The Brisbane Roar U23 National Premier League (NPL) Men’s team are gearing up to face Lions FC in the grand final on Sunday 11 September at Lions Stadium.
Despite the tough season for the U23 team, they still managed to finish third in the regular season to secure a spot in the Finals.
In their semi-final clash against Moreton Bay United last weekend, the Roar avenged their 2021 Grand Final loss with a 2-1 victory.
Going into halftime with a 2-0 lead, the Roar had executed their game plan brilliantly.
While Moreton Bay United cut the deficit to a score of 2-1 early in the second half, the Roar showed a lot of character and spirit to finish the job especially after going down to 10-men in the final 10 minutes of the match.
Brisbane Roar’s U23 NPL Men’s Head Coach Owen Baker said it was a great achievement to be back in the grand final.
“We have a very young group this year so to see so many players from the U23s play for the NPL Men’s and have the opportunity to train or play with the A-League Men’s side has been brilliant,” Baker said.
“I am very proud and happy that the boys have been rewarded and are able to play in a Grand Final again.”

In the 2021 U23 NPL Men’s Grand Final, Roar came from behind to equalise in the 90th minute against Moreton Bay to send the match to extra time. However, the Jets scored twice in extra time to secure a 4-2 win.
With a handful of players from that team set to take the field this Sunday, Baker said they had learnt some valuable lessons from last year’s final.
“Some of the boys were part of it and they know it’s not a nice feeling losing on the day, but the reality is we need to focus on how we perform this week at training and be prepared on the day to do what it takes and deal with whatever Lions throws at us,” Baker said.
“The final series always shows anything can happen and there’s always surprises so we need to be ready for that.”
Coming up against Lions FC, who were crowned Premiers, the team are preparing to do whatever it takes to win this Sunday afternoon.
Playing Lions FC twice in the regular season, Roar had two hard-fought matches including a 3-all draw in Round 7 and a 3-1 loss in Round 18.
“Lions are a great team and congratulations to them for winning the competition this year. They’ve got a good group with some great attacking threats and great players,” Baker said.
“We’ll show and give Lions respect they deserve but we know it’s a grand final, we haven’t beat them this year and we want to do that this weekend.
“We have to stop some of their main players, it won’t be easy but hopefully we can put a plan in place and be prepared to do what it takes on the day.
MATCH DETAILS
Lions FC v Brisbane Roar
Lions Stadium
Sunday 11 September at 5pm