United and Fury were set to clash in Cairns on June 20, while the Gold Coast side were also set down to meet Central Coast Mariners in a friendly at Lismore.

But the Fury match has been axed completely and the Mariners game has now been moved to the newcomers' stadium at Robina.

CEO Clive Mensink told au.fourfourtwo.com the Fury date had been scrapped out of consideration for Gold Coast United players who also have games in New Caledonia and Singapore.

And the Mariners game had been moved because of the A-League season fixture list which had limited their home games in the opening rounds of the season.

"We wanted to give the community  the opportunity to see the team in action," he said. "We thought this was the best thing for the local fans."

The club - owned by Clive Palmer, one of Australia's richest men - was also concerned at the cost of the match in Cairns.

"We would have had to pay for the flights up to Cairns or Townsville so that would have been an extra expense," said Mensink.

Chairman Palmer added that the club would not be bullied into playing away from home for the sake of others - and questioned Fury's ability after their recent loss in Singapore.

"The primary purpose for establishing Gold Coast United FC was to bring football to the Gold Coast," he said.

"If Gold Coast United accepted bully-boy tactics such as this and agreed to play games in North Queensland, or out of Queensland altogether, the result would be that no pre-season games would be scheduled or played on the Gold Coast.

"Each club in the Hyundai A-League is required to play one away pre-season game and one home pre-season game. The Board of Gold Coast United was not prepared to abandon its fans by having a home fixture scheduled, for all intents and purposes, as an away fixture (Lismore).

"In the case of the game in Cairns, we were advised of some uncertainty regarding the availability of the stadium that was to host the match and we have subsequently questioned the standard of the opposition given their recent performance in Singapore.

"Don Matheson's comments are unnecessary and ridiculous so perhaps, as he has advised others to do in the past, he should allow his team to do the talking. He will have the opportunity to do just that when his side visits Skilled Park in August.

"In the case of the proposed Lismore fixture, Gold Coast United are entitled to have our ‘home' pre-season match against the Central Coast Mariners played at Skilled Park, for the benefit of all our supporters.

"In addition, FFA's short-sightedness in scheduling five out of our first seven Hyundai A-League games away from home is the only disgraceful Board decision.

"We are trying to get quality football matches to the Gold Coast and that is our aim. It's fair enough to go to other areas to promote the game, but not at the expense of having games in our own city, for our own supporters.

"If North Queensland Fury are genuine about taking football to an area where it has never been played before then the Gold Coast falls into that category. There is an open invitation for them to come and play us in a pre-season game down here."