Small clubs. Every league in every sport has them. Truth is, every sport needs them. Which is why the plight of Central Coast Mariners has far wider implications than many are prepared to acknowledge. The local community has been asked to #standupforthemariners in Gosford this week. In effect, they're standing up for much more than that.
In the Darwinian world of modern professional sport, power and wealth is being concentrated in the hands of a few at an alarming rate. Check the tables of most European leagues, and you see the handful of usual suspects dominating competition in a manner that was unheard of even a decade ago. The strong are getting stronger, while the weak are struggling to survive.
Those providing the money - sponsors and broadcasters - are not overly concerned about the re-engineering process. Fair enough, it's not their remit.
But those governing sport have a different, wider, charter. Protecting the interests of the small clubs is just as important as encouraging the ambitions of the big ones, otherwise the disconnect between local communities and their clubs stretches beyond breaking point.
Once that happens the business of sport consumes the sport itself. Clubs become franchises and competitions become stockmarkets. The pursuit of profit drives everything, even when the evidence shows profit is rarely there. Is that what we want for the A-League? Me? I prefer a balance.
Thus we come back to the Mariners. A club that historically has represented the traditional model of community engagement, but which is now driven by an owner who is chasing a different dream. Mike Charlesworth believes the Mariners can represent two communities - one on the Central Coast and the other in northern Sydney - and in the process improve his bottom line. They can't, and it won't.
Early this month, the football community of northern Sydney voted with their feet when just over 7000 showed up at North Sydney Oval for the visit of Melbourne Victory. Next weekend the football community of Central Coast get to vote with their feet when the Mariners host Brisbane Roar. Once the coach of the Mariners and these days the Gosford mayor, Lawrie McKinna has planned a street march and wants more than 10,000 locals to prove the club should stay where it belongs. The battle lines have been drawn, and for the fans the choice is clear.
Charlesworth, not happy with owning a small club, wants to create a big one. You can never knock ambition, but it doesn't really work that way. A respected, well-run and competitive small club with deep roots in the local community can not only survive, but thrive. Indeed, just a couple of years ago the Mariners were breaking even, and selling a production line of players to overseas clubs for big profits.
What's wrong with that?
The A-League needs the Mariners to return to their roots and once again become a role model for how a small club should be run. Why? Because the Central Coast, with a population of 350,000, is similar in size to most of the other cities aspiring to join the competition. And unless centres such as Wollongong, Geelong, Hobart, Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Canberra, Townsville and perhaps Gold Coast eventually become part of the A-League, it will never fulfil its potential.
Right now, Football Federation Australia is looking at creating extra teams in the capital cities for the next phase of expansion. The FFA is hoping to replicate the Western Sydney Wanderers success story by introducing extra teams in Sydney, Brisbane and/or Melbourne, believing the strategy is a safer bet.
"We need to fish where the fish are," is David Gallop's favourite line. Yet sometimes small fish taste better than big ones. The Mariners and Newcastle Jets have won championships, Adelaide United last week won the inaugural FFA Cup, and Perth Glory currently sit on top of the table.
That's been the beauty of the A-League - size doesn't always matter. It's what makes it special in comparison to the rest of the world. And it's why thinking small can still make a big difference.
i hope that MC & BS read this & get the message
