Mariners scout Bellerive as potential A-League venue

Photos: Pictures from today's trial match testing the facilities at Bellerive [PlessPix]

Central Coast Mariners are exploring the possibility of playing some A-League matches at Bellerive Oval.

A practice match was played at Bellerive this afternoon between Clarence United’s seniors and reserves and film of the game and reports about the layout of the pitch and the facilities available at the venue will be forwarded to Lawrie McKinna, the football general manager of the Mariners.

The Tasmania United Taskforce also had chairman John McGirr at today’s game to assess the venue as a possible ground for a Tasmanian A-League side.

“We’ve had approaches from Central Coast Mariners,” said Michael Moschogianis, of Cricket Tasmania, and himself a former Clarence United senior goalkeeper.

Moschogianis said the Mariners had come and had a look at the venue during their recent visit to Tasmania, when they played Melbourne Victory at Aurora Stadium in Launceston and a Tasmanian State side at KGV Park in Glenorchy.

“They came and had a look at the facilities and were very impressed,” Moschogianis said.

“They couldn’t make it down today, but it’s all about making sure that we can actually fit their minimum requirements on the facility which we can show today.

“We’re also getting some feedback from some senior players about the surface and then they’ll go from there.

“It’s very premature at the moment, but Central Coast are certainly very keen to look at a real fixture next year, as early next year.”

Moschogianis said the film footage would be sent to the Mariners today and he would await developments.

“There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge, so to speak, but we’re heading in the right direction,” he said.

“It’s certainly not about venue versus venue. Using Bellerive Oval to maximum potential [is what it’s about]. There’s a big soccer supporter base down in the south here and, if we can get, not only an A-League team, but a home team eventually, a Tasmanian team, playing here, that’s something we’d look forward to very much.”

The Football Federation Tasmania representative at today’s event was Robert Freke, who is in charge of referee development in the State.

“This is great,” Freke said. “This is a tremendous facility. Nice surface and very good facilities for spectators and players and officials.

“This is where professional football should be in Tasmania.”

Freke said that many more people would have attended the Central Coast Mariners’ game against Tasmania if the game had been held at Bellerive rather than at KGV Park.

He said that Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United could be future contenders for games at Bellerive.

“It would be really good to have a regular season match here,” Freke said. “Judging from the pre-season matches, the interest is there.

“[Today] is really just a trial of the facility more than anything else. Clearly, Michael [Moschogianis] and FFT will be talking again to the A-League.”

The pitch for today’s match measured 105 metres by 68 metres and had a cricket pitch in the middle of it.

Moschogianis said the pitch had been laid out that way because of the camber of the ground so that it sloped equally towards the two soccer goals.

John McGirr, the chair of the Tasmanian A-League Taskforce said: “It worked out a lot better than I honestly thought.

“I thought the touchline would be further away from the corporate area, but it’s not, so that’s a really big positive for us.”

When asked whether a Tasmanian A-League side could be playing at Bellerive any time soon, McGirr said: “Ah, that’s the $64,000 question.

“Our business case will be finished roughly within the next eight weeks and, as you’re probably aware, there’s a lot of issues at FFA, and the Newcastle Jets have struck financial trouble, so that may well impact on their extension plans. We don’t know.

“Well, obviously, if they [the Jets] had to pull out, they would be looking to another team because there’d be a bye again, so that would work in our favour, but we wouldn’t wish any harm on Newcastle Jets, but if that did happen then, obviously, that would open up a window of opportunity for us.

“The thing with the FFA is that they don’t tell you much at all.

“But, they are negotiating new television rights. They do want more content and they wouldn’t be able to run with the bye, so when Sydney come in next year, we would have 12 teams. Canberra have still got a strong bid, so if we bid, in three years’ time we could have 14 teams, which would suit us.

“We’ve got some sponsors lined up and we’ve also talked to some potential investors, Hobart business people.

“We’re re-jigging the Taskforce to fit a different business model which we think will make it more attractive to sponsors. We’ve got a couple of high-profile business people coming on board, which we’ll announce in the next couple of weeks.

“At the moment, the Taskforce is only an association so we’re moving towards a more professional business model.”