The 2011–12 season is Brisbane Roar's seventh season in the A-League. Brisbane successfully defended their Championship by defeating Perth Glory 2–1 in front of 50,344, but relinquished the Premiership to Central Coast Mariners, who ended the regular season 2 points ahead of the Roar, with the result going to down to the last day of the regular season. They will compete in the 2012 Asian Champions League, for finishing the regular season first. On 2 August 2011, the club confirmed they would be supplied with kits and training gear by German multinational apparel company Puma. It is the first time in the history of the club and A-League that they will not be wearing a kit that is made by Reebok.
On 4 October 2011, four days out from the start of the 2011–12 A-League season, The World Game reported that the Bakrie Group had struck a 10-year deal to take 70% ownership of the club, with the other 30% being occupied by the FFA. The deal was officially unveiled by the club on Friday, the day before the club faced Central Coast Mariners in a grand final rematch of the previous season. On 6 February 2012, it was announced that the Bakrie Group had acquired the full 100% stake in the club. Brisbane went on a 36-game undefeated streak, breaking the Australian football code record set by the Eastern Suburbs rugby league team in 1935–37 (35 games).
Managers Ange Postecoglou – (16 October 2009 – 24 April 2012) Rado Vidošić – (25 April 2012 – Current)
On 24 April, Championship winning coach Ange Postecoglou, resigned from is post as manager just days after winning his second back to back championship for the Roar. The following day, long serving assistant manager and youth team coach Rado Vidošić was named successor to makes his return to head coach of the Roar having served as caretaker for one game after the sacking of former coach Frank Farina.
Squad lineup for 2011/12 Correct as of 2 February 2012 – players numbers as per the official Brisbane Roar website
Successful Trialists Nicholas Fitzgerald from Central Coast Mariners Youth TeamFootball Federation Australia regulations allow for 3 players young enough to play in the NYL to be paid full-time wages outside the A-League salary cap. George Lambadaridis from Club Brugge Corey Brown from AIS Brandon Borello from QAS Jack Bladen from Macarthur Rams Tomislav Cirjak from Sydney FC Youth Team Jason Geria from AIS Notes
Unsuccessful Trialists Alan De La Cuadra from Macarthur Rams Daniel Angelucci from Macarthur Rams Paul-Jon Sludden from Taringa Rovers Stefano Salandra from Ponte S Pietro Joshua Jokic from Delta State University Nikolas Schmitz from 1. FC Köln Michael Hibbert from Free agent
Transfers
In Date Pos. Name From Contract (Season end) Fee Notes 10 February 2011 DF Matthew Jurman Sydney FC 2012/13 Free 27 June 2011 FW Kofi Danning Free Agent 2012/13 N/ABrisbane Roar 4 July 2011 DF Jack Hingert Dandenong Thunder 2012/13 Free 16 August 2011 DF Sayed Mohamed Adnan Free Agent 2011/12 N/ABrisbane Roar 16 August 2011 FW Besart Berisha Arminia Bielefeld 2011/12 Free Resigned to 2013/14. 30 August 2011 MF Issey Nakajima-Farran AC Horsens 2011/12 FreeBrisbane Roar 23 September 2011 DF Corey Brown Australian Institute of Sport 2012/13 Free 23 September 2011 MF George Lambadaridis Club Brugge 2012/13 Free 23 September 2011 FW Nicholas Fitzgerald Central Coast Mariners Youth Team 2012/13 Free 2 February 2012 FW Anthony Proia Australian Institute of Sport 2013/14 Free
Out
Date Pos. Name To Fee 17 March 2011 DF Milan Susak Minangkabau F.C. Undisclosed 28 March 2011 FW Jean Carlos Solórzano Melbourne Victory End of loan 16 July 2011 FW Kosta Barbarouses FC Alania Vladikavkaz UndisclosedBrisbane Roar 25 August 2011 MF Matt McKay Rangers F.C. UndisclosedMcKay gets UK visa
Season
Season recap On 10 February 2011, Brisbane Roar announced the signing of talented young defender Matthew Jurman from Sydney FC, to take the spot left open by Luke DeVere from the previous season. After making a solid return to the A League after spending a few years in Germany, defender Milan Susak jetted off to Indonesia to play for Minangkabau F.C. in Liga Primer Indonesia. After weeks of speculation about his impending move to Melbourne Victory, it was revealed on 28 March that Costa Rican forward Jean Carlos Solórzano had indeed made the move south. Football Federation Australia made their first bit of business after taking back the license, other than re-signing Ange Postecoglou, by having Roar CEO Peter McLennan step down at the end of April.
It was revealed by both the Roar and the Courier Mail that Eugenie Buckley, a sports lawyer that helped out with the formation of the A League and its push into Asia, had become the new general manager for the team, taking over from the spot left by Peter McLennan. On 2 May, it was announced that Rocky Visconte had signed a deal with the club for a further two seasons after coming off contract with the club at the end of the season.Brisbane Roar On 21 June, former Socceroo Paul Trimboli was appointed the general manager of Football, a role that was expanded from the position of Football Manager, held previously by Thiago Cruz.Brisbane Roar
On 27 June, the club announced it had signed current Young Socceroo Kofi Danning, who was released by Sydney FC at the end of the 2010–11 A-League Season. On 4 July 2011, the Roar announced they had signed young Australian defender Jack Hingert from Dandenong Thunder. On 16 July 2011, the Roar revealed that leading goalscorer from the 10/11 season, Kosta Barbarouses, had signed with Russian outfit FC Alania Vladikavkaz on a 3yr deal. On 2 August 2011, the Roar announced they had signed a 3yr deal with apparel company Puma.
After much speculation in the media, former Bahraini International Sayed Mohamed Adnan signed a 1yr deal on 16 August 2011. Just a day later, the Roar announced a second signing in Albanian International striker Besart Berisha. The striker impressed Roar assistant coach Rado Vidosic during a match for German outfit Arminia Bielefeld, where the Roar Youth team coach was watching his son Dario Vidosic, who was then on loan from German Bundesliga side 1. FC Nürnberg. After over a month of uncertainty, the Roar were left with a massive hole in the side when skipper and original Roar player/captain Matt McKay was granted a UK working visa for his move to Scottish Premier League side Glasgow Rangers FC on 25 August.
On 30 August 2011, the club announced they had signed Canadian International midfielder Issey Nakajima-Farran from Danish top-flight team AC Horsens on a one-year deal. On 5 September 2011, the club released their kits for the upcoming season.
The day after the kit unveiling, the club announced Matt Smith as the successor to Matt McKay's captaincy, with the midfielder having moved to Glasgow Rangers FC.Matt Smith To Replace Matt Mckay As Brisbane Roar Skipper The Courier Mail On 20 September, CEO Eugenie Buckley announced her departure, stepping down after her contract runs out, believed to be at the end of September. For Brisbane Lions CEO Michael Bowers will take the reins of the club for the time being, until new owners are found for the Roar. On 23 September, the Roar announce they had signed 3 young Australians (Nicholas Fitzgerald, George Lambadaridis & Corey Brown), each to two-year contracts. Football Federation Australia regulations allow for 3 players young enough to play in the NYL to be paid full-time wages outside the A-League salary cap.
On 4 October 2011, it was announced that the Bakrie family had acquired 70% of the club for a fee thought to be around $8M. The new Chairman of the club will be former AFC executive committee member Dali Tahir. On 28 October 2011, the Roar set a record for the biggest victory by the club, beating Adelaide United 7–1 at Suncorp Stadium. The scoreline also created another record, being the most goals in a match with 8. New striker Besart Berisha also created history, scoring the most goals in a game for Brisbane with 4. The Roar went on to draw their following 2 games, 2–2 away vs Melbourne Victory and 1–1 at home to Wellington Phoenix. The style of play being played against the Roar was described as "parking the bus", a term meaning the opposition side would defend, with most, if not all, players behind the ball to protect the scoreline.
The following week, Brisbane recorded a 2–1 win away to Newcastle Jets, with the result being the Roar's 35th consecutive unbeaten match, equaling the 74-year-old record for all Australian sporting codes, held by Rugby league Eastern Suburbs, who are now known as the Sydney Roosters. A week later, Brisbane defeated Perth Glory 4–0 at home, the team's 36th consecutive match without loss, to set a record for the longest unbeaten streak at the top level of any football code in Australia. The Roar's streak came to an end a week later against Sydney FC in wet and windy conditions at WIN Jubilee Oval. A goal in the first minute and another 20 minutes later saw the Roar lose for just the second time in 42 matches.
On 6 December 2011, the draw for the group stages of the 2012 Asian Champions League was made. The Roar, drawn in Group F faced the winners of the Japanese 2011 Emperor's Cup winners and 2011 J. League Division 2 champions F.C. Tokyo, 2011 K-League runners-up Ulsan Hyundai & 2011 Chinese Super League runners-up Beijing Guoan.
Following the defeat to Sydney FC, the Roar then suffered a succession of defeats to Melbourne Heart (1–2 at home), Wellington Phoenix (0–2 away), Central Coast Mariners (1–2 at home) and Gold Coast United (0–1 away). The defeats coincided with the loss of key first team players Thomas Broich, Henrique, Mitch Nichols, James Meyer and club captain, Matt Smith. In addition to a poor spell of form and injuries, the Roar were on the end of some contentious refereeing decision, no more notable than the 88-minute penalty awarded to Gold Coast United for a foul that appeared to have occurred outside the penalty box. This defeat consigned the Roar to their longest losing streak to date of 5 matches.
In Round 14, in front of a home crowd, the club snapped their losing streak in unlikely style. The Roar came from behind after conceding an early goal to win 3–1 against a star-studded Melbourne Victory. The Roar followed this up in Rounds 15 and 16 with draws away from home against Perth Glory (3–3) and Adelaide United (1–1). Like, the defeat to Gold Coast in Round 13, both matches were overshadowed by contentious penalty decisions which cost the Roar a potential win on both occasions. In their Round 15 clash with Perth Glory, it looked as though Brisbane's form slump continued as they conceded two early goals to the Perth side, only to come back to be leading 3–2 with 20 minutes to play. However, in the 79th minute, referee Chris Beath pointed to the spot after Mile Sterjovski went down softly under the challenge of Ivan Franjic, the penalty was converted by Sterjovski and the Roar came away with only one point. The Roar's bad luck with the match officials continued in their Round 16 draw with Adelaide United. The Roar dominated the match in terms of possession and chances and were awarded with a goal to winger, Issey Nakajima-Farran with a half-hour to play. However, for the second match running, in the 79th minute referee Ben Williams awarded Adelaide a dubious penalty. Matt Smith appeared to be accidentally tripped by Adelaide striker Bruce Djite, former Roar striker Sergio van Dijk then fell over the fallen Roar captain and the penalty was awarded. The penalty was converted and Brisbane again went home with just a single point.