Holman Barnes Group Rescues Central Coast Mariners A-League Women in Eleventh-Hour Takeover

The Holman Barnes Group has stepped in with a critical eleventh-hour rescue deal to assume operational control of the Central Coast Mariners A-League Women team, securing the side’s participation in the upcoming season.

The women’s program was previously left in administrative limbo after being excluded from Total Soccer Growth Holdings’ acquisition of the club’s men’s and academy teams in June.

With Holman Barnes’ intervention, the reigning 2024/25 champions now have a two-month window to finalise their playing and coaching squads ahead of the October 16 season kickoff, preserving a vital elite pathway in a region celebrating fifty years of women’s football.

The acquisition broadens the hospitality group’s growing sports investment portfolio, which already features a majority stake in the National Rugby League’s Wests Tigers and a partnership with National Premier Leagues New South Wales club APIA Leichhardt.

Highlighting the alignment of the investment, Holman Barnes group chairman, Dennis Burgess, said: “We’re proud to have played a leading role in securing the future of the Central Coast Mariners’ women’s team.”

“Our Vice Chair Frank Primerano, with decades of strategic involvement in football administration, has played a key role in bringing this together and broadening our sporting footprint, which has been a key strategy of our CEO Daniel Paton and the Board this year.”

“Our Board believes thriving sporting clubs strengthen communities by creating pathways from grassroots participation to elite competition,” Burgess said.

Welcoming the corporate intervention, Central Coast Mayor, Hon. Lawrie McKinna, noted that it gives players and supporters renewed confidence following months of uncertainty.

Furthermore, Holman Barnes Group CEO, Daniel Paton, elaborated on the long-term community and developmental objectives underpinning the move.

“The Board of Holman Barnes Group have unanimously supported this investment with a view that it protects the pathway between community sport and the elite game that inspires the next generation.”

“Whether it’s rugby league, football or any other sport we support, the principle is the same.

“Strong elite teams inspire participation, strong grassroots participation builds stronger communities, and stronger communities produce stronger sporting clubs.

“You simply can’t have one without the other, young players, girls and boys, need something to aspire to.

“They need to know that if they work hard and dream big, there is a pathway from local fields to the highest level of the game internationally.

“The future is extremely bright for this region and community,” Paton stated. 

By integrating the Mariners with their existing ties to APIA Leichhardt, Holman Barnes aims to construct a seamless commercial and developmental pipeline connecting grassroots talent directly to professional tiers.

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