Newcastle Jets FC

Newcastle United was formed in 2000 by Cypriot-Australian businessman Con Constantine from the remnants of the Newcastle Breakers club.[6] The Breakers were dissolved when Soccer Australia revoked its NSL licence at the conclusion of the 1999/2000 season. At the formation of Newcastle United the home ground was moved back to where Newcastle KB United played, now known as McDonald Jones Stadium.[7][8]

The Newcastle United club were reasonably successful, competing in two of the last three Final Series and finishing second in the League behind Perth Glory in the 2001–02 season.[9]

The club renamed itself to the Newcastle United Jets Football Club and launched a new badge at the start of the new national league, the A-League. This was done to try and create and project a new image of the club and to avoid confusion with the English Premier League club Newcastle United. The name "Jets" is a reference to RAAF Base Williamtown, located just 20 kilometres north of Newcastle. The club's logo depicts three F/A-18 Hornets, which the Royal Australian Air Force has based at Williamtown.

Former England and Australia manager Terry Venables was reported as favourite to become the team's technical director, including reports from the Jets, but this was confirmed by Venables' agent as a 'no-go'.[10] Instead, the club signed Richard Money for the 2005–2006 season. In 2006 Money was replaced with Nick Theodorakopoulos after Money returned to England to take the manager's job at Walsall. In October 2006 after recording no wins during the Pre-Season Cup and during the first seven rounds of A-League matches, Theodorakopoulos became the first coach to be sacked in the club's A-League's history. His assistant Gary van Egmond was the caretaker coach for the remainder of the 2005–6 season, and later signed a contract to remain as the coach of the Jets for the next three years.

The club surprised many observers in the Australian game by signing Ned Zelic, a player who was seen to have severed connections with Australia after being dropped from the national team.

Reports suggested the Jets were attempting to bring former Liverpool and England striker Stan Collymore out of retirement.[11] Director of Football Remo Nogarotto confirmed the club had made a bid to lure Collymore to the A-League for a four-match guest stint; however, the move had broken down within 24 hours of it being made public.[12]

With the leadership of Gary van Egmond Newcastle has achieved the highest number of points out of all clubs in their last fourteen games and have also scored the most goals. As a result of their good form under van Egmond, crowds in Newcastle have reached all time highs for soccer – culminating in a crowd of over 24,000 for their home final against Sydney FC on 2 February 2007.

Newcastle were eventually eliminated in the preliminary final by Adelaide, the game going to penalties after finishing at 1 all. Vaughan Coveny and Stuart Musialik missed their attempts in a shoot-out that ended up at 4–3 in favour of Adelaide, costing Newcastle their place in the grand final and a berth in the Asian Champions League.

Season 3 of the A-League saw a number of Newcastle's biggest stars of the previous season leave the club. Captain Paul Okon retired, fan favourite Milton Rodriguez returned to Colombia and Johnny Warren Medal winner Nick Carle moved to Turkey to link up with Gençlerbirliği S.K.. New recruits included Joel Griffiths' twin brother Adam and previous European Golden Boot winner Mario Jardel. Although significant excitement surrounded the capture of Jardel, as time went by it was obvious he was well past his prime and received little game time. Throughout the season star striker Joel Griffiths broke the record for most goals in a regular season by scoring 12 in 21 rounds.[13]

The Jets started the season well without losing in their first 5 matches. Following this good start the Jets struggled for consistency until the end of the season, often winning against quality opposition but losing some vital home games. Wins in the last three competition rounds saw the Jets move up the ladder to equal points with the Central Coast Mariners, finishing the season in second place due to inferior goal difference. The Jets went on to play the Mariners in the two legged Major Semi Final. The Jets won the first leg at home 2–0 thanks to a first-half header from Adam Griffiths and a late penalty from his brother Joel. The game had its fair share of controversy as Mariners striker John Aloisi had a seemingly legitimate goal disallowed and also missed a penalty.[14]

Steeled by the defeat in the first leg, the Mariners overturned the 2–0 deficit and led 2–0 at the end of 90 minutes of the second leg thanks to goals from Sasho Petrovski and Adam Kwasnik. Seven minutes into extra time Petrovski scored again to send the Mariners into their second Grand Final in three years.[15]

Newcastle Jets Squadron Banner before the 2007–08 Grand Final

The Jets qualified for their first A-League Grand Final by beating Queensland Roar 3–2 after extra time in the 2008 Preliminary Final on 17 February 2008.[16] The Jets led 1–0 until deep into injury time when the Roar were awarded a penalty which Reinaldo successfully converted, sending the match into extra time. A few minutes into extra time the Jets were awarded a penalty as well, as Song Jin-Hyung was brought down in the box. Joel Griffiths was successful from the spot to restore the 1-goal advantage and a few moments later Tarek Elrich sealed passage into the Grand Final with a well timed shot to score his first A-League goal. Although the Roar received another late penalty it was too late to stop the Jets' march into the Grand Final.

The Jets defeated the Central Coast Mariners in the 2007–08 A-League Grand Final, becoming A-League Champions for the first time.

The game was sealed with a solitary Joel Griffiths strike early in the second half. In his last game of professional soccer Tony Vidmar made a mistake near the halfway line to gift Griffiths with an opportunity which he grasped with both hands. The game was marred by a late penalty appeal for handball. Mariners goal keeper Danny Vukovic had come up for the corner and was so infuriated by Mark Shield's decision that he slapped his hand away, earning himself a lengthy ban and ruling himself out of the early rounds of next season.[17] Both the Jets and Mariners qualified to take part in the 2009 AFC Champions League.

In order to rebuild the team for the Champions League the Jets, very much in need of several new players, signed Perth defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley in early January 2008.[18] But the signing of Topor-Stanley would prove to be the Jets' sole gain on the transfer market for several weeks, and fans grew even more disgruntled as the Jets were confirmed as the 2009 A-League "Wooden Spooners" with a 2–0 loss to Adelaide United in mid-January. An encouraging 2–1 win over Perth Glory in the Jets' final home game of the A-League 2008-09 season lightened the mood somewhat, but when the Jets crashed in a 4–0 capitulation at the Sydney Football Stadium the following week, things were looking grim. And the picture only grew bleaker as the notorious player exodus continued and the club lost Socceroos defender Mark Milligan to Shanghai Shenhua,[19] along with Jesper Hakansson, who left the club after agreeing to a mutual termination.[20] Talisman and captain Joel Griffiths also agreed to move to Asia, although only on a one-year loan to Beijing Guoan.[21]

The first ten days of February saw the Jets engage in a surprisingly successful flurry of transfer activity to bolster their squad for the impending Champions League before 11 February date by which clubs are required to submit their squad lists. Acting on an urgent need to improve their attacking stocks, the Jets announced simultaneously the signing of Dutchman Donny de Groot from De Graafschap along with former Sydney FC and Central Coast Mariners striker Sasho Petrovski.[22] Next, the Jets reinforced their shaky defence by obtaining the signatures of talented former FC Thun and Melbourne Victory defender Ljubo Miličević,[23] who had been battling depression since being released by the Victory, veteran centre-back Angelo Costanzo from Adelaide United, and young Sydney FC left-back Nikolas Tsattalios.[24][25] These signings were followed by the surprise announcement that the Jets had secured the services of former S.S. Lazio forward Fabio Vignaroli on a six-month contract.[26] In a further boost for the depth of its squad, the club signed three local players on six-month deals with the option for an extension into the 2009–10 A-League season: former Newcastle United midfielder Mitchell Johnson and strikers Peter Haynes and Joel Wood.[27]

After the departure of high performance manager Ian Crook, the Jets signed former Sydney FC boss Branko Culina as their new Technical Director.[28]

The Jets got off to a bad start, losing 2–0 to Beijing Guoan in Beijing. However, they rebounded with a 2–0 defeat of Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i back in Newcastle. After a heroic 1–1 draw in Japan against Nagoya Grampus, they lost 1–0 in the return fixture. Then, on 6 May, the Jets grabbed two goals in the last two minutes to defeat Beijing in Newcastle 2–1. The Jets qualified for the last 16 by defeating Ulsan Hyundai 1–0 away from home with Jason Hoffman scoring his debut goal to seal the win. The Jets faced Pohang Steelers in their round of 16 fixture on 24 June, crashing out of the competition 6–0 to the hands of the South Koreans.

The Newcastle Jets will return to the Asian Champions League in 2019, 10 years after their last appearance.

After the success of the 2007–08 season a number of Jets players left the club including Mark Bridge and Stuart Musialik to Sydney FC and Joe Marston Medal winner Andrew Durante and Troy Hearfield to Wellington Phoenix. Although rumours persisted about captain Jade North and Adam Griffiths wishing to leave the club after being a part of the Socceroos squad that faced Singapore and China, both chose to remain with the Jets for the 2008–09 season.[29][30][31] The regular season proved to be a disaster for the Jets. The Jets won only four out of twenty one matches and were rooted to the bottom of the ladder, missing the finals for the first time and collecting their first wooden spoon.

Preparations for the following season were thrown into turmoil when championship winning manager Gary van Egmond left the club for a lucrative job with the AIS. This has subsequently created a public rift between the club and FFA over the possible FFA's involvement in inducing van Egmond to break his contract to take up the new position. The relationship between owner and FFA fell to the point where the club has threatened legal action against both van Egmond and the FFA for breach of contract.[32] Former club Technical Director Branko Čulina was named as his replacement on 30 June 2009.

In The 2009/10 Season The Newcastle Jets qualified for The Finals Series, coming 6th in the regular season. In the first week of the finals the Jets came up against Gold Coast United at Skilled Stadium. The Jets unexpectedly defeated Gold Coast in a Penalty Shoot Out 6 goals to 5 with the Full Time Score being 0–0. In the second week they were up against Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium. The Full Time Score was 1–1 bringing the match into extra-time. In Extra Time Paul Iffil scored the match winner for Wellington followed by a goal from Eugene Dadi. This put the Jets out of the competition.

Prior to Newcastle's round 4 game against Brisbane Roar, it was revealed that the club was under significant financial stress and was unable to pay staff and player wages on time. This resulted in the club seeking either a loan or an advance on their quarterly share of the A-League television deal.[33] It was announced by the club and Football Federation Australia that the governing body would give a short term assistance package, making sure the club made it through their next few games and back into financial viability.[34]

After weeks of speculation about the future of the Newcastle Jets it was announced by the FFA on 22 September, before the teams midweek game against Gold Coast United, that mining magnate Nathan Tinkler would be buying a majority share in the Jets, saving the club from ruin. Tinkler had a positive influence at the Jets. A new price for tickets included a free season pass for children younger than 15, a family pass for 11 home games with reserved grandstand for $100 and general admission for $10.

The club gained the Hunter Medical Research Institute as a new sponsor, whose logo appeared on the front of the players shirts. The Institute said it would donate $5000 for every goal scored at home and $2500 for an away goal. The club set up a new administration office, extended the contract of coach Branko Culina until March 2015, and unveiled a $2.5 million blueprint for the football department.[35] It was confirmed that the Jets would host the Los Angeles Galaxy, which included big name players such as David Beckham and Landon Donovan, for a friendly in November 2010 at Energy Australia Stadium.[36] The Jets won the match 2–1.[37]

The Jet's announced the signing of Ryan Griffiths, during the January transfer window for the remainder of the season and the 2011–2012 season. Ryan is the brother of Newcastle Jets legend Joel Griffiths. With the North Queensland Fury's future in doubt the Newcastle Jets signed Chris Payne for the 2011–2012 season. 16 December 2010 marked the inaugural meeting of the new Football Advisory Board put in place by new owner Nathan Tinkler, The board included prominent names from Newcastle soccer history, Community members, and the President of Northern NSW Football.[38] The Jets finished the 2010–11 Season in seventh position, narrowly missing out on the Finals series on the final matchday of the regular season.

On 4 October 2011 the club terminated the contract of coach Branko Čulina, as well commencing the process of applying to the FFA to have the 3-year 'Marquee' contract of (Branko's son) Jason "set aside".[39][40] Although no one reason is cited for the decision it is believed that an argument took place between Branko, CEO Robbie Middleby and owner Nathan Tinkler regarding the nepotist nature of Jason's signing as well as "medical advice". Middleby stated, "The decision to terminate the contracts was made after a long deliberation by the Newcastle Jets’ Advisory Board." While Tinkler stated "Jason’s injury could mean the Jets are without their marquee player for up to three seasons – not a good result for the club, supporters, sponsors and players."[41] The Newcastle Jets appointed Gary van Egmond as Culina's replacement.[42]

In April 2012, Nathan Tinkler announced that he would hand back the Newcastle Jets A-League licence to the FFA, due to his mounting financial difficulties.[43] The Federation said that Tinkler's Hunter Sports Group could not just hand back its licence, and was breaching a binding contract by walking away from the Jets.[44] On 1 May, after face-to-face talks between Tinkler and FFA chairman Frank Lowy, it was announced that Tinkler would remain the owner of the club.[45]

Newcastle Jets playing against Sydney FC in October 2012.

At the end of the 2011–12 A-League season, Gary van Egmond started his clean out by getting rid of the majority of Branko Čulina's squad. This including fan favourites Jeremy Brockie, Tarek Elrich, Labinot Haliti and Nikolai Topor-Stanley. Van Egmond implemented his possession based style by signing many young talents such as James Brown, Scott Neville and Craig Goodwin. The Jets went unbeaten throughout the entire 2012–13 pre-season with wins over defending champions Brisbane Roar and rivals Central Coast Mariners. On 21 September 2012, Newcastle Jets signed former England international and Premier League giant Emile Heskey as their marquee for the 2012–13 season. Heskey signed for a one-year deal but hoped to extend his stay. He wore the number 9 jersey throughout his time in Newcastle. The Jets lost their first game of the season against Adelaide but then went on to beat Alessandro Del Piero's Sydney FC, rivals Central Coast and Melbourne Victory to sit second behind Adelaide on goal difference after round 4. During the January transfer window, the Jets released Brazilian international Tiago Calvano due to lack of game time and falling out of favour with head coach Gary van Egmond. The Jets replaced Tiago with attacking midfielder with Zenon Caravella and signed local talent Andrew Hoole to his first professional contract after impressing in a round 15 match against the Brisbane Roar. On 31 January 2013, Club captain and foundation player Jobe Wheelhouse, terminated his contracted as he felt he needed a break from football. Ruben Zadkovich wore the captains arm band for the rest of the season. The Jets finished 8th missing out on the finals for the third year in a row.[46] The following season, van Egmond was sacked after 15 matches due to lack of results and understanding within the squad.

On 5 May 2014, Phil Stubbins signed a two-year contract at the Jets. The Jets hoped that Stubbins' attacking mentality would bring success to the club, along with a number of new signings such as Argentinians Jeronimo Neumann and Marcos Flores, Australian international David Carney and the club's highest ever goal scorer, Joel Griffiths.[47] A poor start to the season saw CEO Robbie Middleby and Chairman Ray Baartz resign from their positions during a mid-season break.[48] On 10 January 2015, three days after Middleby and Baartz resigned, Newcastle owner Nathan Tinkler took the club off the market and was appointed as Chairman of the club.[49] On 29 January 2015, Newcastle players Kew Jaliens, Billy Celeski, Adrian Madaschi, David Carney and Joel Griffiths were released by the club.[50] Stubbins started rebuilding the club with bringing in imports Lee Ki-je and Enver Alivodic, along with signing defender Nigel Boogaard. Newcastle ended the league season at the bottom of the table with only three wins, resulting in their worst ever season.[51] On 21 May Football Federation Australia terminated the clubs licence after the club failed to settle debts and pay issues.[52]

On 21 May 2015 Football Federation Australia issued a licence for a new team in Newcastle. The FFA indicated that this new entity would continue to hold the Newcastle Jets name and colours and would continue to play its games at Hunter Stadium. All players were issued new contracts with the club, along with the admin staff. The coaching staff, however, underwent a performance review by FFA. Consequently, on 26 May, Phil Stubbins, along with fellow coaching staff Mark Jones, James Pascoe and Jess Vanstrattan, all had their contracts terminated by FFA who indicated that a fresh start was needed for the club. The FFA began the rebuilding of the club by setting up three forums: a business forum, a members' forum and a supporters' forum, set up so that fans could voice their opinions about the club's restructuring. On 18 June 2015, Football Federation Australia appointed former Fulham assistant coach, Scott Miller as the club's new head coach. Former Melbourne Victory assistant coach, Jean-Paul de Marigny was also announced as Miller's senior assistant.

On Tuesday 14 June 2016, it was announced that Football Federation Australia had completed a 100 per cent sale of the club to Ledman Group, a leading high-tech LED signage manufacturer, operator and sports business headquartered in Shenzhen, China. Ledman Group's major shareholder is Martin Lee. Ledman Group is valued at over one billion Australian dollars on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Ledman Group is an official partner of the Chinese Super League and China League (Division Two) and has a strategic partnership with the Chinese Football Association.[53][54][55]

In September 2016, Scott Miller was dismissed by the club. Later that month the club announced that previous Club assistant and fitness coach Mark Jones would take the reins for the 2016/17 season previously held by the sacked Miller. But his coaching tenure in Newcastle was brought to an end one day after a 2–0 loss away to Sydney FC which saw the club receive their 2nd wooden spoon in 3 seasons.

On 9 May 2017, Ernie Merrick was named as Newcastle's new coach for the next two A-League seasons after previously managing A-League teams Melbourne Victory and Wellington Phoenix, managing a total of 241 A-League games, and winning the 2006–07, 2008–09 titles.[56][57]

After the announcement Merrick stated:

I believe that the club has all the necessary ingredients for on-field success, with a strong core of good quality players, a very competent staff, excellent facilities, and most importantly a wealth of extremely passionate fans.[58]

Merrick's first A-League match as coach was on 7 October 2017, against F3 Derby rivals Central Coast Mariners, with the Mariners having won the previous meeting 2–0 at home. Newcastle won the game 1–5, beating the Mariners by four goals and making it the largest F3 Derby victory.[59][60][61] After Newcastle's first game, they followed up by going five games undefeated, losing their first game of the season on 18 November 2017, to 2016–17 champions, Sydney FC in round 7.[62][63] Between rounds 7 and 24 Newcastle achieved 10 wins, 3 draws, and 3 losses, before losing three games on the trot, scoring only two and conceding ten.[64] In the last game of the regular season Newcastle again played F3 Derby rivals, Central Coast, playing them for a third time during the season. After three consecutive losses Newcastle made both A-League and F3 derby history, beating the Mariners 2–8, winning by the highest margin in the F3 derby, a feat they achieved in round 1 of the season. Playing in the highest scoring A-League match, winning all three F3 Derby matches during the 2017–18 season and finishing in second position and qualifying for the AFC Champions League for a second time.[65][66][67] After one of the most successful regular seasons in Newcastle Jets history, manager Ernie Merrick signed on for a further season extending his contract to the end of the 2019–20 A-League season.[68]

Newcastle played Melbourne City at home in the semi-final of the A-League finals, winning 2–1, with goals to Riley McGree and Jason Hoffman. Newcastle reached their second A-League Grand Final in history.[69] Newcastle were defeated in the 2017–18 A-League Grand Final by Melbourne Victory, losing 1–0.[70] Dimitri Petratos was named Newcastle Jets player of the season.[71] After a very successful season in the A-League, Andrew Nabbout, a former Newcastle player, and Dimitri Petratos, Newcastle player of the season and joint golden boot winner for Newcastle, were named in the Australian squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Nabbout playing two of the three group stage matches (France, Denmark).[72][73]

Before the start of the 2018–19 A-League season, Newcastle signed New Zealand international Matthew Ridenton from fellow A-League club Wellington Phoenix on a free transfer which reunited him with former Phoenix boss Ernie Merrick.[74][75] The Jets also announced the signings of Brazilian striker Jair Eduardo, former Melbourne Victory winger Mitch Austin, attacker Kaine Sheppard and goalkeeper Lewis Italiano prior to the start of the season.[76][77][78][79]

Newcastle enjoyed their best ever run in the FFA Cup, beating Queensland side Gold Coast Knights 0–1 in the Round of 32.[80] In the Round of 16, the Jets went down to fellow A-League side Melbourne City 0–1.[81]

As of 18 June 2020

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 3 FW Jason Hoffman 4 DF Nigel Boogaard (Captain) 5 MF Ben Kantarovski 6 MF Steven Ugarkovic 7 FW Roy O'Donovan 8 MF Wes Hoolahan 9 FW Abdiel Arroyo (on loan from Árabe Unido) 10 MF Dimitri Petratos 11 FW Nick Fitzgerald 16 DF Matthew Millar 17 MF Joe Ledley 18 DF John Koutroumbis

No. Position Player 19 FW Kosta Petratos 20 GK Lewis Italiano 21 FW Bernie Ibini 22 DF Lachlan Jackson 25 MF Jack Simmons (Scholarship) 28 DF Patrick Langlois 29 DF Connor O'Toole 31 FW Maki Petratos (Scholarship) 32 MF Angus Thurgate 40 GK Noah James (Scholarship) 44 DF Nikolai Topor-Stanley (Vice-captain)

Players to have been featured in a first-team matchday squad for Newcastle Jets.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 30 GK Keegan Hughes

• A-League

Runners-Up (2): 2007–08, 2017–18

• A-League Grand Finals

Championships (1): 2008

Runners-Up (1): 2018