“Following today’s settlement, which means that now that we own the site, and have the development approval in place from council, we can now move on to starting work on the construction of the football fields and the refurbishment of the licenced club over the coming months," chairman of the Mariners Trust, Peter Turnbull, said

“We look forward to providing a home to be proud of for the Central Coast Mariners Hyundai A-League, National Youth League and Westfield W-League teams, Mariners and RSL members and for a facility the entire Central Coast community can utilise."

The immediate priority will be the development of world-class training pitches to be useed by the Mariners first team, who have endured a nomadic existence during the first five seasons of the Hyundai A-League, using 16 training fields.

“The club been focussed on providing a single training base for its first team for some time, and this is the fruit of intense labour from a lot of people,” Mariners executive chairman, Lyall Gorman, said.

“Giving (head coach) Graham (Arnold) and his squad a regular base is paramount. The players, and (football manager) Lawrie (McKinna) were superb in their professionalism during the club’s set-up period, and we look forward to this base having a hugely beneficial impact on the club’s on-field success."

Once complete, it’s envisaged the development can become the pre-eminent sporting facility of its kind in Australia.

Its construction will reaffirm the Mariners’ continued commitment to the Central Coast, through our development of the highest quality football experience across the region through a direct community and elite football pathway, a stronger link with Central Coast Football and the provision of the perfect base for either the Qantas Socceroos or visiting international teams, should Australia be successful in winning the right to host either the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cups.