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I am a Central Coast Mariners fan. I started the season watching my team slowly implode.
Experienced players moved on, young blokes stepping up and started playing their hearts out.
Still I sat there and took the positives out of each game “the young guys are getting better”, “we managed to hold them scoreless and keep them honest”, “look at the dollars on the pitch, we should have lost by double”.
Until this day I still look at the positives for the club with the tools we had at our disposal.
Then about mid way through the season, I started hearing Mark Bosnich going on about how “we need relegation”.
Now I went on the attack at Bozza, and I argued for some time about why promotion and relegation would not work.
Towards the end of the season, the amount of Mariners fans on social media started wit “WalmsleyOUT” and “izzoOUT” referring to the keeper.
The public stoning of the club on social media continued. The main point that was raised is that we were breaking all the wrong records (most goals conceded, red cards).
Bozza made the point that there is no reason to fight to stay in the top league, so there is no desperation football.
If we were relegated, the die hard fans will still be with the club. At least we would be in a league that would provide a closer competition that we have a chance of winning more games.
It would give the die hard fans something to cheer about. At this time in the relegation league (I will call it B-League) the club can re-build, put forward plans to get back into the top league while still giving the fans some entertainment.
I stumbled across a supporter group called the Northern Guard. They are the supporter group for Detroit City FC. They are Div 4 competition, they have a small but passionate group of supporters, they put in the effort to go to games, have a few brews together and are building a culture at the club.
If the Mariners were relegated, we might only get 3000-5000 to a game, however those fans will be the most passionate and loudest. That number will grow. Passion is infectious, more people will join the supporter groups organically.
The final nail in the coffin for me to write this article happened last night. My brother in law is undergoing chemo at the moment, he doesn’t get out much as he is never well. I took him to a NSW NPL game around the corner from my home.
We sat up in the stands at Melita Stadium with the Fans watching Parramatta versus Sydney Olympic. Seeing the former infrastructure from the old days made me sad, empty seats around the ground. It was a fantastic game of football, fast, hard hits with some awesome goals and saves.
These clubs should have the ability to become the top football club in the country. It would bring back the local supporters.
The skill of both teams was just as good as some of the A-League teams I have seen. The FFA cup is ok, however one bad call from the ref and you are done for a season.
So to Bozza, you are right. We need promotion and relegation. We need the old proud clubs to come back and start taking the credit for their role in building the sport in Australia.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.