Post by northernspirit on Dec 9, 2007 12:17:31 GMT 10
Here's a nice feel good story in the lead up to todays top of the table clash, go mariners
www.smh.com.au/news/a-league/the-mariners-miracle/2007/12/08/1196813076587.html
The Mariners miracle
Email Printer friendly version Normal font Large font December 9, 2007
Page 1 of 2 | Single page
The little football club that could has succeeded where the mighty NRL couldn't, writes David Sygall.
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As you drive over the Brian McGowan Bridge at Gosford, you have a choice. Look to the right and you'll see a panorama of Brisbane Water, backdropped by national park. Look to the left and you see straight into Bluetongue Stadium, a modern football ground that gives fans a sense of big-time sport and small-town intimacy.
Along the bridge, about 20 flagpoles boldly state the name of the local football team: the Central Coast Mariners. In another time and place, such mainstream promotion of a football club might have seemed uneasy. However, take a look around Gosford and surrounds today and you sense that such a brash statement is apt.
While other sports have spent years talking about capitalising on the Central Coast, football has done it - and the results are outstanding. Two-and-a-half years after the code was reinvented through the A-League, the Mariners are proving to be the competition's leading lights. Crowds and membership numbers are increasing, merchandise sales are strong and sponsorships and private backing are solid.
Just one person has left the club's office staff in three years - because she was commuting from Sutherland Shire. The coach and chairman have been there from the start, and the playing roster has barely changed. Oh yeah, and they're leading the comp - and another win today, against the Queensland Roar, who were second leading into the round, would put them further in front.
There are problems: mustering a population spread over 70 kilometres is hard. Also, the NRL's failed Northern Eagles experiment left a legacy of distrust of national sporting bodies. However, clubs looking for a blueprint on how to steer their ship could do little better than examine the reasons for the Mariners miracle.
"It's a very well-run club," A-League head of operations Rob Abernethy says. "They've done a lot of things right and stuck to their original vision, which was to build a foundation around the community of the greater Central Coast. They've galvanised that community to get behind this single entity.
"There was a real opportunity there that some people identified - the desire for that community to have a national sporting team. Lots of codes looked into it, but we were the first to get in there and set it up. And, if you look at their growth over the past couple of years, considering it's thought of as a small club, they are punching above their weight."
Abernethy points out the club's geographical challenges, but says it has done wonders to gain the people's trust. He says a rational original plan is largely the reason for the club's success.
"It's confined by Sydney down the road and Newcastle up the road," he says. "But, because they've tapped into the vein of the community, the community will stick by them through thick and thin. They didn't start off with grand promises. They built a local-based team and have focused on building local talent and built good links with local clubs ... They like to keep things honest and a lot of people can connect with that."
Among those who formulated the original plan were the coaching staff of Lawrie McKinna, Ian Ferguson and Alex Tobin. "And we're all still here, putting that plan in place," says McKinna, who signed a five-year deal after the first A-League season. "The people who constructed that plan are the ones implementing it."
He says the club worked hard to engage the community after the Northern Eagles debacle. It was difficult, but plenty of ground has been made.
"There are about 17,000 junior football players, but the adult population is still very much into rugby league," McKinna says. "But it's nice to see a growing number of Mariners shirts around.
"They're people who want to support a local team. We've got the core support of football people, but we're also getting people from a non-football background coming back to our games because of the atmosphere.
"We get a big family crowd, unlike some teams. We've connected well with the kids and grassroots. These days, you go to shopping centres here and every second or third person is wearing a Mariners shirt. It's great."
McKinna acknowledges Sydney FC have some different challenges, being based in a big city. But he says the instability there has made their task more difficult.
"Because Sydney's had such limited stability, they've never really been able to put in place a long-term plan," he says. "Things were tough up here for a long while, but they're getting better. It's different to having a revolving door and having to start from scratch all the time."
Among the club's policies was a program to nurture local talent. The club's first signing was Central Coast local Damien Brown. He spent a decade as an unknown in the old NSL and is amazed that people now recognise him in the street.
"That's never happened before," he says. "It's a whole different story ... [Chairman] Lyall Gorman and Lawrie McKinna worked so hard just to get us into the league. But once we got in, they worked just as hard to make it a success ... Lawrie has chosen players that fit into that sort of atmosphere, too. People on the Coast like tryers, and they can see that we're playing for the Central Coast community."
Brown recalls the time McKinna rang a radio station to offer a prize of a barbecue at the coach's house for some lucky Mariners fans. "There wouldn't be too many coaches who would invite supporters over to his house ... To have someone at the top like that, you can't go wrong."
The Mariners miracle is tenuous, but Brown believes the club has worked out the secret to success on the Central Coast. And he has some advice for the NRL. "If a rugby league team is to base itself here, it would have to really be a Central Coast team, like we've done," he says. "The Northern Eagles thing showed that people on the Central Coast are no dummies. They're not going to fall for it."
Brown says he is proud every time he sees the flags on Brian McGowan Bridge. "I reckon it would be pretty intimidating to be the opposition team driving on a bus across that bridge to come and play us," he says. "It tells visitors that the town is proud of us. And it's genuine."
www.smh.com.au/news/a-league/the-mariners-miracle/2007/12/08/1196813076587.html
The Mariners miracle
Email Printer friendly version Normal font Large font December 9, 2007
Page 1 of 2 | Single page
The little football club that could has succeeded where the mighty NRL couldn't, writes David Sygall.
Advertisement
As you drive over the Brian McGowan Bridge at Gosford, you have a choice. Look to the right and you'll see a panorama of Brisbane Water, backdropped by national park. Look to the left and you see straight into Bluetongue Stadium, a modern football ground that gives fans a sense of big-time sport and small-town intimacy.
Along the bridge, about 20 flagpoles boldly state the name of the local football team: the Central Coast Mariners. In another time and place, such mainstream promotion of a football club might have seemed uneasy. However, take a look around Gosford and surrounds today and you sense that such a brash statement is apt.
While other sports have spent years talking about capitalising on the Central Coast, football has done it - and the results are outstanding. Two-and-a-half years after the code was reinvented through the A-League, the Mariners are proving to be the competition's leading lights. Crowds and membership numbers are increasing, merchandise sales are strong and sponsorships and private backing are solid.
Just one person has left the club's office staff in three years - because she was commuting from Sutherland Shire. The coach and chairman have been there from the start, and the playing roster has barely changed. Oh yeah, and they're leading the comp - and another win today, against the Queensland Roar, who were second leading into the round, would put them further in front.
There are problems: mustering a population spread over 70 kilometres is hard. Also, the NRL's failed Northern Eagles experiment left a legacy of distrust of national sporting bodies. However, clubs looking for a blueprint on how to steer their ship could do little better than examine the reasons for the Mariners miracle.
"It's a very well-run club," A-League head of operations Rob Abernethy says. "They've done a lot of things right and stuck to their original vision, which was to build a foundation around the community of the greater Central Coast. They've galvanised that community to get behind this single entity.
"There was a real opportunity there that some people identified - the desire for that community to have a national sporting team. Lots of codes looked into it, but we were the first to get in there and set it up. And, if you look at their growth over the past couple of years, considering it's thought of as a small club, they are punching above their weight."
Abernethy points out the club's geographical challenges, but says it has done wonders to gain the people's trust. He says a rational original plan is largely the reason for the club's success.
"It's confined by Sydney down the road and Newcastle up the road," he says. "But, because they've tapped into the vein of the community, the community will stick by them through thick and thin. They didn't start off with grand promises. They built a local-based team and have focused on building local talent and built good links with local clubs ... They like to keep things honest and a lot of people can connect with that."
Among those who formulated the original plan were the coaching staff of Lawrie McKinna, Ian Ferguson and Alex Tobin. "And we're all still here, putting that plan in place," says McKinna, who signed a five-year deal after the first A-League season. "The people who constructed that plan are the ones implementing it."
He says the club worked hard to engage the community after the Northern Eagles debacle. It was difficult, but plenty of ground has been made.
"There are about 17,000 junior football players, but the adult population is still very much into rugby league," McKinna says. "But it's nice to see a growing number of Mariners shirts around.
"They're people who want to support a local team. We've got the core support of football people, but we're also getting people from a non-football background coming back to our games because of the atmosphere.
"We get a big family crowd, unlike some teams. We've connected well with the kids and grassroots. These days, you go to shopping centres here and every second or third person is wearing a Mariners shirt. It's great."
McKinna acknowledges Sydney FC have some different challenges, being based in a big city. But he says the instability there has made their task more difficult.
"Because Sydney's had such limited stability, they've never really been able to put in place a long-term plan," he says. "Things were tough up here for a long while, but they're getting better. It's different to having a revolving door and having to start from scratch all the time."
Among the club's policies was a program to nurture local talent. The club's first signing was Central Coast local Damien Brown. He spent a decade as an unknown in the old NSL and is amazed that people now recognise him in the street.
"That's never happened before," he says. "It's a whole different story ... [Chairman] Lyall Gorman and Lawrie McKinna worked so hard just to get us into the league. But once we got in, they worked just as hard to make it a success ... Lawrie has chosen players that fit into that sort of atmosphere, too. People on the Coast like tryers, and they can see that we're playing for the Central Coast community."
Brown recalls the time McKinna rang a radio station to offer a prize of a barbecue at the coach's house for some lucky Mariners fans. "There wouldn't be too many coaches who would invite supporters over to his house ... To have someone at the top like that, you can't go wrong."
The Mariners miracle is tenuous, but Brown believes the club has worked out the secret to success on the Central Coast. And he has some advice for the NRL. "If a rugby league team is to base itself here, it would have to really be a Central Coast team, like we've done," he says. "The Northern Eagles thing showed that people on the Central Coast are no dummies. They're not going to fall for it."
Brown says he is proud every time he sees the flags on Brian McGowan Bridge. "I reckon it would be pretty intimidating to be the opposition team driving on a bus across that bridge to come and play us," he says. "It tells visitors that the town is proud of us. And it's genuine."