And so the A-League comes back down to earth, with more of a shudder than a thud. The Central Coast Mariners are in financial turmoil, and suddenly nothing seems quite as rosy anymore.
To say this has come out of the blue is to tell a lie. It has been the issue the competition has repeatedly swept under the carpet for close to four years, hoping it would go away and resolve itself.
The great Ray Gatt from The Australian has been all over the story, which suggests the Gosford club could close its doors if a proposed ownership restructure falls through.
For the second time this season, players and staff have not been paid their monthtly salaries. The PFA is getting involved.
All manner of would-be white knights have been name-checked and talked about but they each sound more mythical than the last.
The death of Gold Coast United seems a lifetime ago but now this plight is a stark reminder the A-League simply cannot lose another club.
And certainly not Central Coast. The Mariners have come to symbolise the sport’s new wave in many ways. It is the little club that could; the brave outpost in a non-traditional football area.
But not even a club which many say is the template of how football should be run outside of the capital cities can seem to get on without the annoying pull of financial reality.
It is intriguing to note the Mariners have lost the back-of-shirt sponsorship with Primo Smallgoods, which was worth $750,000 over three years.
The company’s owner is Paul Lederer, who, as it happens, sits on the board of the Western Sydney Wanderers. He is a close friend of Frank Lowy.
No prizes for guessing where that Primo logo might be next season.
Therein lies a snapshot of the wider problem. Gatt’s report says the Mariners asked for financial assistance but were knocked back by the FFA, who are said to be unlikely to rescue the club should it become insolvent.
The reason is because of the federation’s investment in the Western Sydney Wanderers, the newcomers who have been mollycoddled into a beast the game should be wholeheartedly proud of.
It was known the decision to create the club after Gold Coast’s demise was a risk – but that was because the venture was rushed into.
What wasn’t immediately talked about was that the cash-strapped FFA had put all of its cards on the table.
It could afford to go to Western Sydney, just – thanks to the Federal Government. But we are told that is where the money runs out.
If Central Coast cannot sort itself out and falls over then you could say the Western Sydney gamble has not been worth it.
How could it be if the Wanderers are at the expense of arguably the A-League’s most successful club?
A change of ownership is meant to be on its way, but it’s gotten to the point where people laugh when the words “Russians” and “Central Coast” are used in the same sentence.
It doesn’t look like they are coming, and FFA has to prepare for the eventuality that there might not be anyone who will right now.
The licence could be whisked away to a Geelong consortium to maintain the 10-team equilibrium needed for the new TV deal, reports suggest, but at the moment that has pipe dream written all over it.
What message would it send if the A-League’s supposed on-field benchmark is no longer viable?
Even if this season has been one long Wanderers and Del Piero daze, everything will start to feel grim once again if the Mariners go under water. FFA has to be on guard.
Gm08
Guest
The AFL is controlled by the 18 AFL clubs How money is distributed, how much the salary cap should be etc etc is all voted on by the clubs. If the CEO Demitriou made an extremely unpopular decision, they could lobby to change that decision and ultimately remove Demitriou. He is there to serve the clubs. This is a far more effective model than the A league. The A league's business model is a disaster. How could Lowy not set up in the most certain markets 1st is mind boggling. What on earth was Lowy thinking establishing an A league team in NQ & GC? And in NZ for that matter? The problem here has multiple angles. The 1st is that the FFA should be controlled by the clubs ultimately. The clubs should be community owned. The volatility created bc clubs are owned by magnates who don't care much for our game is devastating. The A league will lose all credibility if another team folds. I'm tired of people referring to markets when all they're talking about is population. You can't sell air-conditioners to Siberians, so that is not a market. There may be 1 or 2 Siberians that want an aircon so fine, it's a market but is it worth you setting up shop there? Just bc the GC has 6-700 K people doesn't mean they're interested in football. To make them interested enough that they will attend and watch it on foxtel requires $$$ millions and a generation.
Cameron
Roar Guru
SBS really is the "SPECIAL" Broadcasting Service.
Cameron
Roar Guru
Harry Sevas & Realfootball, 2007-2008 CCM average attendance including finals - 15,237 Not including finals - 12,738 2010-2011 CCM average attendance including finals - 8,168 Not including finals - 8,076 2007-2008 SFC average attendance including finals -16,963 Not including finals - 16,373 2010-2011 SFC average attendance including finals -8,014 Not including finals - N/A Not sure if you notice what i'm getting at but even Sydney experienced such a phenomenal drop and Mariners were beating them. 2007-08 season was one of the most successful in the A-leagues short history. It reached it's peak then. 5 seasons later and it's now slowly picking back up. Mistakes have been made and the above information is proof itself. That's just two clubs as well. A of them did bad. We are now recovering and with patience, persistence and commitment, the A-league can once again aim to reach these heights but with hopefully 10 financially secure teams. These massive increases and decreases were bound to occur and a,lot of people were writing the league off a few seasons ago. Now growth is reoccurring and plans are being made to build. Mariners are needed and the A-league knows it. Fingers crossed numbers will continue to rise for this season has been the most successful since 2007-08.
mahonjt
Guest
MVFC has a greater capitalisation than the entire NBL. Taken with the vastly different fundamentals underpinning both games, these comparisons have always been lazy, uniformed shots....
midfielder
Guest
At least say sorry SBS
ninta
Guest
you don't know what you are talking about , do you watch the A-League?? or are you just dreaming! have a look at the CMM achievments for the last two or three years the word is EXCELLENT!!! a team with determination, fighting spirit and excellence that is the CCM!!! you don't know what you are talking about , give credit and respect where it is due! and keep your stupid negative comments to yourself! if we loose the CCM the A Leagu wll never be the same again get real the CCM are the best team in the A-Leage bno A-League team has made a profit in the last 4 years expect for melourne victory so what has happened to the existing clubs? even with great marquee players the do not have no 1 and no 2 spots!!! so there put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Matsu
Guest
Overrated in Australia, perhaps, but in most other countries (China and Iran excepted) it is not rated at all, so its a bit hard to call it "underrated". Last year, average attendance at ACL matches held in Japan was 20% below the attendances for the same teams playing in CUP COMPETITIONS. Nobody gives the ACL any credence in Japan, unless theyre TV announcers and journalists who have been paid to do so.
Matsu
Guest
Have you played the game at a high competitive level? Have you traveled to the opposite side of the continent on business (or pleasure) more than twice in six months? Im not trying to insult you, just asking honest questions.. I know that even when I was in my early 30s, a trip from Japan to Singapore and back always left me dazed and unable to focus for at least 24 hours, and when I once did it twice in the same month, I was a basket case for the next week. Even if you are in great physical shape, the human body was not designed for long-distance air travel. I also played football in university - which I am 100% certain was not as physically taxing as playing professionally. Two competitive games in a week was all the body could handle. That isnt true for just me. In Europe, they have the best physios in the world, and yet they have to rest players any time they play three games in a ten day stretch. That is true even WITHOUT air travel. Now, please explain to me - scientifically and practically - how you expect to change the rules of human physiology so that a player can play matches on Saturday, fly 8-10 hours by plane, play again on Wednesday, fly home 8-10 hours, and then still be able to perform adequately the following Saturday. It cant be done. So long as this is the case, the ACL will NEVER become a truly "meaningful" competition. . . because the teams taking part cannot help but play at below their optimal level. Games have ALWAYS been less than "sparkling", especially in the later rounds. Its no wonder that the "best" team never wins. And now that there is a precedent for a club (Gamba Osaka) getting relegated SOLELY because they had to take part in the ACL, other J.League clubs are never going to give it more than a 50% effort. Kashima Antlers have been threatening to refuse to take part for years, and now several other clubs have begun to make similar noises. As Korean clubs begin to follow suit (and this has already begun) the competition will become even more of a joke than it already is. Anyone who watched the J.League clubs in their first two rounds knows that they were having a laugh. Heck, when Sanfrecce Hiroshima flew to Nanjing two weeks ago, five of the players who had started that week in the J.League DIDNT EVEN TRAVEL. Do you really expect people to take it seriously when the teams themselves dont do so? Sorry, but until you find a way to shrink Asia down to Europe size, it just AINT GONNA HAPPEN
Harry Sevas
Guest
So wannabe 'Ian Robertson' Ray Gatt got this all wrong!
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Given the AFL's revenue from gambling addiction, this is interesting .... In Year 2 at CCM, a big alcohol company offered more than $1m/yr in sponsorship but CCM knocked them back because they felt it wasn't the right message for their young fans: (Lyall Gorman, CEO of WSW, speaking at a Sports Business Club Panel tonight.)
Midfielder
Guest
MVD Rumour is agian from SBS maybe Charlesworth will sell part of his ownership to South Melbourne .... but its SBS again...
MV Dave
Guest
Good news for CCM...hopefully the club can now move on and ready themselves for finishing Runners Up in the GF to MV! :) Why did SBS publish such a BS story earlier? Very strange?
whiskeymac
Guest
http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/centralcoastmariners/news-display/Central-Coast-Mariners-confirm-agreement-on-recapitalisation/63484
Harry Sevas
Roar Rookie
Bondy Central Coast biggest asset is more players than all the other codes put together. They must tap into the that.
Harry Sevas
Roar Rookie
Why dont CC move a couple of their lesser games to Canberra or Wollonggong. These areas are football hotbeds and ripe for future A league teams.
Bondy
Guest
The supporters have herd it all before we'll still be here in another ten years so too the Jets ,its not excactly water off a ducks back but its not far from it. What the F.F.A. have to understand is that 60,000 sports are popular here on the Central Coast with the likes of club Rugby as well as League having a strong presence and every sport is open to play not just certain resticted sports for some geographical regions throughout the country, its like a more vigilant Gold Coast here in this area,also what should be taken into consideration is that 4 H.A.L. clubs span less than a 2 hour drive from one another,Jets to Parra the longest journey taking 2 hours by car F All,and one could put forward the case the Mariners have kept the comp floating somewhat at times with their consistancy and the F 3 derby's the clashes with Sydney F.C. have been ledgendary and hopefully we'll have a great rivalry with the Wanderes as well .
Midfielder
Guest
Story is total BS .... as I understand it the Mike Charlesworth offer has been accepted and by lunch time tomorrow it should be announced... BTW if this is wrong how do I delete a post... SBS like the Lucas Neil story are well off the mark... maybe shows their true colours anything that looks like a favourite NSL teams come up lets post it...
Bondy
Guest
T
pete4
Guest
Information now coming out TWG story is totally false. No confirmation from club
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
SBSTWG breaking with news that's great for A-League, but not so great for people in Gosford ... From: http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1144882/Melboure-group-to-take-over-Mariners Melbourne group to take over Mariners A majority of the Central Coast Mariners board has agreed to sell the club to a Melbourne-based consortium, consisting of three South Melbourne directors, for $4 million. The new arrangement would see the Mariners relocate up to four of their home matches - those perceived to draw the lowest gate - to Melbourne. Football Federation Australia (FFA) is yet to ratify the agreement but is believed to be satisfied with the nature of the deal.