Meet the chess prodigy out to make the Mariners great again

Central Coast Mariners recruit Ziggy Gordon revealed he was a national chess champion as a child, but gave the game away at the age of 11 when he decided to focus on football.

Ziggy Gordon in action for the Central Coast Mariners Source: AAP

Gordon, a Scotland Under-19 representative, joined the Mariners in June after departing Scottish side Hamilton Academical.

“It (chess) started off as a hobby, then I turned out to be fairly better than average,” the 26-year-old told The World Game. 

“Then I went to tournaments and it went from there. I did pretty well. Then all of a sudden tournaments started to clash with my football, and to be fair it wasn’t a difficult decision on what to choose from. 

“It was going to be football all day long.”

Gordon admits he rarely plays chess now, but does credit the board game for improving his knowledge and understanding of football.

“I went through a stage where I played a lot of chess online,” he said. 

“I’d play a few hours a day, playing against people all over the world. But now I seldom get a chance to play. But I don’t forget what I’ve learned.

“It certainly helped me [in football]. I’ve taken things from my years playing chess. But I think I’ll hang on to my day job for now, and for as long as I can possibly keep it.”

Central Coast finished bottom of the A-League over the past two seasons and last made the finals in the 2013-14 campaign. The NSW club won just three of 27 matches last season. 

But Gordon cares little for recent history and believes a new era is building at the Mariners. The club have notched some impressive results in pre-season and on Wednesday tackle Adelaide United in the FFA Cup semi-finals. 

“We’re just riding a wave right now,” the full-back said. 

“Trying not to get too far ahead of ourselves, take every game as it comes. We’re not going to win the competition – we’re going to win this game and then the competition.

“That’s first and foremost and the league is very quickly approaching and that will be our first aim, to climb the table as fast as possible and put a good footprint for the Mariners.

“It’s been a tough couple of years, but I don’t know anything about that, so I don’t really care.”

Gordon said Central Coast coach Alen Stajcic has got the club back on track and the aim is to win the FFA Cup for the first time.

“Everyone told me before I came to the Mariners that it’s been a stale couple of years for them,” he said. 

“It’s not been very successful, they’ve been used to a long losing run and wooden spoon winners for the last couple of years.

“But I don’t know anything about it, to be honest, I don’t know how that could be the case because since I’ve been here it’s been like a well-oiled machine.

“Everyone seems to be going in the same direction, possibly that’s because of the gaffer Alen. He’s got everyone doing their jobs right and to the best of their abilities. 

“And so far so good. I understand this is football and you have ups and downs. But so far so good, we’ve been winning games, we’re in the FFA Cup semi-finals. 

“We don’t want to stop there – we want to get to the final and we want to win the competition. That’s something we’re hoping to achieve.” 

Gordon spent eight years in Europe, playing in the Scottish Premiership and Poland’s Ekstraklasa, before his move to Australia.