# 2015–16 Central Coast Mariners FC season

The 2015–16 Central Coast Mariners FC season was the club's 11th season since its establishment in 2004. The club participated in the A-League for the 11th time and the FFA Cup for the 2nd time.

## Review
### Pre-season

The Mariners entered the 2015–16 season with significant change, following a relatively unsuccessful 2014–15 season. It was announced in April 2015 that Tony Walmsley would be given the permanent manager position, having previously filled the role in an interim capacity. Nick Montgomery was named club captain following the retirement of long-serving midfielder John Hutchinson in May 2015. There was also significant early activity in the transfer market, with a number of players released. The most notable of these was striker and club-record goalscorer Matt Simon. The club's first signing of the season was Irish former Premier League striker Roy O'Donovan. In July, after ten seasons with the club as a player, goalkeeping coach and assistant coach, John Crawley left the club to take up a position at Sydney FC. His position was taken by the retiring Matthew Nash, whose place in the squad was taken in turn by former Adelaide United and Young Socceroos goalkeeper Paul Izzo.
The Mariners won their opening pre-season friendly, a 2–1 victory over F3 Derby rivals Newcastle Jets in a training match. This was followed by a win over Western Sydney Wanderers two days later, with triallist Dan Heffernan scoring a hat-trick.
Central Coast were eliminated in the first round of the 2015 FFA Cup by Wellington Phoenix, an error from goalkeeper Paul Izzo and a missed penalty from Roy O'Donovan consigning the team to a 1–0 loss.
The club had a pre-season tour to Canberra in mid-August, which saw them pick up wins over Canberra Olympic and Gungahlin United.

### October

The Mariners started the 2015–16 A-League season with a win over Perth Glory. After Roy O'Donovan scored the opening goal of the season from a rebound, two second-half penalties scored by Fábio Ferreira gave Central Coast a 3–2 win.

## Players
### Squad information

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 | Paul Izzo |
| 2 | DF | NZL | Storm Roux |
| 3 | DF | AUS | Joshua Rose |
| 4 | MF | AUS | Jacob Poscoliero |
| 5 | DF | AUS | Harry Ascroft |
| 6 | MF | AUS | Mitch Austin |
| 7 | MF | POR | Fábio Ferreira |
| 8 | MF | SCO | Nick Montgomery (captain) |
| 9 | FW | IRL | Roy O'Donovan |
| 10 | MF | ESP | Luis García |
| 12 | FW | AUS | Trent Buhagiar |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 13 | GK | AUS | Alastair Bray |
| 14 | FW | ENG | Daniel Heffernan |
| 15 | DF | PNG | Brad McDonald |
| 16 | MF | AUS | Liam Rose |
| 17 | FW | AUS | Francesco Stella |
| 19 | FW | AUS | Josh Bingham |
| 21 | DF | AUS | Michael Neill |
| 22 | MF | AUS | Jake McGing |
| 23 | DF | AUS | Tomislav Uskok |
| 28 | FW | AUS | Matthew Fletcher |

### Transfers in

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving from | Type | Transfer window | Ends | Source |
| 1 | GK | Paul Izzo | 20 | Adelaide United | Transfer | Pre-season | 2017 | ccmariners.com.au |
| 5 | DF | Harry Ascroft | 20 | Free agent | Transfer | Pre-season | 2018 | ccmariners.com.au |
| 6 | MF | Mitch Austin | 24 | Cambridge United | Transfer | Pre-season | 2017 | ccmariners.com.au |
| 9 | FW | Roy O'Donovan | 29 | Mitra Kukar | Transfer | Pre-season | 2017 | ccmariners.com.au |
| 14 | FW | Daniel Heffernan | 28 | Heidelberg United | Transfer | Pre-season | 2016 | ccmariners.com.au |
| 23 | DF | Tomislav Uskok | 24 | Melbourne Knights | Transfer | Round 7 | 2016 | ccmariners.com.au |
| 17 | FW | Francesco Stella | 24 | Avondale FC | Transfer | Round 14 | 2016 | ccmariners.com.au |
| 13 | GK | Alastair Bray | 22 | Green Gully | Transfer | Round 14 | 2016 | ccmariners.com.au |
| 15 | DF | Brad McDonald | 25 | Manly United | Transfer | Round 15 | 2017 | ccmariners.com.au |
| 10 | MF | Luis García | 37 | Free agent | Transfer | Round 15 | 2016 | ccmariners.com.au |
| 28 | FW | Matthew Fletcher | 23 | Free agent | Transfer | Round 15 | 2017 | ccmariners.com.au |

### Transfers out

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving to | Type | Transfer window | Transfer fee | Source |
| 1 | GK | Matthew Nash | 34 | | Retired | Pre-season | | ccmariners.com.au |
| 5 | DF | Zachary Anderson | 24 | Sydney FC | Released | Pre-season | | sydneyfc.com |
| 6 | DF | Brent Griffiths | 25 | | Released | Pre-season | | a-league.com.au |
| 7 | MF | John Hutchinson | 35 | | Retired | Pre-season | | |
| 17 | MF | Richárd Vernes | 23 | Budapest Honvéd | Loan terminated | Pre-season | | nemzetisport.hu (in Hungarian) |
| 19 | FW | Matt Simon | 28 | Sydney FC | Released | Pre-season | | sydneyfc.com |
| 22 | MF | Tom Slater | 18 | | Released | Pre-season | | a-league.com.au |
| 23 | MF | Isaka Cernak | 26 | SuperSport United | Released | Pre-season | | goal.com |
| 24 | DF | Hayden Morton | 21 | | Released | Pre-season | | a-league.com.au |
| 29 | MF | Dejan Pandurevic | 18 | Manly United | Released | Pre-season | | a-league.com.au |
| 23 | DF | Eddy Bosnar | 35 | | Released | Round 5 | | ccmariners.com.au |
| 12 | GK | Liam Reddy | 34 | | Released | Round 10 | | ccmariners.com.au |
| 11 | FW | Nick Fitzgerald | 23 | | Released | Round 14 | | ccmariners.com.au |
| 10 | MF | Anthony Cáceres | 23 | Manchester City | Transfer | Round 15 | $300,000 | ccmariners.com.au |
| 15 | MF | Matt Sim | 27 | | Released | Round 15 | | ccmariners.com.au |
| 20 | MF | Anthony Kalik | 18 | Hajduk Split | Loan | Round 18 | | ccmariners.com.au |
| 18 | MF | Glen Trifiro | 26 | | Released | Round 21 | | ccmariners.com.au |

## Club
### Coaching staff

| Position | Staff |
| Head coach Technical director | Tony Walmsley |
| Assistant coach | John Hutchinson |
| Goalkeeping coach | Matthew Nash |
| Strength and conditioning coach | Brice Johnson |
| Physiotherapist | Andrew Nealon |
| Youth football coach | Stu Jacobs |
| Head of sports science | Tim Knight |

### Other information

| Majority Owner/Chairman | Michael Charlesworth |
| Executive Vice Chairman | Peter Storrie |
| Chief Executive Officer | Shaun Mielekamp |
| Ground (capacity and dimensions) | Central Coast Stadium (20,059 / 105x68 metres) |
Source: ccmariners.com.au

## Statistics
### Squad statistics

| N | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | A-League | A-League | A-League | A-League | A-League | FFA Cup | FFA Cup | FFA Cup | FFA Cup | FFA Cup |
| N | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | | | | Apps | Goals | | | | Apps | Goals | | | |
| 1 | GK | | Paul Izzo | 22 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | | Storm Roux | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | | Joshua Rose | 24 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | | Jacob Poscoliero | 21 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 20+1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | | Harry Ascroft | 22 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 19+2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | | Mitch Austin | 24 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 22+1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | | Fábio Ferreira | 22 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 18+3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | | Nick Montgomery | 23 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | | Roy O'Donovan | 20 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | | Luis García | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7+3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | FW | | Trent Buhagiar | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | | Alastair Bray | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | | Daniel Heffernan | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | | Brad McDonald | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | | Liam Rose | 25 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 18+6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | | Francesco Stella | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | | Josh Bingham | 20 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7+13 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | | Michael Neill | 21 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 16+4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | | Jake McGing | 23 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 20+2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | | Tomislav Uskok | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | | Jake Adelson | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | | Adam Berry | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | | Brian Jamba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | FW | | Matthew Fletcher | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | | Adam Pearce | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | GK | | Tom Heward-Belle | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players no longer at the club: |||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | MF | | Anthony Cáceres | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | | Nick Fitzgerald | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | | Liam Reddy | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | | Matt Sim | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2+4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | | Glen Trifiro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | | Anthony Kalik | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | | Eddy Bosnar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Last updated: 9 April 2016
* Source: au.soccerway.com
* = Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.

## Competitions
### Overall

| Competition | Started round | Final position / round | First match | Last match |
| A-League | — | 10th | 10 October 2015 | 9 April 2015 |
| FFA Cup | Round of 32 | Round of 32 | 11 August 2015 | 11 August 2015 |

### A-League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Adelaide United (C) | 27 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 45 | 28 | +17 | 49 | Qualification for 2017 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 2 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 27 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 44 | 33 | +11 | 48 | Qualification for 2017 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 3 | Brisbane Roar | 27 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 49 | 40 | +9 | 48 | Qualification for 2017 AFC Champions League second preliminary round and Finals series |
| 4 | Melbourne City | 27 | 13 | 5 | 9 | 63 | 44 | +19 | 44 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 5 | Perth Glory | 27 | 13 | 4 | 10 | 49 | 42 | +7 | 43 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 6 | Melbourne Victory | 27 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 40 | 33 | +7 | 41 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 7 | Sydney FC | 27 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 34 | |
| 8 | Newcastle Jets | 27 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 28 | 41 | −13 | 30 | |
| 9 | Wellington Phoenix | 27 | 7 | 4 | 16 | 34 | 54 | −20 | 25 | |
| 10 | Central Coast Mariners | 27 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 33 | 70 | −37 | 13 | |
* ↑ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 9 April 2016. Source: ultimatealeague.com

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | W | L | L | L | D | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | W | D | L | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L |
| Position | 2 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |