Gold Coast have arrived in Wellington for their match against the Phoenix but Porter said the players remain frustrated and disappointed by the events of the past week, although they have agreed to see out the remaining four games of the regular season.

"We feel really hard done by. I'm going to be honest with you, there were a lot of boys who had a lot of convincing to do," he said.
 
"But me as a PFA (Professional Footballers Association) delegate and a few of the other senior boys and Brendan Schwab we had meetings pretty constantly for two days with the playing group.

"Right up even until the last minute it wasn't sure if it was going to happen. But we've managed to decide to do it. We're not happy about it. But we're doing it."

He added: "At the end of the day the players here are victims. We had no control over what was done. We had no control over what our previous owner was doing or had previously done.

"We definitely had no control over what the FFA did with pulling the licence. We've just had to adjust to it and we've adjusted to it the best we can I think."

Porter revealed the decision to continue with the season had been based on what was best for the whole of the A-League and because Gold Coast potentially have a big say in who finishes where in the race for the top six play-off spots.

They have earned hard-fought draws in recent matches against Melbourne Victory (1-1) and Central Coast Mariners (3-3) and still have top-six hopefuls Phoenix, Newcastle Jets, Perth Glory and Brisbane Roar to play.

"We've got a job that can outline the decision of the top six," Porter said.

"We've looked at that as a playing group and thought right is it fair we've put in great performances against two other clubs that are in the top six and then if we don't play and teams get three points for nothing is that fair to other people, other players who have played or other supporters who are supporting those teams.

"We decided 'no it's not fair'. We have sacrificed a little bit as a playing group (to do that) because it's not fair what happened to us. But we think it's for the best in the game in Australia."

However, Porter warned just because the players were playing it did not mean they could be brushed aside once the regular season was over.

"By no means just because we're playing means we're happy with the FFA or with how we were treated by the previous owner," said Porter, who said the news of Palmer's licence being stripped had been a bolt out of the blue.

"We're not happy and we want issues taken up and looked at. We're showing confidence in the FFA by playing at the moment so hopefully they can show confidence in the players around Australia and the 25 players here at the Gold Coast and not just forget about us after the four-to-eight weeks they are looking to support us."

He added: "The FFA pulling the licence and now they have got the licence guarantees for next season for 25 players are not there.

"Under Clive's ownership he had pretty much said there was going to be another year for us in the A-League.

"We don't want to be swept under the carpet and forgotten about. We have committed three years to the A-League and as players we have committed 110 percent and performed. Players have helped the game get to where it is at the moment. If all of a sudden we are just going to forget about 25 of them because of some issues off the field then we really need to have a good hard look at ourselves."

Porter, who went through something similar as a young player in the NSL, was also hopeful that systems would be put in place to ensure the turmoil Gold Coast's players had been through in recent days could never be repeated.

"(We need to) put in place something that means the FFA can't just take licences away like that and put players in this situation. That's the important thing," he said.

"We don't want players in this situation where for the past four days they've been thinking about their future – where they are going to be and whether they are even going to play or not.

"They should be thinking about the trip to New Zealand, the flight, what the weather is going to be like, how they are going to play. This is not a scenario we need in the game of football."