Mariners boss says Thursday game will struggle to attract fans
Mariners CEO Shaun Mielekamp has taken a shot at FFA over its inflexibility with match scheduling. Picture: Peter Clark
Central Coast chief executive Shaun Mielekamp has hit out at Football Federation Australia, saying he does not understand the benefits of being forced to play a Thursday night game that will struggle to pull 4000 fans.
The Mariners are also upset at having to play Perth tonight at Central Coast Stadium on a four-day turnaround following their 1-1 draw with Newcastle in last Sunday’s F3 derby.
While Glory are making the long trip to Gosford, they will at least have had a six-day break since their 3-1 win in Adelaide.
“We will cop grief from the FFA and supporters when this situation is totally out of the club’s hands,” Mielekamp said yesterday. “We are trying to understand what the actual benefits of this one are because it does not help our club or Perth. It’s a school and work day on Friday and Perth won’t bring any fans, so we’re looking at a crowd of about 4000.
“People will look at that and ask questions about us again.”
Mielekamp revealed that the club had sought help before the draw was made in July in relation to struggling Central Coast families being on tight budgets and having to prioritise.
“One thing we stressed to FFA that was important for us is the timing of any back-to-back matches at Gosford,” he said.
“There’s a really heavy burden for families to have to go back-to-back weeks. We really wanted to try and stretch the home games out.
“To have a Thursday night match against Perth leading into a Western Sydney match at home (December 3) means the chances of getting a crowd here against Perth are nearly non-existent, and then they double hit us with a short turnaround for our team preparation.
“It makes us wonder about the (FFA) priorities and how this one came together. It was the one part of the draw we formally requested to change. We did that 30 seconds after we saw it, but they — the previous administration in charge at the time — told us there was nothing they could do because it would affect the draw.”
An FFA spokesman said all clubs had to play a Thursday night game. “There are a limited number of Thursday night games in the draw which affect the rest and recovery periods for the teams.
Mariners coach Paul Okon said the short turnaround was not ideal but a fact of life.
“This sort of stuff is part and parcel of the game. Obviously Perth have had an extra couple of days to prepare but we are not going to use this as an excuse,” he said.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...s/news-story/854c93c1944a47cd9d40973d40b751e8