One point from Australian elite

Above: Moreton City Excelsior celebrate being crowned Premiers. Picture Ella Dingwall @ellaa_media

Moreton City Excelsior will walk out at Perry Park tomorrow just 90 minutes from writing another remarkable chapter in the club’s short history.

Three years ago, MCE (then Moreton Bay United, just weeks from merging with Albany Creek Excelsior) only avoided NPL Qld relegation with a last round win at Gold Coast Knights.

Now, the youngest club in the new second tier Australian Championship is one point from booking a place among the nation’s football elite.

Victory or a draw against South Melbourne at Perry Park tomorrow (kick-off 6.35pm) will clinch second place in Group A and a quarter-final berth.

For tickets click here. The match will also be live streamed by SBS.

It’s a tough task. South Melbourne, established 66 years ago, top Group A with five wins from five games … but MCE are the leading goalscorers.

Joe Scott, the championship’s second highest scorer, has been part of MCE’s meteoric rise from relegation candidates to a Queensland powerhouse.

He says MCE “learned” from its first group matches against South Melbourne and Sydney Olympic – and snatched a 97^th minute equaliser against the latter on Sunday.

“The whole novelty of the Australian Championship has started to sort of wear off and now we're really focused on progressing through,” he told the Australian Championship website.

“All we're really focused about is getting as many points as we can. Belief the biggest thing.”

Even defeat tomorrow may be enough, with MCE three points ahead of Sydney Olympic and having a goal difference four better than Olympic.

But Scott and his colleagues will not want to leave their fate to the outcome of Sydney’s trip to Newcastle-based Broadmeadow Magic on Sunday.

MCE secured its place in the Australian Championship, which sits just below the professional A-League, as the 2025 NPL Qld Premiers.

That followed two years (2023, 2024) as runners-up, three play-off final defeats and a dramatic run to the FA Cup quarter-finals in 2024.

“If you would have said to me when (coach Cameron Millar) took over four years ago we'd go from a relegation fight to this far in such a short time span, I think, is an achievement in itself,” Scott said.

“It's always been a very tight-knit group, whether it was Moreton Bay (United) Jets, which we formerly were, or (sister club) Albany Creek Excelsior.

“I think, everything was intertwined already, so it just made sense to build it into one entity, and then, yeah, it's worked out to be able to push us onto the national stage.”