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FWC on Sport Nation guideEnglish investors save half of struggling A-League club
George Clarke, AAP • June 23rd, 2026 5:30 pm
The Mariners look set to line up in next season's ALM competition thanks to a fresh cash injection | Photo: Darren Pateman/AAP
The future of the Central Coast Mariners has been secured with the owners of English Championship side Queens Park Rangers completing a takeover of the embattled A-League club.
Ending months of uncertainty and speculation, QPR's majority shareholders Total Soccer Growth Holdings (TSG), which also owns a stake in MLS side Los Angeles FC, were confirmed as the Mariners' new backers on Tuesday.
TSG - fronted by Malaysian businessman Ruben Gnanalingam - have only agreed to buy Central Coast's A-League Men side, leaving the future of the club's women's side up in the air.
The Mariners have been propped up by the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) since January when longstanding owner Mike Charlesworth was stripped of his license.
The Mariners, celebrating a goal during the last ALW season, may not take part in the next campaign | Photo: Darren Pateman/AAP
"We see Australian football as a major growth area in the sport internationally, and are excited to return Central Coast Mariners to the era of valuing and nurturing young Coasties," Gnanalingam said in a statement.
"We appreciate how turbulent and uncertain the last season has been for the club and we intend to do our utmost to restore energy and enthusiasm for this special football club, both on and off the pitch."
It's understood TSG have explored the sale of a minority stake in the Mariners to the Holman Barnes Group, the majority owners of NRL club Wests Tigers.
QPR have been in active in recruiting Australia players over recent seasons with the London-based club having signed ex-Perth Glory midfielder Daniel Bennie and former Macarthur FC fullback Kealey Adamson.
Gnanalingam's takeover also includes the purchase of the club's academy, but the businessman's first task will be finding a manager for his senior men's set-up.
Warren Moon, who earned immense credit for guiding the cash-strapped Mariners to a respectable ninth on the ALM table last season, indicated he would not stay on for the 2026/27 campaign.
Meanwhile, the APL has set itself an ambitious target of finding a buyer for the ALW side inside the next six weeks.
ALW rivals Central Coast and Canberra have had to battle with issues off the pitch as well as on it | Photo: Dean Lewins/AAP
The Mariners now join Canberra United in being without owners, although the APL said in a statement it expect to make "an announcement within the month on a preferred partner" for Canberra.
"Through the extensive due diligence process it became clear that the operation of the women's team was not able to be included within the new operation with TSG," said APL chief executive Steve Rosich.
"Separately, we've begun working with parties to seek specific investment in the women's team and we're working to ideally arrive at an outcome on this on or before 31 July to enable the team to operate in the 2026/27 season."
Harry Ngata on the positive play though the group stage of the World Cup | Sport Nation
