbane completed their takeover of London Crusaders in April 1994 and the renamed London Broncos
The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England.
The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...
began life in the August of that year. The interest of Maranta's fellow board members was to prove short-lived however, and after London had been placed in the embryonic Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
(which was launched fully in the summer of 1996), his colleagues withdrew their interest. Maranta and fellow director Gary Balkin remained but Virgin Group
Virgin Group Ltd. is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970.
Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by the Companies House, who class it as a holding c ...
founder Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
took an initial stake in the club and later increased his holding to outright ownership after Maranta sold his interest in 1998.
Maranta returned to Australia. The London Broncos
The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England.
The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...
made their only Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
Final appearance so far at the old Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
in May 1999, Branson relinquished his interest in 2001 and the London Broncos brand was 'retired' in September 2005, becoming Harlequins Rugby League under the ownership of Ian Lenagan
Ian Lenagan (born 1946, Scholes, Wigan) is a business entrepreneur, theatre producer and shareholder of London Broncos, chairman and owner of Wigan Warriors, and former owner of Oxford United F.C. In 2016 he was appointed Chairman of the Football L ...
.
References
Sources
ABC Radio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maranta, Barry
Living people
1934 births
People from Brisbane
Brisbane Broncos
Australian businesspeople
Australian rugby league administrators