Central Coast Mariners are spreading good vibes in the community during the pre-season by engaging Australian football legend Andy Bernal to deepen the connections within and between the club and the community.
Bernal, one of the original Australian born English League and Spanish League players was at the PCYC in Umina to give a crew of youth a session of football, boxing and motivational talks.
“I’ve had a tough yet incredibly rewarding career in football and I’m passionate about helping young people build resistance and opportunities through sport,” said the former Socceroo.
The Umina session was part of a new collaboration between the Mariners, The A leagues, PCYC and the NSW Government to motivate young people to find direction and follow their ambitions.
Bernal was born in Canberra to Spanish parents and found fellowship in football among other immigrant families. He quickly rose through the ranks and was scouted to the Spanish Albacete Balompié at the age of 18. He went on to play for both Reading, Sydney Olympic and Ipsitch Town among others. Post football he became a football agent and the personal manager of David Beckham.
The 21-time Socceroo (13 ‘A’ international caps, 8 ‘B’ international caps) Bernal has recently been engaged by the Central Coast Mariners.
New Mariners’ owner Richard Peil convinced him to join the coaching staff in a motivational role that head coach Nick Montgomery has dubbed the ‘Vibe Manager’.
“I brought Andy into the club for the same reason I brought Luke Wilshire (8th most capped Socceroo) and why I’m backing Monty” Said Peil
“Between them, they have over 1100 professional games, in England, Spain, Holland, Russia and Australia.
“In my view, there has been too little respect given to greats of the Australian game, especially the golden generation that Andy and Luke were part of.
Peil is on a mission and has a plan to reconnect the Mariners with the community and to further build the Mariners Academy to become one of the best in the Southern Hemisphere.
“Over the next few years you will see more of our past best [players] be given opportunities to be involved and influence the development of our academy players at the Mariners” said Peil.
Judging on Peil’s past successes in building the fitness franchise Anytime Fitness the Central Coast’s professional football club has an exciting future to look forward to.
Andy Bernal recently released an autobiographical book about his career experiences; the good, bad and ugly in and around football called Riding Shotgun. It’s a quintessential read for Australian football fans.
It’s an incredible tale, one that took him to some of the most famous grounds in world football, to experiencing the high-life of the Galácticos era at Real Madrid, to the crumbling rock-bottom that some professional footballers face post retirement.
See the exclusive interview with Andy Bernal on our YouTube Channel and on the news website coastcommunitynews.com.au/sport from this coming weekend.
David Abrahams