Souths United Football Club is an Australian

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

, a southern suburb of

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 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. The club was formed in 1962, and currently competes in the

Brisbane Premier League Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. In May 2017,

Football Queensland Football Queensland is recognised by both the State and Federal Governments and Football Australia as the governing body for association football and futsal in Queensland (Australia), Queensland, Australia. Tracing its history back to the es ...

announced Souths United FC were among the 14 clubs accepted to form the

Football Queensland Premier League The Football Queensland Premier League (known by its abbreviation FQPL) is a men's football competition contested by clubs in Queensland, Australia. It is administered by Football Queensland and is the second tier of football in Queensland, ope ...

for its initial season in 2018.

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 Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...

in the early 1960s, originally consisting of an overgrown farm plot. This wasteland of jungle weeds and

bulrush Bulrush is a vernacular name for several large wetland grass-like plants *Sedge family (Cyperaceae): **''Cyperus'' **''Scirpus'' **'' Blysmus'' **''Bolboschoenus'' **''Scirpoides'' **''Isolepis'' **''Schoenoplectus'' **''Trichophorum'' *Typhacea ...

es 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, being adopted after receiving two strips of the kit used by a neighbouring local club Celtic United, and have remained with the club ever since. South Coast United joined senior competition entering the third tier of Brisbane soccer in the 1964 season. The club absorbed the Triangles Soccer Club in the mid 1960s contributing to a rapid expansion in its playing numbers. This increased participation led to a third place finish in 1967, then promotion to Division 2 the following season. 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. One highlight from this era was winning the Division 1 South premiership in 1999, however the club was not promoted to the

. In 2002 Souths United achieved a long sought after goal, achieving promotion to the

for the first time. The club finished second in Division 1 then won a promotion/relegation play-off 3–2 against

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

over two legs. 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. 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. 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. Souths United bolstered its squad for the 2017 BPL campaign by signing former

Socceroo The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated wi ...

Jon McKain. In May 2017,

announced Souths United FC were among the 14 clubs accepted to form the

for its initial season in 2018. As of the 2021 season, the club currently competes in the

for men,

National Premier Leagues Queensland The National Premier League Queensland, run by Football Queensland, is the top tier state-level football (soccer) competition in Queensland. The conference is a sub division of the National Premier Leagues. The inaugural season kicked off in Marc ...

for junior boys and the National Premier League Women's for women and junior girls. The club also fields male and female teams for seniors and juniors in divisional competitions along with Miniroos teams.

Recent seasons

Source: ''The tier is the level in the

Australian soccer league system The Australian soccer league system is the league structure for soccer clubs in Australia. The league system in Australia since 1977 has involved one top divisional league controlled by Football Australia and many leagues run within each state ...

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

References

External links

Souths Official Website

Football Brisbane Official Website
*Football Queensland Officia
Website
{{AUS fb state Qld Brisbane Soccer clubs in Brisbane Brisbane Premier League teams Association football clubs established in 1962 1962 establishments in Australia