The Mariners have won only two of 23 games this season and are set to claim another wooden spoon.

Devoted fan Wayne Murray contacted FTBL with a passionate letter. It reads:

"I am one of thousands of true ‘Football people’ who also happen to be Central Coast Mariners Members, Fans and Supporters (yes, we do still actually exist!!!).

Before I go any further I want to acknowledge that yes our Club has become a joke, and a laughing stock of Australian sport. You have no idea how much pain and embarrassment that causes me to admit regarding the Club I love.

But I would also really appreciate it if people could recognise that our Club has a very proud and successful history over the period that the A League has existed.

Our record in Premiership wins, Championship wins, GF appearances, Pre-Season wins, AFC appearances, and developing Socceroos is exceptional compared to many other A League Clubs that have a much higher population base, and significantly greater financial resources than our Club.

And yet we have shown that we can thrive, and succeed. And we can do it again!

With no intention of disrespecting the fact that Mr Mike Charlesworth dug us out of a ‘financial hole’ a few years back (for which I will forever be grateful) it is now well past the point that it must be said that neither he nor his CCM Management team are the appropriate people to lead our Club forward.

Currently there is no obvious plan, ambition, competency, or understanding being shown. Plus there is next to no meaningful information being made available by the Club that would at least keep CCM Members and Supporters aware of the situation, and/or excited by future plans. 

Player signings, re-signings, departures, releases, loans, Coaches comings and goings, a stream of English ‘expert’ directors that appear for five minutes then head back to the UK, are farcical.

The lack of ‘factual’ communication being offered by the Club Management to Members and Fans is monumental. It is now at the stage where long term Members such as myself and my family simply cannot bear to even attend games!

And that is after not having missed a home game in eight seasons.

Something has to change! I know Mr Charlesworth is sole owner of the Club as well as Chairman. And I welcome his continuing involvement as a major investor.

However, he is clearly not a ‘Football Person’, he is definitely a very clever and successful businessman, but being a businessman and running a Football Club are two distinctly different skill sets.

It would be wonderful if he stayed on as a major investor, but he has to relinquish the sole ownership and particularly the Chairmanship of the Club. It obviously is just not working. There is no mystery to it, we simply need a ‘Football person’ to chair and run the Club.

So I am calling on the FFA, the A League, other Club owners, and the Australian Football family to please help our Club recover from the problematic situation we are in. We all have our favourite teams, and follow them with a passion not seen in other sports.

But ultimately we are all part of the Football community, and should help each other in making our sport stronger in our country, particularly the A League. At the moment we are the Club with major problems, but in future it could be your Club that finds itself in difficulty.

So please rather than ridicule us, and call for our expulsion, relocation, demotion etc, take a moment and put yourself in our position.

The A League needs to strengthen and expand, not keep deleting Clubs and Regions from inclusion. The Central Coast has a population of approximately 300k, and is increasing every year.

We also have an exceptionally high Football participation rate, and one of the highest per capita membership/supporter rates. Can Australian Football and the A League really afford to alienate such fans and communities? That would seem to be very counterproductive to me.

There also needs to be an increased and concerted effort from the Central Coast itself. In particular the Central Coast Council, who really should be doing everything possible to help CCM, rather than putting obstacles in place.

Surely they must realise the financial and communal advantages of having the Mariners succeed. If CCM were to fail there would be absolutely no chance of ever persuading another national team from any sporting code to base themselves on the Coast.

The Central Coast football community also needs to step up its support and consistency in backing the Club, it is ‘our Club’, and offers a pathway and opportunities to the thousands of kids that play in the local junior Competition.

So please, FFA, A League, media, football universe, by all means have a laugh at our expense. But also back us up to regain our previous strong and proud history, just as we would do for you.

CCM for ever!!!

Sincerely,

WM