Despite being on track for back-to-back league titles, crowds at Bluetongue Stadium struggle to crack 10,000 on a regular basis.

But the formation of a new supporter group — with direct input to club decision-making — could be the first step in raising the club’s profile.

Volunteer fan ambassadors met with director of football and Mayor of Gosford Lawrie McKinna last week to discuss membership packages, ticketing prices, booking fees and promotions.

A list of recommendations from the 12-member group will be forwarded to McKinna and club chairman Peter Turnbull in the coming weeks.

Group spokesman Simon Fisher said the idea of moving towards an officially recognised supporter club had its genesis in a pre-season fan forum.

“The club asked if anyone would be interested in forming a group to throw around ideas about what we think they can do or should do,” Fisher said.

“The group includes fans from everywhere - to be honest there’s probably a representative from every age demographic that we have.

“I hope the club utilises us well. I’d like to think they’ll take the advice of 12 or 13 of us who collectively know a couple of thousand members.

“We’re sort of doing the market research for them without being asked.”

Fisher said the group, which was not limited to active support, was keen to provide input on matters such as membership packages.

“We’d like the club to come to us and say ‘what do you think of this?’ and then we can go back to the members and present them with the possibilities,” he said.

“Maybe we can give them some ideas that they haven’t thought of.

“(The club) has a very small staff but this means they’ve got 12 extra people and those extra people know Mariners fans and we all talk.

“And if all the fans think a certain idea would be good for the Mariners then I’d hope the club would implement it.”

Despite some sub-10,000 numbers, the Gosford outfit has enjoyed a couple of bumper crowds this season: the clash with Sydney FC (15,686) and the New Year’s Eve match against Perth Glory (14,591).

Saturday’s F3 derby clash with Newcastle Jets at Bluetongue should be another cracker as the home side seeks to maintain their lead at the top of the table.

But other matches have drawn around 7000 to 9000.

Fisher said 10,000 should be the “absolute base” target for game day crowds and said there was also plenty of work needed to lift memberships above 3500.

Reducing ticket prices was one issue the group would look at.

Fisher added: “The question you have to ask is if you want 8000 or 7000 people at your game for $22 (a ticket) or do you drop the tickets to $15 and get an extra 3 or 4,000?

“I think everybody – not just our club, but the FFA as well  — needs to look at ticketing prices.

“For a family to go to a football game, it’s roughly $55 to $65 and it’s a lot of money.”

The group may also look at ways to drum up interest in the Asian Champions League. The Mariners kick off their third ACL campaign on February 27 with a home match against Korean outfit Suwon Bluewings.

If past campaigns are anything to go by, the Gosford team can expect about 5000 supporters to attend the clash.

However the fan group has accepted the loss of key players in the January transfer window. Midfield ace Tom Rogic is on the verge of signing for Glasgow giants Celtic and goalkeeper Mat Ryan and striker Bernie Ibini are also looking overseas.

“We spoke (with McKinna) about the possible transfer of two or three of our players which is inevitable and I don’t really understand what all the hoo-ha is about,” Fisher said.

“At the end of the day these guys are professional footballers and it’s very rare for a 19-year-old kid to play his entire career at one place.

“We understand there are boys in our team who want to develop themselves as players and of course they want to make a lot of money – who doesn’t?

“It’s going to come at a cost and hopefully we have a good enough squad that it doesn’t affect us a great deal.

“We’re not silly – we’ve got one of, if not the best squads in the league and if you take three key figures out of course it’s going to hurt.

“But I’d rather the long term stability of our club with the sale of players rather than we fold and everyone goes on a free.”