Finally Brisbane Roar are going to have to face their future. I mean really face their future. And in doing so, as has been written in this space before, they'll need to come to terms with their past.

Football Federation Australia may be trying to keep a lid on expansion, but clearly no one is listening. There are now at least 10 bids to join the A-League in the public domain, three of them from Brisbane. Which is why the Roar need to clarify their identity, and their geography. Being the only team in town, indeed the only team in Queensland, is an easy out. But now there are others invading their space.

Lion's roar: Ever since the Roar license left the control of the Lions Club nine years ago, there's been a pretence that the connection no longer exists. But it does, and always will. Credit:Getty Images

The catalyst has arrived with the pre-grand final launch of the Brisbane City bid, a club which clearly intends to celebrate its history, rather than ignore it. More on that later.

Ever since the Roar license left the control of the Lions Club nine years ago, there's been a pretence that the connection no longer exists. But it does, and always will. Sixty years ago, the club was formed by Dutch migrants as Hollandia. No amount of spin can bury that DNA. It's why the club wear orange, why they're called the Roar. Hollandia became Lions, who became the Roar. Ethnicity has nothing to do with it, heritage does.