Central Coast Mariners, Football

Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia (FFA).[3] The Mariners were founded in 2004 as one of the eight original A-League teams. It was the first professional sports club from the Gosford region to compete in a national competition. Despite being considered one of the smallest-market clubs in the league, Central Coast Mariners has claimed one A-League Championship from four Grand Final appearances and topped the table to win the A-League Premiership twice. The club has also appeared in the AFC Champions League four times. The club plays matches at Central Coast Stadium, a 20,059-seat stadium in Gosford; its purpose-built training facility, Mariners Centre of Excellence, is located in the suburb of Tuggerah.[4] The facility is also home to a youth team that competes in the National Youth League. The English EFL Championship team Sheffield United has invested in the Central Coast-based club, and the Mariners has affiliation agreements with several international clubs. The Mariners' main supporters' group is known as the Yellow Army, for the colour of the club's home kit. The club shares a rivalry with Newcastle Jets, known as the F3 Derby, after the previous name of the motorway that connects the cities of the teams. Matt Simon is the Mariners' all-time leading goalscorer as of December 2014, with 49 goals in all competitions.[5] The team record for matches played is held by John Hutchinson, who has appeared in 263 games for the Mariners.