Sport
19 October, 2026
Clubs unite over fee increase
FOOTBALL Queensland has bowed to statewide club pressure and paused the introduction of a new fee structure while it conducts more consultation.
In an unprecedented show of solidarity, Cairns, Mareeba and Innisfail clubs joined more than 100 other clubs across Queensland, including in Brisbane and other large southern cities, in criticising FQs new Competition Access Fees (CAF) for 2027.
A joint statement circulated across clubs’ social media sites called for a pause on the proposed CAF model, full financial transparency, real consultation with clubs and for FQ to work with them to advance a “fair and sustainable way forward”.
“Our clubs may represent different communities, regions and competitions, but we are united,” the statement says.
“This is not about resisting change. It is about ensuring that change is reasonable, properly planned and does not place unfair costs, risks or administrative burdens on families and volunteer-run clubs.”
A Marlin Coast Rangers club spokesman said FQ needed to consider the different needs of the different regions.
“Football Queensland is run out of Brisbane and the way football runs in the cities is very different to the way it’s run in community towns,” he said.
He said the team fee alone was the same across the board, so if you were a small regional club, any rise in fees could not be absorbed like the “massively inflated squads with up to 22 players” found in city clubs.
“In regional towns in FNQ, we are literally running our football programs by ourselves and we’re pretty much breaking even. For us to bury an extra $50 to $100 in registration fees is near impossible.”
There were also the differences in wages and cost-of-living pressures, especially fuel costs to travel to games.
“Local families on the ground in Far North Queensland are doing it really, really tough.
“In reality, families up here just don’t have as much money as they have in the cities. They don’t have as much cash flow,” the spokesman said.
“If you’re paying, for example, $400 for your registration fee, or $450, and you see an increase of $80, that’s a big jump. It’s a walkaway jump.
“And if I’m a parent and I get asked to pay over $500 for a kid’s football registration next year, and there’s a chance to go play AFL for half the price. OK, I know what I’m doing.”
Another club spokesman, who has worked within the soccer community in Cairns for over 25 years, said there had been too many shifts in fee structures and control of the game in Far North Queensland and this was a final straw.
He said the whole arrangement was about revenue-raising for FQ, which was “very restrictive”and it had begun when the football league affiliation was introduced seven years ago.
“Everything they’ve done is not easier. It’s harder – more administration, more this, more that.
“It’s just a revenue machine, you know.”
The first change had been the introduction of team registration fees, then semi-final games and the actual premiership game for seniors were “taken away from us” and played at FQ’s Endeavour Park, where traditionally participating teams hosted the matches. “So there’s another revenue side of things where we’re not getting as clubs,” he said.
Clubs were also now fined when a player gets a red or yellow card, or if white line markers were not up to scratch, or if the club’s canteen was not open on a game day.
One Cairns club had even had its senior players’ licence taken from it to “force an amalgamation” with its juniors.
Clubs have also received breach notices for what the spokesman considered were minor incidents.
“If they (FQ) think you’ve done something mega wrong, they can they can hit you up with a breach and you can get $1000 fine.”
An example this year was when a brief “bit of push and shove” at one of the gates between club members, led to both clubs being fined $1000.
The spokesman was also critical of the introduction of a $5 fee for anyone over 16 to watch a match. The fee was to offset maintenance and upkeep at Endeavour Park, but he questioned where the money was spent especially as the federal government had pledged funding for the park.
In response to increasing opposition to the new fee regime, FQ released a statement on Friday 9 October on its website saying it was taking club concerns seriously and recognised further consultation and clearer communication was needed.
It reiterated that the new 2027 fee reforms were “developed following careful consideration, financial modelling and consultation” and were not designed to increase participation costs.
“Our modelling showed that it would not result in a material increase to the fees paid to Football Queensland by participants.”
However, a petition now being circulated by clubs argued their own calculations suggested otherwise.
“When we completed the number crunching on FQ’s new fee memo, we were genuinely in disbelief,” a club spokesman said.
“We even emailed FQ late last Saturday night asking whether we had misunderstood something, because our reconciliation simply didn’t make sense.
“But it was correct. And under this new structure, you – our members, our club, our community sport, our mums and dads – are expected to absorb this increase.”
FQ said its board would meet with FQ congress, work with stakeholders and provide further updates to all clubs in the coming week.
The petition, which calls for Football Australia to investigate Football Queensland’s fee changes, can be found at www.cnslocal.s.gy/0sSIvm
