Mariners Financial Crisis in the Daily Tele

[midfielder]

What does he really say that restores your faith?

All I read is a pep talk to try to keep the punters happy.

Cut through all the "rah rah" and all you end up with is that the club needs new investors.

AC

He has not tried to hide from the issue and says he is actively trying to solve it...

That to me is good .... far better than someone saying its all rosy ...

 

[Ancient Mariner]

AC

He has not tried to hide from the issue and says he is actively trying to solve it...

That to me is good .... far better than someone saying its all rosy ...

I applaud him for this and hope he is successful, but there is nothing in the response that addresses or stops the rumours.

Forgive me for being worried, but I have supported a team on where fans,on the forum, were trying to work out how to raise money to pay players and it was only through Lawrie and his wife that some were getting fed.

I do not want to go through that again.

 

[elevated position]

One thing you have to remember is that these guys have their own cash at stake here and that is a good incentive to make it work or sell and drop someone else into it.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

TBH I think it's pretty amazing we haven't hit this position till now.
And now I dare say it our vision (COE) and foundation work that will see us sale through.
Worse case scenario, If the mariners had to raise what they did for NQF, I believe we would manage it.

The CEO is not a white elephant. It is moving forward.
There is a lot of love for this club, even many many people who do not go to games except once in a blue moon would strongly rally if the Mariners were threatened with extinction. So I would have faith if that was what we faced, but it is not.

So I will not worry. Or even worse doomsay. Concern is natural, but I will instead focus my energies on rallying support and radiating enthusiasm. It's a f**king exciting season we have coming. And we have a great team.

Lets get another investor, have a fantastic season that builds crowds, then win the ACL and the 1.5 mill that goes with it.
Can we do this? Yes we can.

And I liked Turnbulls email btw.

 

[elevated position]

Article in the Fin Review today about Primo.

Apparently very close to selling 75% to a Hong Kong based investment trust. Also stated that current Primo owner Lederer was worth $344mil.
Explains a bit about no info re sponsor.

 

[midfielder]

I applaud him for this and hope he is successful, but there is nothing in the response that addresses or stops the rumours.

Forgive me for being worried, but I have supported a team on where fans,on the forum, were trying to work out how to raise money to pay players and it was only through Lawrie and his wife that some were getting fed.

I do not want to go through that again.

If you read my earlier posts you will see I am very concerned ... we are in need of considerable funding... further our owners are in an industry that is experiencing very hard times ... which has all the looks that our current owners do not have the capicity to fund the on going operations of the club...

That they are trying to find investors to help is what is needed and they are doing that as per the email... that makes me feel a little better ... still concerned but not in a panic...

My real concern is the main asset we have is the COE and as I understand it ... the ownership of the COE is by way of a trust and totally seperate from the Football club... meaning the considerable funding from government that has gone into the COE [because of the Football club ] is not reflected in the value of the football club...

In summary it appears our owners do not have the cash needed to run the club.... the current owners also want new investors to respect and value their investment to date in the club... our main backer is in an industry that is not doing that well ... our main asset is seperate from the football club...

Am I worried ... Yep .... am I concerned ... Yep ... however PT has emailed as I understand every memember and said he understand the issues and is working on them... as are the other shareholders ...

Meaning I guess things are being done ... this is far better than people having their head in the sand ... and it means as fans the more folk we can bring to games the better...

 

[midfielder]

Article in the Fin Review today about Primo.

Apparently very close to selling 75% to a Hong Kong based investment trust. Also stated that current Primo owner Lederer was worth $344mil.
Explains a bit about no info re sponsor.

Do you have the lonk for this I could not find it...

 

[Marquee]

Do you have the lonk for this I could not find it...

Found this from 31st August

http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL4E7JV1YJ20110831

 

[elevated position]

Sorry I actually read the article from the rag

 

[Marquee]

It doesn't come as a surprise that we are in this position considering the rumours floating around over the years about treating sponsors poorly, leading to them walking away. I certainly hope the situation has changed now.

Would things be different if we had accepted that beer company sponsorship (Bluetongue?) a while back?

 

[midfielder]

Not sure what this means ... also a throw away inside another article would have tho it was worth a article by itself...

Meanwhile, flamboyant property developer Terry Serepisos is poised to retain control of Wellington Phoenix, but advertising guru John Singleton is believed to have backed away from a takeover of Central Coast Mariners.

The Mariners, meantime, met their wage bill last week despite ongoing cash problems. Singleton's mooted investment now looks unlikely. Club chairman Peter Turnbull declined to elaborate, saying: ''The wages were always going to be paid, it was never going to be any different.''
The Mariners, unbeaten in 11 pre-season games so far, open the season with a grand final rematch against Brisbane on October 8.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/culina-out-for-year-but-striker-still-jets-priority-20110920-1kjk4.html#ixzz1YVpp0lZR

 

[scottmac]

IMO, (and thats all it is, just an opinion) someone has created a push for Singo to become involved or for Turnball to be pushed out at the most opportune time. The wages not being paid was the headline of the story and it didn't even happen. Would it have happened without the story? Who knows, but to go to the Terror to alleviate the issue reaks of immaturity and vindictiveness. Someones not happy and that can be poisionous in a club atmosphere especially if that person carries significant standing. Obviously we have cash problems and with that comes a certian level of uncertainty and high levels of stress for those that are paid by the club. Who ever started this push did not have the best interests of the club at heart which is understandable & selfish in the same breath. The job they do is performed in a volatile environment. They must understand that. Success and failure comes and goes and sometimes is not a direct consequence of how the club is performing on the field or off it. We are at the mercy of owners who themselves have varied portfolio's which are susceptible to failure and decline. Wellington is a case in point. What ever we as a club are going through they have it 100 times worse.

 

[midfielder]

Another media article but with some solutions offered and I think they are not bad ideas...

Lifeline for cash-strapped Mariners lies with grassroots support

Michael Cockerill

October 22, 2011

IF the good folk of the central coast want to sustain the Mariners, they might have to dig into their pockets.

Membership equity in clubs is nothing new in the NRL and the AFL but it's a novelty in the A-League. Melbourne Heart and Adelaide United have broached the subject but it's the Mariners who need grassroots support the most.

There's nothing wrong with what the Mariners are doing on the park. Three grand finals in six seasons would, by some measures, have them second only to Melbourne Victory as the benchmark club in A-League history. This season they're again tipped to do well.


Skipper Alex Wilkinson reckons success has come at a price - expectation - and he's right. That Socceroos boss Holger Osieck has called up five Mariners for next week's identification camp underlines how they're regarded.

But it's a battle. Other clubs have billionaire owners and massive catchment areas. The Mariners have property developer Peter Turnbull and his English partner, Mike Charlesworth, digging deeper than anyone else to support a team for a catchment area of fewer than 400,000 people. The central coast is home to just two major companies - Sanitarium and Masterfoods - and it barely registers as a stand-alone market in television terms. Commercially and corporately, the central coast is off the radar. The Mariners are, by some distance, the smallest and poorest club in the A-League.

But they're in there all the same. With less and less likelihood of an NRL team in the area, the Mariners are all the central coast has in terms of professional sport, and will be for the foreseeable future. Are they loved because of that? You bet they are. Gosford City and Wyong Shire have bent over backwards to support their sporting flagship. They know the value of identity. I mean, what exactly is the central coast? Central coast of what? People in Australia don't know where the central coast is, people in NSW don't know where it starts and ends. People overseas wouldn't even know it's in Australia.

It's the Mariners that give the region an identity. Internationally, there's been one Asian Champions League campaign and another on the way. That's unprecedented exposure but it comes at a price.

Financially, the Mariners are doing it tougher than ever. On the eve of the new season, Turnbull had to fight off claims the club was on the verge of going under. He and his partners have kept the club going, and will keep doing so as long as possible. But things are tight. As recently as last week, a billionaire foreigner with a track record in football was in discussions about investment. Nothing doing, yet.

If there's a path to financial independence, it is closer to home. The Mariners have a record 3500 members, they average 8000 fans at Bluetongue Stadium and there are about 14,000 registered players in a region stretching from Gwandalan to Umina. Somewhere in that mix is, say, $700,000 to $800,000 towards the club's bottom line on an annual basis. Offer public shares in return for a seat on the board and immunity from debt. It's not going to solve the club's liquidity issues overnight but it helps to create a precious benefit: stability.

The new Centre of Excellence at Tuggerah - which includes commercial properties - will provide an enormous boost in revenue. But the drip feed is two to three years away.

In the meantime, there's a whiff of danger in the air. There have even been suggestions of shifting the team to western Sydney if it can't make ends meet.

For me, the Mariners are the central coast. That's got to be an asset worth fighting for. And paying for.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/lifeline-for-cashstrapped-mariners-lies-with-grassroots-support-20111021-1mcan.html#ixzz1bSi0Eths

 

[elevated position]

He makes some good points especially about community involvement.
Now as an area the cc has a huge commuting workforce which means lots of road travel and lots of money to pertrol companies.(hint attack these companies to put something back)The same with fast food operators as there seems to be an outlet for every family.

However the Mariners marketing dept over the years it appears to me have been slack and that their theme was lets go for the bigger fish and forget about all the small business's that are out there (and on the coast there are thousands)Start a business club charge 1,2,3Thousand$ ? have benifits to attract these potentials
and most important treat them as long term customers. This would have a positive effect on the income.

It has been discussed here before about sponsor disatisfaction so it seems thata possible problem lies within the mariners structure ?

 

[pjennings]

I know that community equity has been discussed before. However, the argument by Cockerill is couter-intuitive. On the one hand he says ' Other clubs have billionaire owners and massive catchment areas' which means that they would have large numbers of people of people to take a small stake. While I like the idea of some community equity it is for the involvement - not the cash raised as I believe it would not be an efficient way to raise funds.

Why do we only have to go after local companies. Singo has an affinity to the Mariners and the Coast in general. His mate Gerry Harvey has long struggled to establish a footprint in Asia. What better way than to support a local ACL team. Turnbull is on record as saying he is confident of profits year on year from 2013-2014 based on a better TV deal and the revenue streams from the COE. Now is the time to invest Gerry!!

 

[Wombat]

Yeah Gerry....i'll actually support HN if you support us! Same as i just brought a Hyundai Santa Fe. Now if we can just get James Squire to sponsor us as well!!

 

[pjennings]

Another story

Central Coast Mariners players wait for pay cheques

From: Herald Sun November 18, 2011 1:02PM

A GFC has struck Australia again. This time it’s the Gosford Financial Crisis.
Central Coast Mariners are putting on a brave fight amid huge economic concerns.

Just when it appeared the club was stabilising, four players have been told by the club in recent days that their wages will not be paid for a fortnight.

The PFA was forced to step in recently with the Mariners a year behind on superannuation payments up until August, while they owed a tax bill of $1.5m.

The Mariners were also in arrears with coach Graham Arnold’s bonus payments from last season.

Owner Peter Turnbull is reportedly speaking with an Eastern European investor, but a more probable outcome is investment from advertising guru John Singleton, who owns the Mariners’ home ground Bluetongue Stadium.

Singo was quite involved with the Mariners in the early years, and any investment would probably be short term.

FFA retains a five per cent shareholding in the Mariners.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/soccer/studs-up-november-14/story-e6frfg8x-1226194249651

 

[Ted]

Now if we can just get James Squire to sponsor us as well!!

I'll second that!

 

[Roy Law]

Another story

Central Coast Mariners players wait for pay cheques

From: Herald Sun November 18, 2011 1:02PM

A GFC has struck Australia again. This time it’s the Gosford Financial Crisis.
Central Coast Mariners are putting on a brave fight amid huge economic concerns.

Just when it appeared the club was stabilising, four players have been told by the club in recent days that their wages will not be paid for a fortnight.

The PFA was forced to step in recently with the Mariners a year behind on superannuation payments up until August, while they owed a tax bill of $1.5m.

The Mariners were also in arrears with coach Graham Arnold’s bonus payments from last season.

Owner Peter Turnbull is reportedly speaking with an Eastern European investor, but a more probable outcome is investment from advertising guru John Singleton, who owns the Mariners’ home ground Bluetongue Stadium.

Singo was quite involved with the Mariners in the early years, and any investment would probably be short term.

FFA retains a five per cent shareholding in the Mariners.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/soccer/studs-up-november-14/story-e6frfg8x-1226194249651

Got to feel for the players; this is an unacceptable situation. I really hope it can be resolved. If these tensions have been around for a while it may go someway to explain why the Mariners have yet to match their standard of play of last year. It must be hard to lift for games when the money isn't coming in. For the sake of good governance, if the FFA knew about this they should have stepped in and loaned the money to met the wages.

 

[midfielder]

Wonders out loud what this does to the teams performance...