By Marco Monteverde
Copyright news
Despite the Mariners having announced on Wednesday the signing of Will Kennedy from Sydney FC, the Gosford-based club faces an uncertain future due to ownership issues and a power struggle between coach Mark Jackson and Labinot Haliti, the Sydney Olympic mentor understood to have been appointed to a football director-type role.
Haliti’s appointment was demanded by Damon Hanlin, the Sydney Olympic owner who is understood to be funding the Mariners in an unofficial capacity.
While Kennedy’s signing was supported by Jackson, Haliti’s plan to bring Sydney Olympic players to the club without Jackson’s input has led to tension between the pair, and contributed to the departures of emerging talents Jai Rose and Jared Williams, who are set to join Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC respectively.
The Mariners are also likely to lose 17-year-old defender Shumba Mutokoyi to an American MLS club.
The Australian Professional Leagues, which runs the A-League, is yet to receive a formal ownership proposal from Hanlin, but the delay could relate to FIFA rules preventing the same person owning multiple clubs that could play each other in the same competition.
While Olympic is an NSW NPL club, the Mariners also have teams in the NPL system, while there is also the chance that the clubs could cross paths in future Australia Cups.
It’s understood Mariners players were unhappy that their pay this month was not only late, but also not prioritised ahead of the club’s administration staff, including chief executive officer Greg Brownlow.
When questioned in a heated meeting by a senior member of the club’s coaching staff on Tuesday about player payments being late, Brownlow is understood to have left the room.
A PFA spokesman has confirmed that the union had followed up with the club to further understand the reason for the late payments to players, but was on Wednesday afternoon still awaiting an answer from Brownlow.
The Mariners won’t confirm the involvement of Hanlin and Haliti at the club, with Brownlow unwilling to provide any further comment when approached by NewsWire.
The turmoil at Central Coast comes hot on the heels of the A-League men’s competition having been reduced to 12 teams for the 2026-26 season after the financially embattled Western United was placed in “conditional hibernation” by the APL.
