One of the AFL’s worst kept secrets were finally confirmed when the Gold Coast suns were officially unveiled last night.
It may have been no surprise after weeks of speculation but it didn’t make it any less historic when the Gold Coast unveiled their nickname as well as colours, playing strips and song at a Southport celebration dinner.
With AFL boss Andrew Demetriou looking on, the Suns moniker and logo was revealed as well as their tea, colours of red, yellow and blue on their home, away and clash playing strips.
The franchise formally known as CGFC was initially going to push ahead without their infancy with a mascot resubliming a beefed up lifesaver.
But the club – which makes it historic debut in 2011 – finally owed to pressure from supporters and almost 7000 members.
GCFC chairman John Witheriff claimed they came up with the name our “countless hundreds of hours”. The man who first pitched the Gold Coast club idea two years ago, Witheriff appeared to be pinching himself.
“We have arrived. It certainly helps to dream,” Witheriff said. “And we have listened to the community and they told us they wanted a nickname for the club, one that reflects our values and is symbolic of our home. Tonight I can say that we have captured the very essence of the Gold Coast.”
Suns coach Guy McKenna describes the night as the “birth of the football club in an AFL sense.”
Their prized recruit, code-hopper Karmichael Hunt, displayed one of our new guernseys.
The new logo boasts the same “GC” used to date with some sun rays coming over the top and “Suns” underneath.
The home strip is the same predominantly red design currently used by the VFL team with yellow side panels.
The away strip is the red design again, with a yellow wave crashing down while the clash guernsey boasts a blue wave with a white backdrop.
Hunt has been cutting his teeth in the VFL, including a match in Cairns and will play his fifth game after being named for the Gold Coast’s weekend clash with Sandringham.
“I am slowly getting used to it, the more games I play and the more training session I am getting involved in, I am starting to pick it up,” Hunt said.
“It’s a great group of players. They are all striving to be AFL athletes and it’s great to be able to chime into the group it’s an exciting time to be involved.”
Last Modified on 26/07/2010 10:56