Miracle Mariners: Is this the greatest team Australian soccer has ever seen?

Agony, ecstasy, then... a blur. A long blur. Fifteen minutes, give or take.

Before the Central Coast Mariners even had a chance to compute that they had just completed the greatest season in Australian soccer history, they were swarmed. More than 21,000 fans – an all-time ground record – had packed into Gosford’s Industree Group Stadium, specifically for this exact moment, and some of them just couldn’t help themselves.

Nobody condones pitch invasions, but ... maybe this was good?

Mariners fans invade the pitch after the grand final.Credit: x

“Like, I wouldn’t recommend running on the field,” said Mariners star Josh Nisbet. “But it was a pretty special moment.”

Ryan Edmondson, the super-sub who changed the match, remembers crying at the full-time whistle.

“Next minute I had about 20 people laid on top of me,” he said.

“Everything from then on is just a blur. I can’t imagine I’m going to remember much of it. But I know that we won it, and that’s the most important thing.”

That they all succumbed to the polite requests from the announcer and cleared out relatively quickly to allow the trophy presentation to unfold suggests it was probably the most well-mannered pitch invasion ever, which would be classic Mariners.

On the presumption that nobody in there got hurt or did anything idiotic, the scenes immediately following the Mariners’ come-from-behind 3-1 win over Melbourne on Saturday night can be classified as priceless for the A-League – the visual representation of a team and a community so closely intertwined that, much like the individuals in the mosh pit on the pitch, it’s hard to tell them apart from a distance.

Alou Kuol of the Central Coast Mariners celebrates winning with fans.Credit: Getty

This was the biggest thing to ever happen in Gosford. A-League honchos resisted the urge to book a bigger venue in Sydney, and what they gave up in ticket revenue will have been easily made up by the feel-good optics and cultural impact of this incredible night.

It was a grand final for the ages. The Mariners were strangely toothless for 90 minutes; Victory were the better side in regulation time and took the lead through Jason Geria’s 50th-minute stunner but couldn’t hold out the hosts’ inevitable late surge.

Edmondson, who won the Joe Marston Medal for player of the match, came off the bench to score the equaliser in the 91st minute, forcing the match into extra time, and then added the sealer in the 121st minute.

Ryan Edmondson, who won the Joe Marston Medal for player of the match, came off the bench to score the equaliser in the 91st minute.Credit:

Nisbet, who won the Johnny Warren Medal for player of the season, set up the first goal and provided the penultimate pass for the Mariners’ second goal, finished by 18-year-old Miguel Di Pizio.

Edmondson once worked with Mariners coach Mark Jackson when they were both at Leeds United a few years ago. Released six months ago by Carlisle United in England’s second tier, he did not know where Gosford was when he received the call to follow Jackson, but does not regret it. He has fallen in love with the club and is telling his mates back home that the A-League is better than they think.

“I was actually on the phone to a friend of mine the other day, and he was asking me how I’m finding it. It’s the biggest surprise that I’ve had in a long time in football,” he said.

“Honestly, I think if we took our team over to League One – I think we’d smash League Two, personally, but if we took our team over to League One or even the Championship we’d give people a good go. I can tell you that. I think this league gets looked over a lot. People just bypass it as if it’s farmers’ football – I can tell you, it’s far from it.”

The Mariners’ come-from-behind 3-1 win over Melbourne on Saturday night can be classified as priceless for the A-League.Credit: Getty

The facts of the Mariners’ 2023-24 campaign bear repeating. After the team that won last year’s grand final was gutted in the off-season, including the departure of their previous coach Nick Montgomery, the Mariners were knocked out of the Australia Cup on penalties in their first competitive fixture in August, then lost their opening match in the AFC Cup group stage in September, then their first four A-League matches in a row.

They have lost just twice in 38 games since, winning three trophies, including the AFC Cup and the A-League Premiers’ Plate – the first time an Australian team has completed a treble featuring a continental title.

I can’t imagine I’m going to remember much of it. But I know that we won it, and that’s the most important thing.

Ryan Edmondson

The achievement sets up a classic pub debate, vaulting this team into the conversation as one of the greatest domestic teams ever seen in Australia. It’s between them and Ange Postecoglou’s ‘Roarcelona’, who also notched back-to-back grand final wins and had a 36-game unbeaten streak – and while they changed the face of the sport, they didn’t compete in Asia, or have to endure more than 100,000km of travel in economy class to win in Asia.

“You can always argue who’s the best team ever in the A-League,” Nisbet said. “But we can say we’ve had the most successful campaign by any team. That’s factual, that’s something that will be [our] legacy.”

The celebrations will also be historic. Captain Danny Vukovic did the maths in the mixed zone: the Mariners partied for a week when they claimed one trophy last season, so for a treble, they have earned the right to be MIA for at least three. Also on his agenda is a new peroxide blonde hairdo, having promised teammate Christian Theoharous he would do it if they won the grand final.

“Not sure when, but I’m a man of my word,” Vukovic said.

On Jackson’s agenda is a flight back to England on Wednesday to complete the last module of his UEFA Pro Licence studies. “I’ve got to pull together two presentations and present them, so at some point I’m gonna have to do them,” he said. “But I’ve got a little bit to write about on that [now] anyway.”

On Melbourne Victory coach Tony Popovic’s agenda is spending the next few days personally reckoning with the reality of his fifth grand final loss, a record he did not appreciate being brought up in his post-match press conference.

“How do I feel?” he said.

“Five times I’ve been able to experience this seat and this emotion, five times. What does that mean? It means I’ve lost five grand finals as a head coach. That’s what that means.

“Also means I’ve arrived five times in the grand final. I haven’t been able to win one so far. That’s something that I’m trying to change.”

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