The Brisbane Football Club, nicknamed the Bears, was a professional Australian rules football club based in Queensland on the Gold Coast (relocated to Brisbane in 1993). The club participated in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/AFL) between 1987 and 1996, and entered the league as the first of two non-Victorian expansion teams. It was the first privately owned club in the league's history. Its mascot was a koala and its main colours were maroon (official colour of the state of Queensland) and gold (of the Queensland sunshine). The club initially played home matches at Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast (this stadium was redeveloped many years after the relocation of the Bears to facilitate home matches for expansion club the Gold Coast Suns). After many years of negotiation, in 1991 the AFL and the Bears convinced the Queensland Government to redevelop the Brisbane Cricket Ground facilitating a permanent move to the venue for the 1993 season after which the club experienced a period of success. During its history the club enjoyed only a modest amount of success, being the first interstate side to win an AFL reserves premiership in 1991. Despite the success in its later years, the club struggled to shake the derisive tags which included "Cararra Koalas" (in reference to the Gold Coast home and the somewhat tame marsupial) and "Bad News Bears" which drew comparisons of its management similar to the hit 1970s movie. The club came close to folding prior to its move to Brisbane and the AFL began preparing a contingency for its demise in the event that the move was to fail. Plans were put in place in 1991 for a Brisbane Bears Fitzroy Lions merger. While the Bears improved on the field, the club continued to struggle financially and the Lions were under threat of disappearing entirely. At the end of the 1996 season, the AFL helped negotiate the merger to form a new club, the Brisbane Bears Fitzroy Football Club (BBFFC or Brisbane Lions), who participate in the AFL today. The Bears played in 220 VFL/AFL matches over ten seasons, with 70 wins, 148 losses and 2 draws. Post-merger the Bears history and identity is barely acknowledged by the AFL, unlike Fitzroy which continues to be recognised. History 1980s: Race for a Brisbane licence From the mid 1980s several competing parties had proposed a Brisbane licence for the VFL. The idea of a