Logan Roos FC Join Football Brisbane
Pictured R-L: Nathaniel Johnson (General Manager Brighter Future Collective Ltd / Islamic Council of Queensland Inc.), Abdul Khan (Manager & Head Coach Logan Roos FC / Director Youth Connect QLD) and Munaf Khan (Chairman Logan Roos FC).
The list of teams in the Logan region is set to increase by one more in 2018 with Logan Roos FC becoming the latest club to join the Football Brisbane zone. The Oates Park based club in Woodridge only formed this year, fielding one team in SEQ League due to their being unable to secure facilities until after the Football Brisbane season had started, but going on to win their respective competition at the first attempt. The club was formed to provide an avenue for locally based young refugees; who hail from countries affected by war and political unrest such as Myanmar, Afghanistan, Iraq, Burundi, Congo, Sudan and Somalia; to become involved in the game here in Brisbane and offer a potential pathway for those untapped talented players who may otherwise have passed by unnoticed. Australian and Fijian players are also represented in what is a truly multi-cultural club. With an average player age of 17, Logan Roos FC are very much a young club and their introduction into Capital League 3 in 2018 will undoubtedly showcase some talented young players on the local stage. The club has support from Youth Connect Queensland which assists with young refugees to become involved in local community activities and sports through its ‘Brighter Future Collective’ program supported by the Islamic Council of Queensland (ICQ). Manager & Head Coach Abdul Khan has been involved with football from a young age himself and boasts 30 years experience of the game here in Australia since arriving from Fiji in 1987, having played, coached and refereed, with much of that in NSW during that time. Asked why the club decided to affiliate with Football Brisbane, General Manager Brighter Future Collective Ltd & ICQ, Nathaniel Johnson replied, “The attraction for the club to affiliate with Football Brisbane is that we have an unbelievable amount of talent in the community with the kids that are playing and Football Brisbane provides a more defined pathway for those players that have the drive and commitment to go on with the game, through affiliated competitions.” “Football Brisbane has such good support structures to facilitate that pathway coming through and with Football Queensland there’s the coaching courses to help our coaches advance, which in turn helps the club with having the resources to help develop our players further.” He added. The club plans to focus initially on it’s senior teams, Under 16s and Under 12s, as well as encourage it’s female members so they can eventually field womens teams. The main focus for Logan Roos FC is on developing the raw talent that exists in the community and offering a place for them to play. Head Coach Abdul Khan states, “We want to reach as high a level we can. We have the talent. If you want to see a Maradona there’s one here, if you want to see a Messi, I can show you a little Messi here. There’s so much natural skill and ability on offer, they just need the guidance, the mentoring and support to push them further and give them the self belief many of them lack.” Capital League 3 will boast a number of local derby match-ups next season with Logan Metro FC in close proximity providing a truly local rivalry that is sure to generate a lot of interest when the two sides meet each other in 2018. Mr Johnson says, “It will be good for the local area to get these derby games happening so that we can get the crowds out to watch, with it potentially being a big draw card for the local community to see what’s going on and get involved with the game.”
