Dear Members,

As you may or may not be aware, at the end of the 2017 football season the Football Queensland run

PlayStation 4 National Premier League (PS4NPL) licenses for both male and female competitions were

up for renewal. Additionally, FQ decided that they would create a second tier male competition called

the Football Queensland Premier League (FQPL). All three competitions were advertised as a 14-team

state-wide competition with promotion and relegation between the two male leagues taking effect at

the conclusion of the 2018 seasons. These leagues also consist of both senior and junior competitions

from adult to U13.

In addition to this, FQ also made all Skills Acquisition Program (SAP) licenses available for application.

They have also increased the number of licenses to 20. The SAP program is a small sided football (SSF)

skills based program that is for boys and girls aged from U8-U12.

Grange Thistle submitted an expression of interest for these competitions and as such received the

application documents which set out the requirements to be met by each club to be considered for

inclusion into these competitions. The criteria focused on:

- The number of teams the Licensee needs to field

- Youth development

- Coaching qualifications and capabilities

- Governance

- Finance

- Facilities

- Organisational Structure

- Membership Protection

- Medical

- Reporting

- Competition

- Commercial Rights

After reviewing the criteria, the Clubs compliance to these and the costs associated with meeting the

balance of the criteria, the Board took the decision to not pursue an application for entry into the male

or female PS4NPL or male FQPL competitions. Whilst the Club met a significant number of the required

criteria the Board felt that the Club was best served to focus on continuing the improvement of our

football and infrastructure programs that we are currently undertaking. At this stage the board is of

the opinion that the costs associated with participation in these competitions outweigh the benefits

and the financial risks involved are significant.

This does not mean that when these licenses come up for renewal that the Board would not consider

applying in the future, particularly as our infrastructure continues to improve.

The Club has applied for the boys & girls SAP program licenses and are currently awaiting the

announcement of the successful applicants.

Grange Thistle is already well down the path of providing high quality Senior and Junior Development

programs at a reasonable cost for our members. Our commitment to continuing and building upon

this progress does not change regardless of this decision.

Player enjoyment and development is a key focus for Grange Thistle and the Club firmly believes that

we are well down the path of producing some very talented players.