Mon 15th Jan 2007

Central Coast Mariners Football Manager Lawrie McKinna will be hoping to celebrate his Australian citizenship with a farewell win on Sunday, for what will be the Mariners’ final competitive fixture of the 2006/07 Hyundai A-League season.

Scottish-born McKinna is set to be granted Australian citizenship just prior to kick off between the Mariners and Adelaide United at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium, where the Mayor of Wyong Shire Council, Bob Graham, will officially present McKinna and his wife Christine with their citizenship papers.

In contradiction to his overwhelming Scottish accent, McKinna has spent the greater part of his 45-years in Australia, having first arrived on Australian shores as a 2-year-old, before returning to his homeland where he enjoyed his schooling years.

McKinna returned to Australia in 1986 to join Victorian Premier League side Box Hill, which would ultimately be one of eight clubs McKinna would play for before hanging up his playing boots in 1998.

Having spent more than twenty years in his adopted country, McKinna is now eligible to apply for Australian citizenship and is hoping his newfound partisanship will inspire a change of fortunes for the yellow and navy.

"I’m looking forward to it!" said McKinna.

"It’s something that myself and my wife Christine have been wanting to do for a while, but we’ve just never got around to it.

"The fact that we’re on the Central Coast now, we’re part of the Central Coast, we love it here, it’s a great place to live and it’s an ideal place to receive our Australian citizenship.

"Hopefully our citizenship starts a good night where we will hopefully be celebrating three points."

McKinna will almost certainly be boosted by the return of Tom Pondeljak and Tony Vidmar, who have missed the past three and four matches respectively with groin and calf concerns.

Two of the Mariners’ more senior players, Pondeljak and Vidmar are prime examples of the crippling absences that have dogged McKinna’s charges in season two.

Five of the cornerstone members of the Mariners’ Grand Final charge in 2005/06; Wayne O’Sullivan, Noel Spencer, Andre Gumprecht, Tom Pondeljak and Andrew Clark, have missed a combined total of 35 matches this season, which, combined with Vidmar’s absence from six matches and the virtual non-appearance of ace striker Nik Mrdja, has severely hampered the Mariners’ hopes for a second consecutive finals series berth.

Two other absentees from last Thursday’s 0-0 stalemate with the New Zealand Knights, O’Sullivan and Clark, are also hopeful of earning a start on Sunday though both remain doubtful with hamstring and knee injuries.

Only attacker Stewart Petrie and midfielder Mile Jedinak look set to drop out of the Mariners lineup for Sunday’s clash against Adelaide United.

Petrie has returned to Scotland to be with his family, while Jedinak’s short-term contract has expired in light of Vidmar’s pending return.

"Tommy is looking good and so is Vidmar, but we’ll check with Vidmar later in the week to see how his calf is," said McKinna.

"If he’s any doubt at all, we won’t risk him because we don’t want him to get injured again.

"Our main priority is that everybody is fit for the next pre-season, as this pre-season we had about six or seven players unavailable and we can’t afford that again, it’s important that we have a full squad to start with when we start our plans for next season."

The Mariners’ will bid adieu to their second Hyundai A-League campaign when they take on Adelaide United at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium this Sunday, 21 January. Kick off is at 7pm.

To celebrate the Mariners’ final match of the Hyundai A-League regular season, the first 2,000 people through the gates will receive a free Mariners beach ball thanks to Mariners partner Mingara.

Tickets are now on sale from Ticketek outlets, the Ticketek website – www.ticketek.com.au, or via phone on 132 849.