FOOTBALL Federation Australia is heading for a showdown with outspoken Gold Coast United owner Clive Palmer over the club's future in the A-League just as the push to rebadge the club Queensland United and turn it into a travelling roadshow gathers momentum.

Palmer has been a strident critic of the economics of the A-League since he established Gold Coast three years ago, and often hinted he would be prepared to help fund the competition himself in exchange for a lead role in decision-making. As yet, however, the billionaire mining magnate has not presented a business plan to outline any offer, and in the meantime Gold Coast continue to play in front of paltry crowds at Skilled Park. There are few signs they are building a relationship with the local football community.

It's believed Palmer held discussions with a senior FFA board member this week to elaborate on his concerns, and chairman Frank Lowy will dispatch chief executive Ben Buckley to Queensland to meet Palmer within the next fortnight to try and reach a consensus about the club's direction.

Palmer was unavailable for comment yesterday, while the FFA has declined to make any public statements, but it's understood the issue is being brought to a head by the need to complete next season's draw.

The recent postponement of Gold Coast's home match against Central Coast Mariners only 90 minutes before kick-off, plus the club's refusal to participate in an arbitration process involving former players Robson and Peter Perchtold, have also served to strain relations between Palmer and head office.

Gold Coast have two years left on their licence agreement, but the ongoing instability is underlined by the fact that most players are coming out of contract and Palmer recently announced he would not be offering any new deals until after the end of the season. The uncertainty is starting to affect the squad, and after a season-worst performance in Perth on Monday night, Gold Coast are now odds-on to finish with the wooden spoon after participating in the finals during the previous two seasons.

One possible solution is to rebadge the club and play games in regional Queensland. Palmer grew up on the Gold Coast, but his mining interests are in central and north Queensland, and it's believed he is warming to the idea of taking the team around the state.

A possible scenario is for the team's 13 home games to be divided between Gold Coast, Townsville, Mackay and Rockhampton - the last two cities have recently upgraded their stadiums to the point where they are considered to be of A-League standard.