GOLD Coast Football Club will be formally unveiled when it hosts TAC Cup opponent Eastern Ranges at Carrara on April 4.

The Saturday night clash will be the first of 11 home games at the venue in Gold Coast's first season, which also include three AFL curtain-raisers and national carnival matches against NSW/ACT and Tasmania.

Gold Coast will compete in the under-18 competition next year before graduating to the VFL in 2010.

It plans to become the AFL's 17th franchise in 2011, with the Commission to make a decision on its licence next week.

Coach Guy McKenna recently acknowledged the benefit of his young players travelling for matches and AFL Victoria chief executive Peter Schwab has a similar view.

"It gives these talented young Victorian players a taste of interstate travel like they would experience in the AFL," Schwab said in a statement on Thursday.

Victorian TAC Cup clubs will again play interstate challenge matches against state representative sides from NSW/ACT, Tasmania and Northern Territory.

The 2009 TAC Cup fixture features three development weekends as part of Victoria's talented player pathway program and more TAC Cup matches as curtain-raisers for VFL games, further linking the two state competitions.

Gold Coast started pre-season training last month under the watch of McKenna and assistants Marcus Ashcroft and Shaun Hart.

Eight of its 40 squad members are contracted to the club with the rest of the group identified through Queensland's talented player pathway program.