Following the appointment of former Central Coast Mariners Head Coach Ian Ferguson to new Hyundai A-League franchise North Queensland FC, the club has today confirmed Alex Tobin’s appointment as Assistant Coach to Football Manager Lawrie McKinna.
Following the appointment of former Central Coast Mariners Head Coach Ian Ferguson to new Hyundai A-League franchise North Queensland FC, the club has today confirmed Alex Tobin-s appointment as Assistant Coach to Football Manager Lawrie McKinna.
Tobin has been part of the Mariners- coaching set up since day one as Development Manager, which included a component as assistant to McKinna, and has been appointed Assistant Coach for the remainder of the Hyundai A-League 2008/09 season in addition to his role as the Mariners- National Youth League (NYL) coach.
“It-s great to have been given an opportunity to further my coaching experience with the Mariners, where I-ve enjoyed a little over three terrific years to date,” said Tobin.
“This new role won-t differ too greatly from the one that I have fulfilled previously, but it is no less exciting to have been formally recognised in this fashion and I look forward to what is already shaping to be a successful campaign alongside Lawrie and an exceptional playing group that is as determined as I have seen them to win some silverware.”
Tobin is one of the all-time iconic figures in Australian football, having accumulated an amazing 522 appearances in domestic competition in Australia across a hugely successful club career that spanned two decades in addition to a record 113 caps for the Socceroos, many of which as captain.
In the coaching arena, Tobin has been identified as one of Australia-s premier emerging talents and was rewarded as such with a call up to the Socceroos set up in London late last year, when Football Federation Australia (FFA) Technical Director Robert Baan invited Tobin to assist with Australia-s preparations for their friendly international against Nigeria.
Born in Melbourne and raised in Adelaide, Tobin was inducted into the FFA-s Hall of Fame in December of last year, before receiving the same recognition from the Football Federation of South Australia last July.
“Alex-s credentials are quite literally second to none – no other individual in Australia comes close to matching his amazing experience as a player and more recently as a coach and it goes without saying that we-re delighted to have him on board in this new capacity,” said Mariners Executive Chairman Lyall Gorman.
“Following Ian-s departure, we were quite fortunate to have outstanding depth within our existing coaching ranks and, in line with our club philosophy, we-re delighted to have provided an opportunity for one of our own to further their career ambitions at the Mariners and, indeed, we are confident that with Alex assisting Lawrie, we have a senior coaching duo that is the best in the Hyundai A-League.”
The Mariners- Hyundai A-League 2008/09 campaign continues at the Hindmarsh Stadium home of AFC Champions League semi finalists Adelaide United on Friday, 3 October. Kick off is at 8pm AEST.
The Mariners are next at Bluetongue Stadium on Sunday, 19 October, when they host the Wellington Phoenix in Round 8. Kick off is at 3pm.
Tickets for this match are on sale from Ticketek outlets, from the Ticketek website – www.ticketek.com.au, or via phone on 132 849.
Mariners Memberships for the Hyundai A-League 2008/09 season are now on sale at www.ccmariners.com.au.
