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CEO comment for fans and members

Shaun Mielekamp

Well-Known Member
Hi everyone

Firstly can I thank everyone who has emailed, called, texted and posted on recent matters in regards to the APL decision to play the A-League Grand finals in Sydney.

Yesterday I spoke with the Coast Ramble Podcast and whilst this has yet to go to air I'm sure once some technical challenges have been overcome this interview will get heard. In light of that delay I wanted to confirm a few items for our members and fans of the club via this forum from my personal perspective.

I'd like to start by confirming that no-one at Central Coast Mariners had the opportunity to be involved in the decision and we were not consulted on the matter. As a point of reference I was informed on Saturday morning that this announcement was happening and that all clubs were required to send players to the announcement.

As a club who has had the hosting rights for grand finals taken away from us and knowledge that we are one of and possibly the only club that would never have the chance to host a grand final in our home city the magnitude of this is not lost on anyone at the club.

The APL is structured with a board that holds five club chairman who make all key decisions for the APL. The Central Coast Mariners are not represented on that board. I would like to confirm that the structure of the APL does not currently give our club or our fans and members the opportunity to have a voice in these decisions and we implore for structural change to this process.

We are a proud community club with a focus on player development, if I just use today as an example our focus remains with the players who will prepare for the game on Saturday morning and then also take time to do work in wrapping xmas presents as a way to raise funds for and awareness for the Bravehearts charity of which we are passionate to support.

In the past as a club we have had to make hard financial decisions for the clubs long term security and this is not lost on me in considering how it was that the APL came to make the decision to accept significant funding from the NSW Government, those decisions can be hard to make and satisfying all stakeholders can be hard. For years as a league we have been wanting the support of governments at all levels for our league and to see the NSW government support the A-League financially is something that needs to be acknowledged in understood in this situation.

I can also confirm that last night when finally given the opportunity to have a voice on the topic our Chairman Richard Peil recommended we take inspiration from the approaches used by sporting leagues like the NFL, which allows cities to bid years in advance for hosting rights. A method of this kind can ensure every location gets a fair go at hosting, whilst also maintaining the long term financial stability of the league.

There was a statement that was posted by APL last night which had Richard Peil's name included, this was quickly removed because there was no agreement from Richard and other Chairman that this would go out that way. Whilst all the chairman excluding one were in attendance in the shareholders meeting from which that statement came from it is important to note this.

In saying all this I know there is a lot of conversations to be had and hence why I wanted to start with this post here on the forum. I will make myself available at the pre-match function at the bowling club for all members to ask questions, vent, discuss and most of all be heard so I can continue to ensure that everyone above myself is clear on the position of the CCM fans and members.

I would like to thank the Official Supporters Club and the Yellow Army representatives for their recent dialogue with myself and I encourage all fans to engage with the OSC, the Coast Ramble Podcast and the Yellow Army or any CCM fan group to keep making sure your concerns and voices are heard.

In regards to why the club has not jumped to make any official statement I would like to simply say that as this has been evolving at a rapid rate and new information continues to come to light we have so far taken the position of wanting ourselves to know all the facts. Not that we wish to remain silent but more that we wanted to be honest, an official club statement whilst may come soon needs to be accurate and consider all the ramifications that it would have for us as club.

It is with great concern that I have on how this matter has been handled and will be expressing this at every opportunity I have to do so. I am aware that this post will not answer all the questions and not in anyway alleviate any concerns. Highly likely that I will be criticized and questioned by some at the APL and they have my number if they want to call me to discuss.

I support our members and fans of the club in wanting to ensure that your voices are heard.

I will come back on this forum later today to answer any questions as best that I can, I will also make myself available directly to fans and members at the pre-match function.

Shaun Mielekamp - CEO
 
Last edited:

Meerkat

Well-Known Member
Thanks Shaun. Really appreciate that response and the position you are in.
The saddest part of all of this is the impact on the fans .. yes, but mainly the ramifications for the players and the Club who don’t deserve to be the brunt of the fallout. It’s just not fair.
Feeling very disheartened today.
 

midfielder

Well-Known Member
Shaun my two bobs worth.... its beyond dumb... one of the few things that had support across the broader Football community... if money has not been paid can the contract be rescinded

My order of dumb things …

1] Letting JON go after 18 months when they board refused to let him expand the competition and move it to a more Football style.
2] Gallop telling SBS to go and get …. and awarding the Asian Cup to the ABC and telling SBS the A-L was going to 9…
3] The lack of defence of the home ends…when Football cultural was attacked..
4] The moving of the grand final to Sydney
 

JoyfulPenguin

Well-Known Member
While that was a classy statement by you Shaun and I can see how your hands are tied by your chairman this is still incredibly disappointing.

A short term grab for cash will seriously undermine the integrity of our competition and the belief and support of those most engaged in our game.

I am all for making tough financial decisions, but this isn't the same as selling a game to Mudgee or Geelong when we were seconds from going belly up. The APL had a $140 million dollar injection of capital a short time ago as well as a brand new TV deal. Our league should not and cannot be in a position where selling the most sacred day on our calendar for frankly chump change is a respectful "hard decision".

Disappointed in the APL but most of all Richard Peil, this isn't good enough and shows a crucial lack of understanding of our history as a club.
 

FFC Mariner

Well-Known Member
While that was a classy statement by you Shaun and I can see how your hands are tied by your chairman this is still incredibly disappointing.

A short term grab for cash will seriously undermine the integrity of our competition and the belief and support of those most engaged in our game.

I am all for making tough financial decisions, but this isn't the same as selling a game to Mudgee or Geelong when we were seconds from going belly up. The APL had a $140 million dollar injection of capital a short time ago as well as a brand new TV deal. Our league should not and cannot be in a position where selling the most sacred day on our calendar for frankly chump change is a respectful "tough decision".

Disappointed in the APL but most of all Richard Peil, this isn't good enough and shows a crucial lack of understanding of our history as a club.
I agree - the suggestion that the games be whored out for cash is a disgrace.
 

midfielder

Well-Known Member
Shaun

An issue with many Football fans who do not support the A-L, is its lack of sameness to more traditional systems.. i.e. P & R, Internal Transfer fees, winter season, longer season .....

The success of the final series brought in many fans, and often the above.... this decision will make it so so so so so much harder copying small domestic competitions for those running the A-L to bring fans in.... worst it has the potential to loose fans...

DT has shown himself to have next to no knowledge of the fan base.... and his words still echo in my ears we want to become a Fan Focus competition...

I hope this decision can be reversed.... it also has the potential with Nux, Perth AU & Roar all coming out against it to create a new civil war among the clubs...
 

Meerkat

Well-Known Member
“I can also confirm that last night when finally given the opportunity to have a voice on the topic our Chairman Richard Peil recommended we take inspiration from the approaches used by sporting leagues like the NFL, which allows cities to bid years in advance for hosting rights. A method of this kind can ensure every location gets a fair go at hosting, whilst also maintaining the long term financial stability of the league.”

On this though.. a fair go?? At bidding? Really??!! We are going to outbid Melbourne City or Sydney are we? Did we earn that much from the World Cup?

Ridiculous proposition which would never be fair and again becomes about money, not effort on the field.
 

marinermick

Well-Known Member
“I can also confirm that last night when finally given the opportunity to have a voice on the topic our Chairman Richard Peil recommended we take inspiration from the approaches used by sporting leagues like the NFL, which allows cities to bid years in advance for hosting rights. A method of this kind can ensure every location gets a fair go at hosting, whilst also maintaining the long term financial stability of the league.”

On this though.. a fair go?? At bidding? Really??!! We are going to outbid Melbourne City or Sydney are we? Did we earn that much from the World Cup?

Ridiculous proposition which would never be fair and again becomes about money, not effort on the field.

And to compare this situation to NFL is just plain ludicrous.

The NFL is the biggest competition in the US and the most attended competition in the world. Many teams get over and close to six figures every match. Every Super Bowl will sell out regardless of location.

I will really like to see the spin from the APL when a Melbourne City v Adelaide grand final gets less than twenty thousand fans, or when poor travelling fans have to spend over a thousand dollars in airfares alone just to see their team play.
 

pjennings

Well-Known Member
“I can also confirm that last night when finally given the opportunity to have a voice on the topic our Chairman Richard Peil recommended we take inspiration from the approaches used by sporting leagues like the NFL, which allows cities to bid years in advance for hosting rights. A method of this kind can ensure every location gets a fair go at hosting, whilst also maintaining the long term financial stability of the league.”

On this though.. a fair go?? At bidding? Really??!! We are going to outbid Melbourne City or Sydney are we? Did we earn that much from the World Cup?

Ridiculous proposition which would never be fair and again becomes about money, not effort on the field.
The FFA said, between 31/3/2012 and 8/4/2012 after we were down 2-0 to Brisbane and before the return game, that we could indeed host the Grand Final if we won the right. So I would assume that means that this does affect us as well.

Sydney did not outbid us - the state government of Sydney did. This affects us and Newcastle as well - not just the interstate clubs.

I doubt if we were to want to bid at a later date that the the state government of Sydney bid on our behalf.
 

marinermick

Well-Known Member
Just to add to the totally stupid NFL comparison the MLS ditched the bid city approach for its “grand final” and reverted back a few years ago to the highest ranked team gets to host. They felt they were missing out on bigger crowds and this was affecting their bottom line.
 
Last edited:

Huddo

Well-Known Member
G'day Shaun.

Really appreciate the statement, does clear up some things.

it is early days in a very fluid situation ( that will most likely require a review in the future). It does seem to an outsider alot of these issues could have been resolved with a small amount of Communication & transparency at an executive level within the A-league.

Can I please ask a question, if you were only told about this situation on Saturday Morning and supposedly it had been getting organised for over 12 months as stated in other media releases, why does this discrepancy exist? is there a lack of communication occuring between the clubs at an APL level?
 

Big Al

Well-Known Member
Simply where is the money they already have.

A dud website that is horrible and uses anti football articles

A TV streamer who couldn’t stream and can’t find a rewind button

Sure our vote counts for didly squat and actually is the best offer for the Mariners because we could come 6th and host Adelaide in Sydney. How freaking stupid (even know that is how it would work if places were reversed)

The joy of a fan is traveling to other beautiful cities to play the grand final knowing you are up against the better team (points wise) and the home crowd. A show piece event can’t (well it just was) shouldnt be for sale

What makes the event special is the fans.

If you watch the AFL or RL sure they get big crowds because that culture is already built but the actual atmosphere at the grand final is shit because it’s full of people who don’t care.

You really think Dom cares about football. It was in the heat of the world cup where he is trying to capitalize on popularity and the negative press about financial contributions. Sure it was smart to nail him for 3 years in that sense and renew again next world cup but you have selling the soul of the crowds for money.

I can’t wait for the Grand Final to be a MASSIVE FLOP but stupidly those who made the decision will say it’s a success if no one turns up because they already made the money. They also don’t care if you don’t turn up each week.

Only sponsors can save us now and i am pretty sure the APL doesn’t have any. Or maybe a UTE that’s not a Ute and nobody has ever seen one little own bought one
 

Fadetoblack944

Well-Known Member
Hey Shaun

This seems very rushed and not very thought out. Just seems as though the owners think the fans that are left will just show up. I think we all know that the "let's build a tradition" is a bunch of BS and every fan knows it.

It's all about the $$$ at the end of the day why not be straight up honest about it instead of painting this story of the festival of football. I know for myself i hate Sydney everything about Sydney why am i going to spend a whole week in Sydney.

The owners couldnt give a toss about the fans why should we give a toss back
 

LG__

Well-Known Member
Hi everyone

Firstly can I thank everyone who has emailed, called, texted and posted on recent matters in regards to the APL decision to play the A-League Grand finals in Sydney.

Yesterday I spoke with the Coast Ramble Podcast and whilst this has yet to go to air I'm sure once some technical challenges have been overcome this interview will get heard. In light of that delay I wanted to confirm a few items for our members and fans of the club via this forum from my personal perspective.

I'd like to start by confirming that no-one at Central Coast Mariners had the opportunity to be involved in the decision and we were not consulted on the matter. As a point of reference I was informed on Saturday morning that this announcement was happening and that all clubs were required to send players to the announcement.

As a club who has had the hosting rights for grand finals taken away from us and knowledge that we are one of and possibly the only club that would never have the chance to host a grand final in our home city the magnitude of this is not lost on anyone at the club.

The APL is structured with a board that holds five club chairman who make all key decisions for the APL. The Central Coast Mariners are not represented on that board. I would like to confirm that the structure of the APL does not currently give our club or our fans and members the opportunity to have a voice in these decisions and we implore for structural change to this process.

We are a proud community club with a focus on player development, if I just use today as an example our focus remains with the players who will prepare for the game on Saturday morning and then also take time to do work in wrapping xmas presents as a way to raise funds for and awareness for the Bravehearts charity of which we are passionate to support.

In the past as a club we have had to make hard financial decisions for the clubs long term security and this is not lost on me in considering how it was that the APL came to make the decision to accept significant funding from the NSW Government, those decisions can be hard to make and satisfying all stakeholders can be hard. For years as a league we have been wanting the support of governments at all levels for our league and to see the NSW government support the A-League financially is something that needs to be acknowledged in understood in this situation.

I can also confirm that last night when finally given the opportunity to have a voice on the topic our Chairman Richard Peil recommended we take inspiration from the approaches used by sporting leagues like the NFL, which allows cities to bid years in advance for hosting rights. A method of this kind can ensure every location gets a fair go at hosting, whilst also maintaining the long term financial stability of the league.

There was a statement that was posted by APL last night which had Richard Peil's name included, this was quickly removed because there was no agreement from Richard and other Chairman that this would go out that way. Whilst all the chairman excluding one were in attendance in the shareholders meeting from which that statement came from it is important to note this.

In saying all this I know there is a lot of conversations to be had and hence why I wanted to start with this post here on the forum. I will make myself available at the pre-match function at the bowling club for all members to ask questions, vent, discuss and most of all be heard so I can continue to ensure that everyone above myself is clear on the position of the CCM fans and members.

I would like to thank the Official Supporters Club and the Yellow Army representatives for their recent dialogue with myself and I encourage all fans to engage with the OSC, the Coast Ramble Podcast and the Yellow Army or any CCM fan group to keep making sure your concerns and voices are heard.

In regards to why the club has not jumped to make any official statement I would like to simply say that as this has been evolving at a rapid rate and new information continues to come to light we have so far taken the position of wanting ourselves to know all the facts. Not that we wish to remain silent but more that we wanted to be honest, an official club statement whilst may come soon needs to be accurate and consider all the ramifications that it would have for us as club.

It is with great concern that I have on how this matter has been handled and will be expressing this at every opportunity I have to do so. I am aware that this post will not answer all the questions and not in anyway alleviate any concerns. Highly likely that I will be criticized and questioned by some at the APL and they have my number if they want to call me to discuss.

I support our members and fans of the club in wanting to ensure that your voices are heard.

I will come back on this forum later today to answer any questions as best that I can, I will also make myself available directly to fans and members at the pre-match function.

Shaun Mielekamp - CEO
As usual Shaun you are very open with fans which doesn’t go unnoticed and is very appreciated.

My biggest issue is that our new owner is seemingly all for this idea, truth be told I don’t want him around our beloved club if that’s the case.

We, more than any other club should be against this 200%. It’s a kick in the face to everything we stand for.
 

shipwreck

Well-Known Member
Love that it's been disclosed exactly who voted for and against and then they complained when their names were attached to it ?
 

pjennings

Well-Known Member
Love that it's been disclosed exactly who voted for and against and then they complained when their names were attached to it ?
Is that what happened? As Shaun said

The APL is structured with a board that holds five club chairman who make all key decisions for the APL. The Central Coast Mariners are not represented on that board.

...I'd like to start by confirming that no-one at Central Coast Mariners had the opportunity to be involved in the decision and we were not consulted on the matter.

...
I can also confirm that last night when finally given the opportunity to have a voice on the topic our Chairman Richard Peil recommended we take inspiration from the approaches used by sporting leagues like the NFL, which allows cities to bid years in advance for hosting rights. A method of this kind can ensure every location gets a fair go at hosting, whilst also maintaining the long term financial stability of the league.

There was a statement
that was posted by APL last night which had Richard Peil's name included, this was quickly removed because there was no agreement from Richard and other Chairman that this would go out that way. Whilst all the chairman excluding one were in attendance in the shareholders meeting from which that statement came from it is important to note this.

While I don't like Richard's comment (Australia is not the US) it seems that given the board is structured the way and the fact that the decision was made by the Board not the shareholders he really had no involvement.

The question then becomes why is the Board constituted in this way.
 

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