Central Coast Mariners FC W-League
| Full name | Central Coast Mariners Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Mariners, The Coast, The Marinettes |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Ground |
Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford |
| Capacity | 20,119 |
| League | W-League |
The Central Coast Mariners FC, also known as the Central Coast Mariners Women, represented the Central Coast Mariners in the Australian Women's National Football League, the W-League for two seasons between 2008 and 2009. In July 2010 it was announced the team would not be entered in the 2010 W-League, due to lack of funding. There is hope that the team may reenter the competition in a later season.
As one of the 7 established Australian A-League clubs, the Central Coast Mariners Women was announced to coincide with the establishment of the new W-League. In early September, Stephen Roche was appointed as the inaugural team coach. In October 2008, the squad was announced and featured Matildas Kyah Simon, Lyndsay Glohe and Renee Rollason. As the club was funded by Football NSW and not the Mariners exclusively, the W-League outfit played home matches in Sydney's west at Parramatta Stadium and Campbelltown Stadium, which was an opportunity for the Mariners brand to spread into areas outside the Central Coast.
Although the Mariners season got off to a bad start with a loss to the Melbourne Victory, they soon found their feet to record back-to-back wins over Perth Glory and Canberra United, however, against Canberra, lost their first choice keeper Lisa Hartley after she fouled a Canberra United attacker and was shown a straight red card. The following three fixtures were all lost by the Mariners and failed to gain a point, including two back-to-back fixtures where the Mainers failed to score a goal. Those three fixtures were also at the Mariners' second home, Campbelltown Stadium, which proved to be the bogey ground for the Central Coast outfit as they failed to gain a single competition point from the venue. However, in round 7, the Mariners responded with a 6–0 drubbing of Adelaide United, in Adelaide. That result would become the biggest team score and also the biggest win in the inaugural season by any team. Unable to maintain the momentum, the Mariners again lost another two back-to-back fixtures without scoring a goal and other results didn't go their way leading into the final round which meant a win against Melbourne Victory wouldn't be enough to finish in the top 4 for the finals. The Mariners did win their final match for the regular season, almost ending Melbourne's finals hopes. The match was played in torrential rain, however, the Parramatta pitch held up as the Mariners put two late goals past the Victory shot stopper to win the match 2–0. With the Mariners in fifth at the conclusion of the round 10 fixture, only a win by Sydney FC would put the Mariners into sixth and Melbourne into fifth. In a thrilling match, Sydney were up 3–0 within 28 minutes, but Adelaide United weren't to be out done, with a thrilling finish that saw Adelaide score two mid-second-half goals, but could push for a third. Sydney defeated Adelaide 3–2 and attained the remaining finals spot. That result confirming the Mariners' 6th position on the ladder, divided only by goal difference with the fifth placed Melbourne.
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