Matt Simon will be back in yellow and navy next A-League season after committing to a third stint with Central Coast.
The combative impact striker is off contract at Sydney FC and understood to have agreed a deal to return to his roots under new coach Mike Mulvey.
Simon was used mostly off the bench over his three seasons at the Sky Blues under Graham Arnold, his former Mariners coach who handed him a career lifeline in 2015 after he was let go by the struggling Gosford outfit following nine years of service.
That October the spurned fan favourite returned to haunt his old club, scoring a late brace to defeat the Mariners 3-1 in Gosford, and just this March netted late to give Sydney a 2-1 win at the same venue.
Mulvey's decision to move on the 32-year-old, who remains the club's all-time top-scorer, is a win-win scenario for both parties -- Simon can give the Mariners a much-needed physical presence up front while also getting the game time he's been missing.
It continues that post-Paul Okon rebuild and comes after the Mariners lured fellow forward Corey Gameiro from Brisbane Roar and signed defender Jack Clisby from Western Sydney.