Queensland Cup 
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ARL CompetitionChapters on this page:
Late 1980s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
1988-1989
In 1988 the Gold Coasts' first professional rugby league team was established and entered the Winfield Cup competition. The Tweed Heads Giants were privately owned and played at Seagulls Stadium. However after only their second season, the Giants license was bought by the Seagulls license club. The Club felt that it was a worthwhile investment that could be capitalised upon, so long as a new team identity was created. Hence forth the team became the Tweed Heads Seagulls, in the hope that the title would identify them with their owners. (Chadwick & Arthur, 2008) Along with the new name, also came a new logo and jersey design with the colours red, white and black. The team continued to play out of the Seagulls Stadium. Whilst they entered the Winfield Cup, the Seagulls still maintained their 3 teams in the local Group 18 competition.
1990
From
the beginning, the Tweed Heads Seagulls first grade team struggled
to consistently perform well. The team struggled with repeated
losses, winning only 2 games in 1991 despite signing league legend
Wally Lewis. Whilst Lewis' appearance certainly attracted more fans
through the gate it failed to turn the clubs fortune around on the
field. Despite this, there were still many highlights during the
teams' early years.
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NSWRL granted permission for the Seagulls to enter an under 21 team into the Winfield competition in 1991.
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It was hoped a new draft system would help the club acquire more key players.
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Match day attendance increased by 13%.
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Modifications were made to the Eastern Grandstand including roofing, providing 2,400 more undercover seats.
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13 more corporate boxes were created, providing 260 more VIP seats.
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All home games were televised live in South Eastern QLD, on Saturday nights.
1991
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Lewis represented QLD in 3 State of Origin matches and 1 Aus vs NZ game.
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Entered a team in the Harold Matthews Cup for boys under the age of 15.
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Robert Simpkins, Chris Close & Mark Ross retired following the completion of the season.
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Under 21 team was entered in the Winfield competition (however only won 1 game).
1992
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Wally Lewis played his last Windfield Cup Game.
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Seagulls hosted GC Group 18 Grand Final.
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Under 19s won Premiership.
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New Players recruited including; Brent Todd (Canberra), Steve Jackson,Paul Martin (Canberra), Jason Gregory (Canberra), Peter Gill (St George). Kurt Landers (St George), Dale Shearer(Broncos) and Mike McLean.
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Steve Jackson, Dale Shearer and Mike Mclean were called up for State of Origin.
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Brent Todd was selected for NZ to play Great Britain.
1993
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Lewis becomes 1st Grade Coach (1st non playing season).
1994
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Tweed Head Seagulls defeated the Nerang Roosters 27-26 with a field goal by the Captain in the final 40 seconds of the GC Group 18 grand final at Seagulls Stadium.
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Seagulls Group 18 coach Peter Crannage (pictured left) resigns. Despite this the Seagulls ARL side was unable to match the performance of their under 18s team.
Tweed was considered to be the perfect location for the ARL team, as it was known to have a strong league following. However according to Chadwick and Arthur (2008, 196) the "club's hopes for fans never materialised", with the club struggling for support. The Seagulls stadium had the capacity to hold 14,000 people, however was only filled on a few occasions between 1988-1995. The average attendance for a home game was 5-6,000 people. (Chadwick & Arthur 2008) Consequently this made it difficult for the Seagulls to attract both adequate amounts of sponsorship, as well as top level players.
By 1995 the club could not longer justify continuing to support the Tweed Heads Seagulls. Whilst the ARL pledge to support the Tweed Heads Seagulls for the next 5 years in a effort to prevent their teams from going to the Super League, this did not eventuate and the ownership was sold to local business man Jeff Muller. However in 1996 the ARL took over the license to the club and renamed it the Gold Coast chargers.
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