RESURRECTED former A-League club Gold Coast United is set to bid for a return to the competition, almost six years after being booted out.

Founded by Clive Palmer, United was closed down by Football Federation Australia in 2012 and replaced by Western Sydney the following season. But the club was revived last year by a group of local businessmen and plays in Queensland’s state league.

The club’s board voted last week to approve a fresh A-League bid, clearing the way for them to join the race for one of two licences to be handed out for season 2019-20.

United have called a media conference for Thursday morning, when it’s expected the expansion push will be officially confirmed.

Close to a dozen groups have signalled their intention to apply for a spot in the A-League, including others from southeast Queensland like Brisbane City and Brisbane Strikers.

Gold Coast United training at Skilled Stadium. Coach Miron Bleiberg Source: News Limited

Questions will be raised over whether the Gold Coast is ready for another crack after the spectacular demise of mining billionaire Palmer’s club. However, hopes are high that hosting the 2018 Commonwealth Games will have a transformative effect on local sport, while the revived Gold Coast United has already established strong grassroots links.

FFA is set to call for formal expressions of interest for bidders by the end of this month, with a decision on which two will be granted entry to a 12-team competition by the end of the year.

Gold Coast United Captain Jason Culina pictured with fans in 2010 Source: News Limited

Elsewhere, after 13 years as footballing nomads, Brisbane finally have a place to call home.

And long-serving captain Matt McKay is hopeful the A-League club’s new $9 million training and administrative headquarters in Logan can help spur them onto an unlikely finals appearance.

The Roar have officially unveiled their new facility at Browns Plains which, eventually, will house every section of the club’s operations - including their W-League, NPL and academy teams.

It ends more than a decade of life on the road for the three-time A-League champions.

As the last remaining foundation player at the Roar, McKay has been through it all - starting out training at Richlands in 2005, then Ballymore, then Griffith University, back to Ballymore, with other staff often scattered at various spots across the city.

Brisbane head coach John Aloisi celebrates with his staff Source: AAP

Now, players have everything they need to perform at their best in the one location - even if it is technically outside Brisbane itself. “It’s really good that we can just be based here and not have to filter off to different places - it’s all here,” McKay said on Wednesday.

“To say it’s ours is great. Someone’s given us a chance. No one else has gone, ‘here’s some land and a facility’.

“A lot of other codes are desperate for that.”

The main training pitch - a former rubbish dump - but has been transformed into a surface that coach John Aloisi says is the best he’s had access to during his tenure at the Roar.

Importantly, there are only football goals on it and a fence around it - no rugby posts or paraphernalia from any other sport in sight, and no need to pick out overblown passes from a creek like at Ballymore either.

“I remember them saying about multi-purpose. I said ‘no, no, it has to be football’,” Aloisi said.

“They made it happen ... a facility that’s going to be up there with the best in the A-League and make the players feel like they’re professional footballers. “We’ve got a good group and a close group but this will just make them closer.” Still on a high from last weekend’s 2-1 upset of champions Sydney FC, the new digs will keep the enthusiasm chugging along as the Roar aim to break into the top six with four rounds left.

“We’ve had a great run and this just picks it up again. It’s a good feeling,” McKay said.