Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club based in
Gosford
Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extre ...
, on the
Central Coast of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
. The club was formed in November 2004,
and the team played their first competitive match in May 2005, when they entered the
2005 Australian Club World Championship Qualifying Tournament.
The Mariners play their home matches at
Central Coast Stadium
Central Coast Stadium (known originally as Grahame Park), known commercially as Industree Group Stadium is a sports venue in Gosford, on the Central Coast, New South Wales, Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. The stadium is home to ...
.
181 players have made a competitive
first-team appearance for the club; those players are listed here. Players are listed in order of their first appearance for the Mariners, and alphabetical order by surname for players who debuted simultaneously.
The Mariners' record appearance-maker is
John Hutchinson, who made 271 appearances over a 10-year playing career, ahead of
Matt Simon
Matthew Blake Simon (born 22 January 1986) is a retired Australian international football (soccer) player who played as a striker. Simon attended St Edward's College, East Gosford, where he was influenced to play soccer.
Simon started his s ...
. Hutchinson also holds the record for the most starts, having started in 232 games. Simon is the club's top goalscorer with 66 goals in his eleven seasons with the club, twenty-three more than next-highest scorer
Adam Kwasnik
Adam Kwasnik (born 31 May 1983) is an Australian former professional association football player who played as a striker.
Club career
Kwasnik was part of the inaugural Central Coast Mariners squad in 2005–06, and was a substitute in the ...
. Fourteen players have made 100 appearances or more, including five members of the
2013 A-League Grand Final
The 2013 A-League Grand Final was the eighth A-League Grand Final, which took place at the Sydney Football Stadium on 21 April 2013. The match was won by Central Coast Mariners, who beat Western Sydney Wanderers 2–0, in front of 42,102 people. ...
winning team.
Danny Vukovic
Daniel Vukovic ( ; born 27 March 1985) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Central Coast Mariners in the A-League and the Australia national team. Vukovic is the holder of several A-League records: he has ...
is the only
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
to have made over 100 appearances for the side. Eight players have held the position of
club captain
The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...
,
Alex Wilkinson
Alexander William Wilkinson (born 13 August 1984) is an Australian international football (soccer) player who plays as a central defender and is the captain for Sydney FC in the A-League.
Wilkinson was born in Sydney and made his senior debut f ...
for the longest period (five years).
Key
General
*Appearances and goals are for first-team competitive matches only, including
A-League Men
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
,
AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...
,
Australia Cup
The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Austra ...
,
A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup
The A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup competition was an annual soccer tournament held for all A-League clubs in July and August in the lead up to the start of the A-League season. The competition featured a group stage and a knockout stage. Co ...
and
2005 Australian Club World Championship Qualifying Tournament matches.
*Statistics are correct up to 24 February 2023.
Table headers
*Nationality – If a player played international football, the country/countries he played for are shown. Otherwise, the player's nationality is given as their country of birth.
*Club career – The year of the player's first appearance for Central Coast Mariners to the year of his last appearance.
*Starts – The number of games started.
*Subs – The number of games played as a substitute.
*Total – The total number of games played, both as a starter and as a substitute.
*Goals – The number of goals scored.
Players
Club captains
Since 2005, eight players have held the position of
club captain
The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...
of the Central Coast Mariners. The first club captain was
Noel Spencer
Noel Spencer (born 26 July 1977 in Wollongong, Australia) is a former Australian football (soccer) player who coaches Dapto Dandaloo Fury in the Illawarra Premier League.
Club career
NSL
Noel played for his hometown of Wollongong from 1996 ...
, who was captain from 2005 to 2007.
The longest-serving captain is
Alex Wilkinson
Alexander William Wilkinson (born 13 August 1984) is an Australian international football (soccer) player who plays as a central defender and is the captain for Sydney FC in the A-League.
Wilkinson was born in Sydney and made his senior debut f ...
, who was captain from 2007 to 2012 after taking over from Spencer.
Danny Vukovic
Daniel Vukovic ( ; born 27 March 1985) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Central Coast Mariners in the A-League and the Australia national team. Vukovic is the holder of several A-League records: he has ...
is the current captain of the club after
Oliver Bozanic
Oliver John Bozanic (born 8 January 1989) is an Australian Association football, football player who plays as a midfielder for Perth Glory FC, Perth Glory, on loan from Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Western Sydney Wanderers.
Bozanic was born in ...
left the club in 2022.
See also
*
List of Central Coast Mariners FC W-League players
This is a list of former Central Coast Mariners W-League players. The team played in the first two seasons of the Australian W-League ( 2008-09 and 2009) and had a number of notable players, coming second in the 2009 W-League Premiership. The ...
– players who appeared for the Mariners' now-defunct women's team
References
External links
Central Coast Mariners official website
{{featured list
C
Association football player non-biographical articles