In a sign of A-League side Central Coast Mariners' commitment to making Canberra its "home away from home," the club is considering playing any potential A-League finals games in the nation's capital, former A-League4Canberra bid leader Ivan Slavich said, according to David Polkinghorne of THE AGE. And while Football Federation Association CEO David Gallop said that a crowd of 10,000 was a "pass mark for Canberra Stadium," Mariners CEO Shaun Mielekamp said that it is not about a "one-match pass or fail," but laying the "foundations" for the club to become accepted as the ACT's team. The Mariners will play the first of two A-League games at Canberra Stadium on Saturday. Slavich raised A$5M ($3.8M) to "try and bring an A-League club to Canberra," but has now joined forces with the Mariners as the club's business development ambassador in the ACT. He said that the Mariners, who continue to be "plagued by financial woes," were committed to making Canberra Stadium a long-term home and revealed it was not "just regular-season games that were on the table." Slavich said that the club was "now Canberra's best chance of hosting regular A-League games." Slavich: "This is our A-League ticket ... the concern I have is if the football community keeps going, 'This is not our team, we go for the Wanderers and we go for other teams,' then we'll forever be in this vortex of no elite football in Canberra other than the odd Socceroos game" (THE AGE, 11/8).
