On a bitterly cold and rainy Saturday evening, a capacity crowd of 20,059 fans witnessed a drama-packed second leg Semi-Final as the Mariners shut out Sydney FC with a 0-0 result to qualify for the Grand Final with a favourable 2-1 aggregate.
The Mariners will play form team Melbourne Victory who stunned Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand to earn their place.
Tickets for the Grand Final will go on sale to Mariners and Victory Members from 9am Monday and to the general public from 11am Tuesday, with the match expected to sell out within days.
The A-Leagues is keen to install additional seating and hospitality zones for the biggest sporting event ever held on the Central Coast – with the likelihood of the all-time attendance record at Industree Group Stadium being smashed on the night.
It will be the first ever Grand Final played in Gosford or any regional centre in Australia as the mighty Mariners will attempt to become the first club ever to hold all three major titles in the same year.
Already this season, Mark Jackson’s team has been crowned A-League Premiers after finishing on top of the league after 27 rounds and also won the prestigious AFC Cup after a gruelling Asian campaign across eight nations.
Now history beckons in front of their passionate home fans as football fever reaches a crescendo on the NSW Central Coast.
The Mariners are the only professional sporting club that calls Central Coast home and they are the pride of the region, with fans flocking to the home stadium they call #OurParadise, sitting pretty on the banks of the Brisbane Water .
The Mariners’ incredible sporting achievements have captured the attention of the football world, but no one is enjoying the highs more than the 348,000 residents who live on the Central Coast.
The colour, energy and excitement of Grand Final week will bring the City of Gosford alive but the Mariners colours will feature along the Coastal strip and bustling towns like Wyong, Woy Woy, Terrigal, The Entrance, Ettalong Beach, Budgewoi and Bateau Bay.
Minutes after the Mariners had won through to their second successive Grand Final, elated Mariners captain Danny Vukovic told Network 10: “There were some crazy moments in the game,”
“It might not go down as a classic. There weren’t any goals but it was still an incredible match and we’re so happy to get through.
“We knew if we kept a clean sheet, we’d go through to the Grand Final and we did that.”
