Mariners & CC Association ? ?

[midfielder]

From the SMH today .... says there are problems between CCA & the Mariners.... any idea what is behind this and can anyone shed any light ...

Conflict with local association spoils the party for 'angry' Mariners' owner

It should be the biggest week of his football life, but Mariners owner Mike Charlesworth says he "can't enjoy it" as hoped, since a fallout with Central Coast Football has left him "angry" and bewildered.

After taking a majority stake in the club less than a month ago, the English-born businessman wanted to not only alleviate the club's financial concerns but also to get the region firmly behind a side that will be competing in its fourth grand final in eight years against Western Sydney on Sunday.

But speaking from Hong Kong, where he is on business until Saturday, Charlesworth said he had been left despondent at how the local association was at odds with the Mariners, for reasons he was yet to understand.

"We are seen as a community club, probably because we do more than any other club on the community front, but we're having extreme difficulties breaking the problems with Central Coast Football right now," he said. "They're very poorly run, very poorly managed and have told me they've got no interest in the Mariners . . . They don't believe the Mariners can help them at a grassroots level."
Charlesworth has already aired his grievances with Football Federation Australia and believes the future of football in the region will live or die on the local community pulling in the same direction.

"I think we've got the support of the local people, just not the support of Central Coast Football. When the head of their organisation says, 'I don't give a damn about the Mariners', I was deeply upset," he said. "I'm the one who is putting millions of dollars into football on the Central Coast and trying to unite everyone behind the club, but this is my single biggest challenge."

Just three years ago, the club and the association had a deal whereby 8000 junior footballers in the area had access to free Mariners' memberships.

Charlesworth says he will do all he can to appease Central Coast Football but his limits shouldn't be tested. "They can have a place on our board, they can use our training facilities, they can use our world-class five-and-seven-a-side complex. It's up to them," he said.

"They haven't articulated their concern, except that it's something historical. I sat down with them a week ago, I said what's happened in the past is in the past and that I planned to keep the club on Central Coast. Their reaction was basically, 'We don't give a damn and don't believe you can help us'."

There might be a small beacon of hope, however, with Central Coast Football postponing all its matches on Sunday to allow local players and fans to make the journey south to Allianz Stadium.

Central Coast Football chairman Darren Sprod could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.





http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/conflict-with-local-association-spoils-the-party-for-angry-mariners-owner-20130417-2i0jr.html#ixzz2QnfgNA7w

 

[FFC Mariner]

Read that. Weird.

Have CCF responded?

 

[offtheball]

If CCF didn't get a damn then Sunday's games would not have been deferred.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Wonder what he was asking them to do?

 

[rbakersmith]

If CCF didn't get a damn then Sunday's games would not have been deferred.

I'd say they were shamed into it after being criticised for the scheduling of last Sunday's games.

 

[dibo]

The key question is "what does he want?"

I don't think CCF and CCMFC are necessarily perfect bedfellows. The first thing CCMFC could do would be fund CCMA directly, because I don't think the local association should be forced to subsidise (from kids' fees) player payments for an NPL side.

To find another 6 figures in an association budget to pay semi pros some beer money doesn't seem productive.

If they can do joint corporate work to raise non-fee revenues, it's a different story obviously - if they can come together to drive the exposure that generates revenue to pay for the NPL setup, all good.

I do think that Clubs and Associations should join their development pathways and try to combine promotion of game at all levels - but I see FNSW being integral here, given that they've been crucial to design and delivery of development programs and tournaments like State and (especially) National Titles are still essential in the talent identification process.

I'm not sure making an approach (after being in the seat 5 minutes) and then bagging CCF is very productive.

If he wants to run the argument that clubs should receive the money *instead of* Associations and FNSW, he's got to demonstrate how that makes more sense than associations and FNSW.

He's got to explain how clubs (with stretched budgets and workforces as is) are better suited to delivery of competitions, development programs, coach education, referee development... etc. than Associations and FNSW.

We all know that people are unhappy at cost of football - redirecting the revenue in itself does not solve the problem!

If HAL generated sufficient revenue to come down the tree, different story - maybe then we'd say to the clubs you can do the work and we lift off the cost of the Associations and FNSW and replace it with service provided downwards by clubs, but given the clubs reportedly lost $25 million last year I don't think that's about to happen.

Total fee revenues (assuming every player in the country pays on average $200 to play) come to about $90 million, and from that you've still got to cover local clubs' costs (gear, ground hire, referees etc.) before you get to insurance, competition management costs, cost of running development programs and talent ID etc.

In FNSW territory you're maybe looking at maybe $17 million going to insurance, FNSW and FFA. Clubs and to a lesser extent Associations between them keep a large chunk of the remaining money, but the assumption that large amounts of money = wastage is flawed.

All levels of football need to be able to demonstrate the value that they offer, and it's worth having discussions about how football is structured, funded and run, but Charlesworth's input should be more nuanced than simply dubbing CCF "poorly run" and "poorly managed".

If the CCF leadership doesn't share his vision (whatever that is), that doesn't mean they're wrong. It's up to him to show how his vision is best for football generally and CCF's members particularly.

 

[Wombat]

I can't believe any muppet in charge of CCF would say that.

If they did....they should be stood down.

 

[dibo]

Be wary of reports of discussions where one party's views are relayed only by the other side.

 

[adz]

Be wary of reports <snip>

 

[starfish]

I think Mr Charlesworth has started the basis of his reasoning to sell or relocate the team.

$150,000 pa funding from CCF to pay for the CCMA is hardly "no interest in the Mariners".

Saying that they don't have the support of CCF is a bit ridiculous considering that CCF is a shareholder in the club and right from the very beginning have supported the club. I remember being at an Association meeting at the Leagues Club before the A League was even started where a then largely unknown Lawrie McKinna and Lyall Gorman came along to talk to the local clubs about the prospect of having a club on the coast, and the board and the 22 clubs passing a motion of support that was included in their licence bid.

Saying they can use the clubs training facilities when in fact the CCMA teams are forced to train on council grounds at Jubilee, Leagues Club Park, Killarney Athletic Field and Fagans Park just shows his ignorance. As does saying they can use Soccer 5s which allows the CCMA teams to train their at a slight reduced rate - but still at a cost to the players who are already paying nearly $2000 p.a. for the privilege of playing with the Mariners.

If he is so concerned about the lack of support, then maybe he can put some of his millions into the Academy, so that the talented elite junior players on the coast, male and female, can play at the top level without the financial burden being borne by their parents, and without the financial imposition on CCF which I am sure can spend their six figure contribution to the Mariners on the other 13,000 non-elite players on the coast instead of wasting it on an organisation whose major shareholder doesn't appreciate their input.

 

[Golly]

I'd say they were shamed into it after being criticised for the scheduling of last Sunday's games.

totally wrong

more like the registered players and matchday officials voiced their opinions on what they want

 

[scottmac]

I am sure can spend their six figure contribution to the Mariners on the other 13,000 non-elite players on the coast .

Yeah, as if.

 

[rbakersmith]

totally wrong

more like the registered players and matchday officials voiced their opinions on what they want

And yet CCF still scheduled matches to clash with the semi final - a game that could have been our last A-League match for the season.

You can't tell me that the registered players and matchday officials expressed absolutely no opinion about that one...

 

[dibo]

How many spare weeks do you think they've got up their sleeves? Seriously folks, if they had wiped two weeks off the calendar and then had to abandon a bunch of games at the end of the year because there weren't enough spots to slot them into, there'd be hell to pay.

 

[rbakersmith]

The issue I have is that they were seemingly able to postpone matches for the GF with one day's notice, yet with several weeks notice of the home semi-final (given our hold on 1st/2nd) they couldn't adjust the schedule.

 

[T]

There are only so many free weeks available at the end of the season.... Which will surely be needed for washed out games. Given the amount of teams that play on the coast it would be impossible to schedule them all in the morning or early afternoon. One week can be accomodated, but 2 would be pushing it.

 

[kevrenor]

I'm not sure making an approach (after being in the seat 5 minutes) and then bagging CCF is very productive.

This ^

 

[Einstein]

This ^

Exactly.. He searching for reasons to re-locate.. Never been closer, probably wanted Arthur Ashe?

 

[Gratis]

....better not be....
i have my doubts

 

[FFC Mariner]

We may well have our very own Clive Palmer here.