The financial woes of the Central Coast Mariners took an embarrassing turn last week when the entire playing squad was told to pay for their own admission to the club's end of season awards night.

In a sign of the extent of the Mariners penny-pinching culture, the club asked the players to pay $50 per head to attend their own function.

Central Coast Mariners players were asked to pay to attend their club awards night. Credit:Getty Images

The request was met with immediate dissatisfaction from the playing group - many of whom are out of contract and in the process of negotiating potential extensions or deals elsewhere.

After being told of their complete unwillingness to dip into their own pockets to attend a club event and pay a total of $100 if they wanted to bring their partners, the club confirmed they quickly backed down and decided to cover the players' costs.