2005–06 Central Coast Mariners FC season

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

Central Coast Mariners FC 2005–06 football season

Central Coast Mariners FC
2005–06 season
Manager	Lawrie McKinna
A-League	3rd
Finals	2nd
Pre-season cup	1st
Top goalscorer	S. Petrie (8)
2006–07 →

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.

Players

First team squad

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	AUS	John Crawley
2	MF	IRL	Wayne O'Sullivan
3	DF	AUS	Paul O'Grady
4	MF	AUS	Noel Spencer (captain)
5	DF	AUS	Michael Beauchamp
6	MF	GER	André Gumprecht
7	MF	AUS	John Hutchinson
8	DF	AUS	Dean Heffernan
9	FW	AUS	Nick Mrdja
10	MF	AUS	Tom Pondeljak
11	MF	AUS	Damien Brown
12	FW	SCO	Stewart Petrie
13	FW	AUS	Russell Woodruffe


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	MF	AUS	Leo Carle
15	DF	AUS	Andrew Clark
16	DF	AUS	Nigel Boogaard
17	MF	AUS	Matthew Osman
18	DF	AUS	Alex Wilkinson
19	FW	AUS	Adam Kwasnik
20	GK	AUS	Danny Vukovic
21	MF	SCO	Ian Ferguson Short term cover
22	MF	AUS	Jamie McMaster Short term cover
23	MF	AUS	Brad Porter Short term cover
24	FW	AUS	Dez Giraldi Short term cover
30	GK	AUS	Matthew Trott Short term cover

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
		21 August
Central Coast Mariners	3
		Central Coast Mariners	1
14 August
		Perth Glory	0
Sydney FC	0

Perth Glory	1

2005-06 A-League fixtures

Perth Glory v Central Coast Mariners

26 August 2005 Round 1	Perth Glory	0 : 1	Central Coast Mariners	Members Equity Stadium
20:00 UTC+8		Report Summary	Spencer 66'	Attendance: 11,113 Referee: Ben Williams

Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets

4 September 2005 Round 2	Central Coast Mariners	1 : 1	Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium
15:00 UTC+10	Petrie 69'	Report Summary	Milicic 25'	Attendance: 5,917 Referee: Mark Shield

Central Coast Mariners v New Zealand Knights

10 September 2005 Round 3	Central Coast Mariners	0 : 2	New Zealand Knights	Bluetongue Stadium
19:35 UTC+10		Report Summary	Yeo 69' Devine 80'	Attendance: 5,261 Referee: Ben Williams

Sydney FC v Central Coast Mariners

16 September 2005 Round 4	Sydney FC	2 : 3	Central Coast Mariners	Aussie Stadium
20:00 UTC+10	Packer 13' Yorke 72'	Report Summary^{[permanent dead link]}	Petrie 20' (pen.) Gumprecht 35' Spencer 90+1'	Attendance: 15,614 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Adelaide United v Central Coast Mariners

25 September 2005 Round 5	Adelaide United	1 : 1	Central Coast Mariners	Hindmarsh Stadium
17:00 UTC+9:30	Valkanis 34'	Report Summary	Kwasnik 19'	Attendance: 7,013 Referee: Angelo Nardi

Central Coast Mariners v Melbourne Victory

30 September 2005 Round 6	Central Coast Mariners	1 : 2	Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Stadium
20:00 UTC+10	Heffernan 33'	Report Summary	Thompson 73' Leijer 81'	Attendance: 9,313 Referee: Ben Williams

Queensland Roar v Central Coast Mariners

7 October 2005 Round 7	Queensland Roar	1 : 1	Central Coast Mariners	Suncorp Stadium
20:00 UTC+10	Seo 57'	Report Summary	Spencer 41'	Attendance: 13,195 Referee: Perry Mur

Central Coast Mariners v Perth Glory

16 October 2005 Round 8	Central Coast Mariners	4 : 0	Perth Glory	Bluetongue Stadium
17:00 UTC+10	Petrie 14', 48' Heffernan 85' Spencer 90+3'	Report Summary		Attendance: 6,494 Referee: Ben Williams

Newcastle Jets v Central Coast Mariners

23 October 2005 Round 9	Newcastle Jets	1 : 0	Central Coast Mariners	Energy Australia Stadium
17:00 UTC+10	Parisi 88'	Report Summary		Attendance: 9,371 Referee: Matthew Breeze

New Zealand Knights v Central Coast Mariners

29 October 2005 Round 10	New Zealand Knights	1 : 3	Central Coast Mariners	North Harbour Stadium
20:00 UTC+12	Yeo 7' (pen.)	Report Summary	Heffernan 4' Petrie 49', 72' (pen.)	Attendance: 2,583 Referee: Neil Fox

Central Coast Mariners v Sydney FC

5 November 2005 Round 11	Central Coast Mariners	1 : 5	Sydney FC	Bluetongue Stadium
20:00 UTC+11	Hutchinson 40'	Report Summary	Yorke 9' (pen.) Talay 14' Petrovski 23', 68', 83'	Attendance: 10,529 Referee: Simon Przydacz

Central Coast Mariners v Adelaide United

13 November 2005 Round 12	Central Coast Mariners	1 : 2	Adelaide United	Bluetongue Stadium
	Hutchinson 12'		Rech 90' Dodd 85'	Attendance: 5,467 Referee: Peter O'Leary

Melbourne Victory v Central Coast Mariners

18 November 2005 Round 13	Melbourne Victory	0 : 2	Central Coast Mariners	Olympic Park Stadium
			Heffernan 75' Hutchinson 38'	Attendance: 13,892 Referee: Ben Williams

Central Coast Mariners v Queensland Roar

25 November 2005 Round 14	Central Coast Mariners	2 : 2	Queensland Roar	Bluetongue Stadium
	Heffernan 89' Osman 56'		Brosque 7', 78' Baird 75'	Attendance: 5,194 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Perth Glory v Central Coast Mariners

4 December 2005 Round 15	Perth Glory	2 : 2	Central Coast Mariners	Members Equity Stadium
	Ishida 65' Ward 54'		Petrie 12' Hutchinson 8'	Attendance: 7,428 Referee: Mark Shield

Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets

31 December 2005 Round 16	Central Coast Mariners	4 : 1	Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium
	Hutchinson 71', 82' Brown 30' Gumprecht 3'		Coveny 85' Corbo 56'	Attendance: 11,612 Referee: Mark Shield

Central Coast Mariners v New Zealand Knights

8 January 2006 Round 17	Central Coast Mariners	1 : 0	New Zealand Knights	Bluetongue Stadium
	Heffernan 90'			Attendance: 7,257 Referee: Srebre Delovski

Sydney FC v Central Coast Mariners

14 January 2006 Round 18	Sydney FC	1 : 1	Central Coast Mariners	Aussie Stadium
	Carney 61'		Pondeljak 52'	Attendance: 15,977 Referee: Ben Williams

Adelaide United v Central Coast Mariners

20 January 2006 Round 19	Adelaide United	1 : 1	Central Coast Mariners	Hindmarsh Stadium
	Veart 50' (pen.)		Kwasnik 54'	Attendance: 13,008 Referee: Mark Shield

Central Coast Mariners v Melbourne Victory

27 January 2006 Round 20	Central Coast Mariners	3 : 1	Melbourne Victory	Bluetongue Stadium
	Heffernan 88' Spencer 28', 62'		Ferrante 13'	Attendance: 11,945 Referee: Simon Przydacz

Queensland Roar v Central Coast Mariners

4 February 2006 Round 21	Queensland Roar	2 : 2	Central Coast Mariners	Suncorp Stadium
	Baird 60' Brosque 3'		O'Sullivan 81' Petrie 33'	Attendance: 13,641 Referee: Ben Williams

2005-06 Finals series

Newcastle Jets v Central Coast Mariners

10 February 2006 Semi-Final Leg 1	Newcastle Jets	0 : 1	Central Coast Mariners	EnergyAustralia Stadium
			Osman 76'	Attendance: 10,236 Referee: Ben Williams

Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets

17 February 2006 Semi-Final Leg 2	Central Coast Mariners	1 : 1	Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium
	Heffernan 79'		Thompson 28'	Attendance: 17,429 Referee: Simon Przydacz

Adelaide United v Central Coast Mariners

26 February 2006 Preliminary Final	Adelaide United	0 : 1	Central Coast Mariners	Hindmarsh Stadium
			Pondeljak 7'	Attendance: 11,405 Referee: Matthew Breeze

Sydney FC v Central Coast Mariners

5 March 2006 Grand Final	Sydney FC	1 : 0	Central Coast Mariners	Aussie Stadium
	Corica 62'			Attendance: 41,689 Referee: Mark Shield

Ladder

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Adelaide United	21	13	4	4	33	25	+8	43	Qualification for 2007 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series
2	Sydney FC (C)	21	10	6	5	35	28	+7	36
3	Central Coast Mariners	21	8	8	5	35	28	+7	32	Qualification for Finals series
4	Newcastle Jets	21	9	4	8	27	29	−2	31	Qualification for Finals series
5	Perth Glory	21	8	5	8	34	29	+5	29
6	Queensland Roar	21	7	7	7	27	22	+5	28
7	Melbourne Victory	21	7	5	9	26	24	+2	26
8	New Zealand Knights^[a]	21	1	3	17	15	47	−32	6

Source: ultimatealeague.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:

^ New Zealand Knights cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

Finals


Semifinals			Preliminary final		Final



Adelaide United	2	1			Sydney FC	1

Sydney FC	2	2			Central Coast Mariners	0

			Adelaide United	0

			Central Coast Mariners	1

Central Coast Mariners	1	1

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

Mariners Medallist - player of the year, as voted by Club members:
- Michael Beauchamp
Chairman's Award - awarded for outstanding service to the club:
- John Hutchinson and Ben Coonan (Mariners' media officer) (shared)
Golden Boot (top goalscorer):
- Stewart Petrie
Jesters' Pies Marinators' Goal of the Year:
- Noel Spencer, round 1 vs Perth Glory
Central Coast Mariners Members Player of the Year Award:
- Andre Gumprecht

References

External links

Official website

v t e Central Coast Mariners FC seasons
2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

2005–06 in Australian soccer

« 2004–05

2006–07 »

National teams

Men's (2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying, finals) (2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifying)
Men's U20 (2006 AFC Youth Championship qualifying)
Men's U17 (2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship finals) (2006 AFC Youth Championship qualifying)
Women's U20 (2006 AFC U-19 Women's Championship qualifying, finals)

League competitions

A-League (Grand Final)

Cup competitions

Club seasons
A-League	Adelaide United Central Coast Mariners Melbourne Victory New Zealand Knights Newcastle Jets Perth Glory Queensland Roar Sydney FC