A-League side Central Coast Mariners Owner Mike Charlesworth has "braced for a backlash from Sydney FC after the Mariners" entered into a partnership with "one of the biggest community football clubs in Australia," according to Ray Gatt of THE AUSTRALIAN. The Mariners announced "they have formed a youth development academy with Northbridge FC on Sydney's north shore -- an area regarded primarily as Sydney FC territory." The agreement means the Mariners have access to more than 2,500 registered players with Northbridge, while "there is potential to make inroads in the northern corridor taking in the Northern Suburbs and Manly Football Associations." The move brought a "pointed response" from Sydney FC Chair Scott Barlow, who said, "We will be taking up the matter with the FFA to ensure Central
Coast are operating within their license conditions." Charlesworth said, "Sydney can think what they like. I welcome any
backlash. Competition is good and competition in the north shore is good
for the local football community there" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 11/4). In Sydney, Tom Smithies reported under the terms of the deal struck with Northbridge FC, the Mariners will "provide coaches for the best youth players, including a coach signed from Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon." Charlesworth: "From a commercial point of view, it's a market we have got to move
into, while from talent point of view, there are 50,000 registered
players there, that don't really associate themselves with an A-League
club." Charlesworth said the project "proved his intention to stay the course
with the club, as he seeks to attract a wider audience to its matches." He said, "We’ve just invested A$20M in our Centre of Excellence, that’s our home,
our physical home and our spiritual home. But we’ve got to go fishing
where the fish are" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 11/3).
