Clive Palmer should cut his losses and merge his Gold Coast United outfit with North Queensland Fury, basing them in Townsville.

It is apparent that the people of the Gold Coast have no passion for the game which is evidenced by their consistently paltry crowds and despite what happens this weekend with their attempts to get 20,000 to Skilled Park by offering free tickets, the time has come for a shift.

Fury have shown that the crowds and passion there will support a competitive team and the fact that Mr. Palmer already sponsors the Fury and a lot of his mining interests with his company, Queensland Nickel, are surrounding Townsville highlights his interest in the region.

Another major motive to get out of the Gold Coast is the expansion of the Australian Football League, soccer's rival code, into the city.

The Gold Coast Suns will absolutely saturate the sporting market in the area indicating that Gold Coast United will be dead in the water, if they aren't already.

An average home crowd of 2,700 is simply not good enough and when you take into the account the season opener against Brisbane Roar attracted 6,394, things since then have gotten gradually worse and worse despite the side's good form on the pitch.

It doesn't matter if Palmer's attempt to bring in a huge crowd for Sunday's clash with Central Coast Mariners works, the fact of the matter is that the Gold Coast people have shown scant support for A-League football and the time has come for a change.

This move would help solve the problems of two struggling clubs and get the Fury's financial and player contract issues out of the hands of Football Federation Australia who have been propping them up for the past few months, allowing one Queensland 'super club' to be sustainable.