Granville snubs Smugney FC for Mariners

[Perm]

Granville snubs Sydney FC for Mariners

Brad Earl

30Oct07

IN a snub for Sydney FC, the Granville and Districts Soccer Football Association has entered into a formal relationship with their A-League rivals Central Coast Mariners.

The Gosford-based club approached Granville because it takes in the Hills district, the final domino in its strategy for support across Sydney's north.

The Mariners kicked off with agreements with the Ku-ring-gai and Gladesville Hornsby associations and Manly Warringah as well as Granville have followed suit.

It mirrors the fan base of the now-defunct Northern Spirit when they had a spectacular but shortlived impact on the National Soccer League in the late 1990s.

Granville association general manager Michael Briggs said the member clubs had approved the Mariners' proposal and the agreement was being finalised for signing.

He said the Mariners' youth academy offered ``a pathway for the talented kids to go somewhere''.

``Sydney FC don't seem to be providing that sort of scenario,'' Briggs said.

The association has had informal links with Sydney since the A-League's inception but Briggs said the club was lacking in the area of grassroots development.

As to why Granville didn't hold off for a possible western Sydney A-League bid, Briggs said the Mariners' tie-up wasn't exclusive.

He says the association will still support Sydney FC ``where we can'', as it does with PCYC Parramatta Eagles in the state competition.

Briggs said it was up to people in the association to ``support who they want''.

``We can only provide to them what's offered by those above, and that's what we've done,'' he said.

``We've put it out to the clubs about the Mariners and they're all in agreement, to support the Mariners.''

Two of Central Coast's coaching staff have had playing and/or coaching involvement with local clubs: coach Lawrie McKinna, who lived in the Hills area before landing the Mariners job, and development manager Alex Tobin, whose son Kielan has made Granville's under-11 Metro League team for next year after playing with Baulkham Hills.

[Fish]

Now of we can just get a few of 'em to the games

[thesandman]

This is great work by the Mariners, really shows how they're constantly looking to develop all aspects of the club, and not just next week's team performance.

Also, with the NYL now looming, this gives a much broader field for us to draw our youth from. Considering that there's a lot more wealth from representative teams (are there any PYL teams in that area?) in those areas than here, bringing that experience here and mixing it up with our young talent is going to be great for their experience.

Also, when Sydney are forced to get involved with youth through the NYL, this is a few areas that are going to be working with us, and not Sydney.

Fantastic work.

Although I daresay that there's going to be confused families who support Sydney but are going to be watching their kids playing with Coast!

[mustapha_beer]

Yet another step towards claiming the 'Disputed Territories'!!!

Noticed that the Mariners have started placing ads in some of the Hills District free papers, trying to get more people to travel up the F3.

I think it's a good thing, but will be interested to see how Bling respond......

[midfielder]

mustaphabeer said:

I think it's a good thing, but will be interested to see how Bling respond......

With there present management I don't think they will respond as they still use Sydney United and Marconi for advice of who the up and comers are, and to do promotions with.

Without trying to open wounds to Sydney Flying Circus guys I sent and email to "half time orange" and to my huge surprise he used part of my email on his first blog with SBS copied below.

got an email during the week from one Mariners fan, Glenn, that is typical of the kind of talk bubbling around the traps.

"For all the good work at a national level Mr Lowy has achieved he appears to have a weakness and it's the old Hakoah being remade with the same people managing and making the same mistakes," he wrote.

"I talk to a number of blokes from The Cove and they will not support Hakoah...the talk is starting to grow louder. Roy Masters and his ilk are just waiting for a reason to put the boot in."

I still think that SFC present management are even without maybe realizing it creating a inner and Eastern Sydney team.

The same management team that ran Hakoah and Sydney City are now running Sydney FC and they are basically old soccer.

The Mariners management the same as the Northern Spirit management knew the real power ( I mean connection with grassroots) is in the associations not the old NSL clubs.

I am a committee member of a 700 player club in Sydney nearest key landmark town I guess would be Ryde. In the entire life of the A-League we have not heard one word or received one letter from SFC yet many in our club support and go and watch SFC. However we have received a lot from the Mariners which I have always found curious.

However it is simple SFC management keep looking to the past as many associated with the club believe that is the way to go.

I am trying not to get started but if anyone cares to look at Football history in OZ in 1955 there was a Superleague type war. The war was between the associations and a number of new clubs who broke away. What followed inspite of what Misses Football keeps wankering on about was 50 wastered years of corruption and mis management. The associations lost the war but are still there and have grown. The winners aside from a few have all gone by the wayside (including Hakoah).

I not suggesting that SFC is corrupt in any way or there managers fools. It's just they are in a new league trying many of the failed tools of the past. SFC should be drawing at 30, 000 to their matches. Further as a supporter of Football we need SFC to be very successful for football to reach its full potential.

However I am shifting off my point, SFC managers do not see the associations as important whereas all other A-League teams from what I can see do.

Rant over but still boiling away inside.