It's time to bury the hatchet for the two sides of the ugly separation which has blighted Brisbane Roar's A-League journey. Eight years after the split, a renewal of vows between the Roar and their founders, the Lions Club, can be a win-win for all concerned if egos and agendas can be put aside. As the three-times champions scrounge around Brisbane looking for a home – and a heart and soul – the solution is where it's always been. Right under their nose.

Call me a dreamer, call me nostalgic, but getting the Roar and the Lions back together is more about the future than the past. More on that later.

Common sense solution: Getting the Roar and the Lions Club back together could be a win-win for all concerned. Credit:Robert Cianflone

In the meantime, history always provides an important context, and the Roar have more of it than any A-League club, depending on interpretation. It's my view that they're fundamentally the same club founded by Dutch migrants as Hollandia in 1957, even though the ownership has changed on multiple occasions since 2008. It's going to take a lot to convince me otherwise.

This is not necessarily a popular opinion – some within the Brisbane football community have rejoiced in the demise of the once-dominant Lions (who now play in the second-tier of state football), while others driven by self-interest seem determined to bury their connection to the Roar (who owned the original A-League license). Sadly, trashing the past remains a constant theme in the game.