Central Coast Mariners’ head coaches Mark Jackson and Emily Husband have won the respective Isuzu UTE A-League and Liberty A-League Coach of the Month awards for March.
Jackson, in his first season at the Mariners, has now won the Coach of the Month award four times in a row; Husband meantime has won three on the bounce to end the Liberty A-League regular season.
Nominees for the monthly award are selected as part of the A-Leagues’ partnership with Football Coaches Australia. Eligible coaches are nominated monthly by the FCA panel, consisting of:
- Catherine Cannuli
- Sarah West
- John Kosmina
- Ian Greener
- Gary Cole
Each member of the FCA panel votes for three coaches each month, granting three votes to their pick for Coach of the Month, two for their second-choice and one for their third choice.
The winner is then decided by a fan vote and just as it was in both January and February, Jackson and Husband came out on top in the Isuzu UTE A-League and Liberty A-League voting respectively.
Jackson’s fourth Coach of the Month award came after a gruelling March for the Mariners which featured three Isuzu UTE A-League games (two wins, one loss) and a pair of AFC Cup fixtures against Indian side Odisha FC.
A fan vote, cast on A-Leagues official social media channels, saw Jackson trump fellow nominees Giancarlo Italiano (Wellington Phoenix), Tony Popovic (Melbourne Victory) and Ufuk Talay (Sydney FC) to clinch the monthly honours, adding to his Coach of the Month awards from December, January and February.
Husband’s Mariners had a packed Liberty A-League schedule in March, beginning with three wins in a row over Adelaide United, Brisbane Roar and Canberra United.
The Mariners ended the month with a loss to Melbourne City and a draw to Western United, and sealed a fifth-place finish and a spot in the Finals Series.
Husband’s Coach of the Month win in March makes it three in a row for the Mariners boss after Wellington Phoenix head coach Paul Temple claimed the honours in October/November and December.
