Granted a Victorian Football League license in 1986, it was the first privately owned club in the history of the competition and debuted in the 1987 VFL season.

After many years of negotiation, in 1991 the AFL and the Bears convinced the Queensland Government to redevelop the Brisbane Cricket Ground (Gabba) facilitating a permanent move to the venue for the 1993 season after which the club experienced a period of success.

During its history, the club enjoyed only a modest amount of success, being the first non-Victorian side to win an AFL reserves premiership in 1991.

Despite the success in its later years, the club struggled to shake the derisive tags which included "Carrara Koalas" (in reference to the Gold Coast home and the somewhat tame marsupial) and "Bad News Bears" which drew comparisons of its management similar to the hit 1970s movie.

The early 1980s had also seen in Queensland and QAFL recruited players making an impact in the VFL, including Frank Dunell, Warren Jones, Gary Shaw, Zane Taylor and young stars like Scott McIvor and Jason Dunstall.

Brown initiated discussions with North Melbourne Football Club in an attempt to lure it to Brisbane, however the Kangaroos rejected the proposal.

Struggling Richmond Football Club under Alan Bond proposed to play half its games in Brisbane in 1987.

[11] The move was seen as a threat of relocation and met strong opposition, led by Kevin Bartlett who rallied to stop the proposal, though the club came very close to folding the following year.

At the end of 1986, the VFL Commission announced plans to set up privately owned clubs based in Perth and Brisbane, ignoring a strong bid from ACTAFL for a team in Canberra, motivated by the need to sell multimillion-dollar licences to save a number of Victorian clubs which were struggling financially.

The VFL at the time set a price of $4 million AUD for a licence to enter the league with the proceeds to be split among the existing clubs.

Recently retired Hawthorn footballer Peter Knights on October 27 was announced coach just weeks later getting the nod over candidates John Todd, Ron Barassi and Alex Jesaulenko.

The Bears pursued a number of stars aggressively and did manage a few key signings, including Collingwood's captain Mark Williams, and 1985 Brownlow Medallist Brad Hardie.

Mark Mickan, a 6'5" (196 cm) ruckman recruited from West Adelaide, was appointed captain of the Bears in its inaugural season.

Skase's Gold Coast business interests were reportedly a major factor, with its proximity to his Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort development at Southport under construction at his subsequent promotion of corporate hospitality packages to wealthy southern travellers.

[23] Skase argued that with a playing surface the same dimensions as the Melbourne Cricket Ground the venue was the ideal choice.

The club attracted 98,616 fans to the eleven matches at Carrara Oval, an average of 8,965 per game, which was the lowest in the competition behind Fitzroy's 11,498.

Attendances had been very poor due to poor performances and the long distance between Gold Coast and Brisbane and also due to the admission of the Brisbane Broncos which achieved the goal set by Queensland Rugby League general manager Ross Livermore of marketing and promotions interference against the threat of the VFL's expansion, with the team making their debut in the 1988 NSWRL season.

[28] Over the ensuing preseason the players threatened strike action, but Cronin resigned, the club was taken over by the AFL, re-sold to Gold Coast hospitality businessman Reuben Pelerman, and a crisis was averted.

[29] The AFL spent significant amounts of money to help the Bears survive over the coming years, and the club was provided with priority draft picks and special recruiting zones to give it access to some of the nation's best talent, which over the next few years allowed the club to recruit future stars such as Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis, Clark Keating, Steven Lawrence and Darryl White.

Dare was replaced in 1991 by former Carlton premiership coach Robert Walls, who immediately set about rebuilding the playing list.

Walls insisted that the Bears not bend to the will of powerful Victorian clubs in recruitment matters, which was seen most notably in the case of the young Nathan Buckley – Buckley, who in 1992 won the SANFL's Magarey Medal and was a premiership winner with Port Adelaide, winning the Jack Oatey Medal for being Best on Ground in the SANFL Grand Final, was a zone recruit signed to the club on a one-year contract in 1993, which stipulated that he would be released to the club of his choice if he so desired at the completion of the contract; he was cleared to Collingwood as he had requested, in exchange for premiership centre-half forward Craig Starcevich, goalsneak Troy Lehmann and an early draft pick which the Bears used to recruit future star Chris Scott.

After Round 15, the Bears were third-last on the ladder with four wins, and Robert Walls had announced his resignation as coach halfway through the season, but committed himself to seeing out the year.

Brisbane then won five of its six remaining matches in the home-and-away season, including against Richmond and Essendon who were both in the top four, to just reach the finals for the first time, albeit with a win–loss record of only 10–12.

Under the coaching of former Richmond premiership player John Northey, Brisbane had an excellent 1996 season, finishing third behind Sydney and North Melbourne.

Michael Voss also became the only Brisbane Bears player to win the Brownlow Medal, sharing the honour with Essendon's James Hird.

As a result, two teams were either required to merge, or one was to fold or exit the league to make way for Port Adelaide's entry in the 1997 season.

With that loss, the Bears era and its history ended after a short and mostly troubled existence, with ten seasons of competition and the third-place finish in 1996 as its best performance.

(Chorus) Brisbane Bears will live forever We will always stick together The 'Gabba is the place where people always come to see The greatest team of all

(3rd verse) The whistle blows, the ball is bounced, The crowd all give a yell And we will do our very best until the final bell And when the game is over, we'll be closer to the flag We're the greatest team of all

(Chorus) Brisbane Bears will live forever We will always stick together The 'Gabba is the place where people always come to see The greatest team of all