2005–06 Central Coast Mariners season

The 2005-06 season was the first for both the Central Coast Mariners and the Hyundai A-League

Central Coast Mariners FC
2005-06 season
Manager Lawrie McKinna
A-League 3rd
Finals 2nd
Pre-season cup 1st
Top goalscorer S. Petrie - 8

Compared with its Sydney rival, the Central Coast Mariners had a far more low-key buildup to the inaugural A-League season. The majority of its squad were experienced players from the defunct National Soccer League. They generally exceeded most expectations, having a very successful season, culminating in two solid displays in the preliminary competitions and reaching the grand final in the A-League.

Contents

Players

First team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 GK John Crawley
2 MF Wayne O'Sullivan
3 DF Paul O'Grady
4 MF Noel Spencer (captain)
5 DF Michael Beauchamp
6 MF André Gumprecht
7 MF John Hutchinson
8 DF Dean Heffernan
9 FW Nick Mrdja
10 MF Tom Pondeljak
11 MF Damien Brown
12 FW Stewart Petrie
13 FW Russell Woodruffe
No. Position Player
14 MF Leo Carle
15 DF Andrew Clark
16 DF Nigel Boogaard
17 MF Matthew Osman
18 DF Alex Wilkinson
19 FW Adam Kwasnik
20 GK Danny Vukovic
21 MF Ian Ferguson Short term cover
22 MF Jamie McMaster Short term cover
23 MF Brad Porter Short term cover
24 FW Dez Giraldi Short term cover
30 GK Matthew Trott Short term cover
See also: List of Central Coast Mariners F.C. players

Matches

2005-06 Pre-season fixtures

Round Date Home Team Score Away Team Crowd
1 30 March 2005 Central Coast 3-0 Gladesville Spirit Unknown
2 14 April 2005 Central Coast 9-0 Wyoming FC Unknown
3 19 April 2005 Central Coast 3-3 Manly United Unknown
4 25 April 2005 Central Coast 3-0 Blacktown City No public access
5 27 April 2005 Central Coast 2-0 Bonnyrigg White Eagles Unknown
6 8 July 2005 Central Coast 6-0 Townsville Unknown
7 9 July 2005 Central Coast 1-2 Queensland Roar Unknown
8 12 July 2005 Central Coast 3-0 Central Coast select XI 1500
9 16 July 2005 Central Coast 2-0 New Zealand Knights Unknown

Phillips International Soccer Sevens

The Mariners competed in Phillips International soccer sevens tournament played in Hong Kong. Their group featured three of the biggest teams in the world, PSV, Manchester United and Celtic. The Mariners caused one of the upsets of the tournament by defeating a somewhat understrength Manchester United 2-1.

Round Date Home Team Score Away Team Crowd
1 28 May 2005 HKF Association Chairman's Select 2-1 Central Coast Unknown
2 28 May 2005 Central Coast 2-0 Hong Kong Football Club 2 Unknown
3 28 May 2005 Central Coast 0-0 Celtic Unknown
Quarter Final 29 May 2005 Central Coast 2-1 Manchester United Unknown
Semi Final 29 May 2005 Central Coast 0-1 PSV Unknown

Club World Cup Qualification Competition

The Mariners were runners-up to Sydney FC in the qualifying tournament held to determine Australia's entry in the FIFA Club World Cup, losing in the grand final 1-0.

  Round 1
(7 May)
Semi-finals
(11 May)
Finals
(15 May)
                           
   
   Perth Glory 1  
     Sydney FC 2  
 Sydney FC 3
   Queensland Roar 0  
     Central Coast Mariners 0
   Sydney FC 1
   Central Coast Mariners (PEN) 0 (4)  
 Newcastle Jets 0 (2)  
 Central Coast Mariners 4
     Adelaide United 0  
 Adelaide United (PEN) 0 (4)
   Melbourne Victory 0 (1)  

2005 Pre-Season Cup

Group B

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
Sydney FC 7 3 2 1 0 5 1
Central Coast 6 3 2 0 1 4 3
Queensland Roar FC 4 3 1 1 1 6 3
New Zealand Knights FC 0 3 0 0 3 1 9
  Semi-finals Final
12 August
 Melbourne Victory 1  
 Central Coast Mariners 3  
 
21 August
     Central Coast Mariners 1
   Perth Glory 0
14 August
 Sydney FC 0
 Perth Glory 1  

2005-06 Hyundai A-League fixtures

2005-06 Finals series

Ladder

# Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Adelaide United 21 13 4 4 35 25 +10sm=n 43
2 Sydney FC 21 10 6 5 35 28 +7sm=n 36
3 Central Coast Mariners 21 8 8 5 33 28 +5sm=n 32
4 Newcastle Jets 21 9 4 8 27 29 -2sm=n 31
5 Perth Glory 21 8 5 8 34 29 +5sm=n 29
6 Queensland Roar 21 7 7 7 27 22 +5sm=n 28
7 Melbourne Victory 21 7 5 9 26 24 +2sm=n 26
8 New Zealand Knights 21 1 3 17 15 47 -32sm=n 6

Finals

  Semifinals Preliminary final Grand final
    L1 L2    
    February 10 & 17                        
1  Adelaide United 2 1     4 March
2  Sydney FC 2 2     25 February          Sydney FC 1
       Adelaide United 0      Central Coast Mariners 0
  February 12 & 19      Central Coast Mariners 1  
3  Central Coast Mariners 1 1
4  Newcastle Jets 0 1  

Statistics

Goal scorers

Player Goals
Stewart Petrie 8
Dean Heffernan 7
John Hutchinson 6
Noel Spencer 6
Andre Gumprecht 2
Adam Kwasnik 2

End of Year Awards