Newcastle United Jets FC

See also: Newcastle United (disambiguation)

Newcastle United Jets

Full name	Newcastle United Jets Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Jets
Founded	2000
Ground	Hunter Stadium, Newcastle (Capacity: 33,000)
Owner	Nathan Tinkler
Chairman	Ray Baartz
Manager	Gary van Egmond
League	A-League
2010–11	7th (league) DNQ (finals)
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Newcastle United Jets Football Club is a professional football (soccer) club based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. The club competes in the A-League and plays its home games at Hunter Stadium (EAS). The Jets have won one A-League championship, defeating arch rivals the Central Coast Mariners 1–0 in the 2007–08 Grand Final. In 2009, Newcastle played in the AFC Champions League for the first time, reaching the Round of 16.

The club was formed in 2000 when it joined the National Soccer League (NSL) as Newcastle United, and is one of only three former NSL clubs to appear in the A-League. They are more commonly referred to today as the Newcastle Jets.

History

Main articles: History of the Newcastle Jets and History of association football in Newcastle, New South Wales

Newcastle United

Newcastle United Strip 2000–04

Newcastle United was formed in 2000 by Cypriot-Australian businessman Con Constantine from the remnants of the Newcastle Breakers club. The Breakers were dissolved when Soccer Australia revoked its NSL license 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 Hunter Stadium.

The Newcastle United club were reasonably successful, competing in two of the last three Final Series and finishing 2nd in the League behind Perth Glory in the 2001–02 season. The clubs colours were Blue and Red, somewhat traditional colours of the region also worn by the Newcastle Knights Rugby League team.

Newcastle United Jets

Newcastle United was renamed as Newcastle United Jets when it joined the A-League in its inaugural 2005–06 season. The club was renamed to project a new image and to prevent confusion with the Premier League club Newcastle United F.C.. 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. During the A-league the Jets continued their successful form from the NSL by making all but one finals series, and winning one Championship (2007–08).

The club found themselves in desperate financial times shortly after the start of the 2010-11 A-league Season, Resulting in the sale of the club to mining magnate Nathan Tinkler after the license was stripped from former owner Con Constantine. As a result of Tinklers ownership (until at least 2020), a football advisory board was set up in place of Con's Autocratic system of ownership.

The Čulina Saga

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". Although no one reason sited 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."

On 23 December it was confirmed that Jason is still a Contracted player to Jets, as Culina is suing the FFA for insurance payments

Colours and badge

Newcastle United's jersey for the 2009–10 season will retain the gold colour jersey, with navy socks and shorts and red trimming. The alternate jersey will, however, revert to something a little more historic, in light of the club's 10th year celebrations in 2010. The clash jersey will feature blue and red, with white and blue shorts and socks, in line with the old Newcastle United strips. The Tinkler Sports Group revealed in early 2011 that the Newcastle Jets colours will revert back to the Blue and Red worn by Newcastle United and Breakers. This is also to combined colours with the Newcastle Knights who will become a cousin club in 2011.

Stadium

Main article: Newcastle International Sports Centre

Western stand of then Ausgrid Stadium

Hunter Stadium, at the Newcastle International Sports Centre, is the home ground of the Newcastle United Jets and the Newcastle Knights. It has a capacity of 33,000.

The record crowd for a football match in Newcastle was set at Ausgrid Stadium on 2 February 2007 in the second leg of the A-League 2006-07 minor semi final against Sydney FC, in front of 24,338 people. This broke the record set earlier that season on New Years Day, where a crowd of 20,980 turned up to see a 2–0 loss against the same opposition. Prior to that game the football attendance record for a match in Newcastle stood for 52 years, set when Australia played Rapid Vienna.

In the next few years, the stadium will be turned into a modern, state-of-the-art 33,000-seat ground. This upgrade is as a result of plans to hold the 2015 AFC Asian Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup in Australia. Newcastle may be one of the venues for these event, and minimum standards set by FIFA mean EAS is inadequate for this role. The next upgrade will involve demolishing the western grandstand and replacing it with one similar to the east, as well as placing seated areas on the hill at either end of the ground. This upgrade will cost around $60 million, of which $50 million is being provided by the State Government. This upgrade means the Jets attendance figures can grow immensely, and will also qualify the Jets to host any Grand Finals they reach in the future.

Supporters

Ante Čović in front of The Squadron, Round 2 of the 2007–08 season

The main supporter base of the Newcastle Jets is known as the Squadron Novocastria, which was formed in anticipation of the first ever A-League game between Newcastle and Adelaide United. The Squadron begun standing behind the goals on the Southern Hill, however because of the layout of the stadium, they moved to Bay 2 of the Eastern Grandstand at Ausgrid Stadium, in a successful attempt to increase group co-ordination and noise level. Standard songs/chants include, "We go by land and sea", "The Newy Boys go one by one" and "When The Jets Go Flying In". The Squadron have also started a new tradition of singing the chorus to the INXS song "Never Tear Us Apart" before the start of the game and second half. As the club's performances improved throughout the 2006–07 season the Squadron grew rapidly and continued to grow throughout the 2007–08 season.

Rivalries

Due to its geographical proximity, Newcastle shares a strong rivalry with both NSW A-League clubs.

• Central Coast Mariners: Known as The F3 Derby, the first meeting between the teams resulted in a tough semi-final tie in the 2005 Oceania Club Championship qualification competition (held in May 2005, prior to the start of the inaugural A-League season), when star Mariners striker Nik Mrdja broke the leg of Newcastle defender Andrew Durante, earning him a tag as Newcastle's "hate-boy". In the 2007–08 season, the Newcastle Jets beat the Mariners 2–0 in the first leg of the Major Semi-Final, before being beaten 3–0 in extra time in the second leg at Bluetongue Stadium. After beating Queensland Roar 3–2 in the Preliminary Final, the Jets then went on to defeat the Mariners 1–0 in the 2007/08 A-League Grand Final. In round 17 of the 2008/09 season, the Jets and Mariners faced each other at Ausgrid Stadium. The Mariners won the game 2–1 courtesy of a Matt Simon goal in the 80th minute. After the full time whistle, star Jets striker Joel Griffiths grabbed Mariners midfielder John Hutchinson around the neck causing players from both sides to intervene. Referee Peter O'Leary red carded Mariners' striker Dylan Macallister for abusive language. This was the most fiery meeting in the F3 Derby's short history.

• Sydney FC: Originally only considered rivals due to their locations, the two clubs are now bitter competitors. The Jets set their all-time record attendance of more than 24,000 at the home leg of the semi-final tie between the two in the competition's second season. In the A-League 2007-08 season, Sydney won all three games with close 1–0 victories. The two teams battled to secure a 0–0 draw in Newcastle in Round Four of the A-League 2008-09 season.

Current Squad

See also: Newcastle United Jets W-League

Senior Squad

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Ben Kennedy 2 DF Taylor Regan 3 DF Mario Šimić 4 DF Nikolai Topor-Stanley 5 DF Tiago 6 MF Ben Kantarovski 7 MF Kasey Wehrman 8 FW Jeremy Brockie 9 FW Michael Bridges 10 MF Ruben Zadkovich 11 DF Tarek Elrich

No. Position Player 12 MF Jobe Wheelhouse (Captain) 13 DF Byun Sung-Hwan 14 FW Labinot Haliti 16 DF Sam Gallaway 17 MF James Virgili 18 FW Marko Jesic 19 GK Matthew Nash 22 MF Ali Abbas 23 FW Ryan Griffiths (Vice-Captain) 24 FW Francis Jeffers

Youth Squad

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

No. Position Player 25 DF Jacob Pepper (Captain) 26 FW Alex Read 27 DF Connor Chapman 30 GK Jack Duncan DF Daniel Laiman DF Nick Cowburn DF David Vrankovic MF Laaris Jagessar-Barnett MF Luke Remington

No. Position Player MF David Talevski MF Kyle Ewart MF Abe Wheelhouse MF Louis Bozanic MF Scott Pettit MF Andrew Hoole FW Blake Green FW Kale Bradbery

Former notable players

See also: List of Newcastle United Jets FC players

Australia Mark Bridge Nick Carle Angelo Costanzo Ante Čović Andrew Durante Adam Griffiths Joel Griffiths James Holland Richard Johnson Ljubo Miličević Ante Miličić Mark Milligan Stuart Musialik Jade North Paul Okon Sasho Petrovski Matt Thompson Ned Zelić

Brazil Mario Jardel Colombia Milton Rodriguez Denmark Jesper Håkansson Ecuador Edmundo Zura Italy Fabio Vignaroli Korea Republic Song Jin-Hyung

Netherlands Donny de Groot New Zealand Tim Brown Vaughan Coveny Steven Old Uruguay Mateo Corbo

Captains

• Ned Zelic (2005–06)
• Paul Okon (2006–07)
• Jade North (2007–08)
• Matt Thompson (2009–10)
• Michael Bridges (2010–11)
• Jobe Wheelhouse (2011-)

Managers

• Ian Crook (2001–04)
• Richard Money (2005–06)
• Nick Theodorakopoulos (2006)
• Gary van Egmond (2006–09)
• Branko Čulina (2009–2011)
• Craig Deans (2011) (Interim)
• Gary van Egmond (2011—)

Staff

Owner

• Nathan Tinkler: Owner

Board

• Ray Baartz : Head Chairman, Former Socceroo
• Troy Palmer : Executive Chairman, Owners Representative
• Joe Senkalski: Former Socceroo
• Keith Harris: Newcastle KB United Player
• Jeffrey Green: Former President Northern NSW Football
• Neil Jameson: Newcastle Herald Journalist
• Cheryl Salisbury: Former Matilda

Administration

• Robbie Middleby: CEO
• Mark Duffield-Thomas: Business Development Manager
• Richard Fisk: Membership and Commercial Manager
• Jarrod Johnstone: Commercial Manager
• Dani Potterh: Community Events Manager
• Craig Lambert: Marketing Manager
• Sarah Cukier: Administration Officer
• Brent Anderson: Youth Operations Manager
• Alison Senkalski: Women's Operations Manager
• Michael Bridges: International Football & Business Development Manager

Football department

• Gary van Egmond: Manager
• Craig Deans: Assistant Manager
• Marshall Soper: Skills Specialist Coach
• Bob Catlin (Interim): Goalkeeping Coach
• Michael Bridges: Strikers Coach
• Adam Waterson: Fitness Coach
• David Lowe: Head Scout
• Chad Ralston: Gear Steward
• Arthur Papas: Youth Team Manager
• James Pascoe: Youth Team Assistant Manager
• Clayton Zane: Women's Manager
• Joanne Peters: Women's Assistant Manager
• Bobby Evans: Youth/Women's Gear Steward

Medical

• Dr. Matthew McDonald: Club Doctor
• Adam Leslie: Physiotherapist
• Paul Hazell: Physiotherapist
• Rob Dingle: Youth/Women's Physiotherapist

Honours

• A-League Championship:
  • Champions: 2007–08
  • Semi-Finalists: 2005–06
  • Preliminary Finalists: 2006–07
  • Fair Play Award: 2007–08
• Individual Awards:
  • Coach of the Year: 2007–08 (Gary van Egmond)
  • Johnny Warren Medal: 2006–07 (Nick Carle), 2007–08 (Joel Griffiths)
  • Reebok Golden Boot: 2007–08 (Joel Griffiths)
  • Joe Marston Medal: 2007–08 (Andrew Durante)
• The QANTAS Challenge
  • Winners

Year by year history

A-League

Brackets indicate statistics including A-League finals.

Newcastle United Jets A-League History

Season	P	W	D	L	F	A	Teams	Minor Ladder Position	Finals Position	ACL Qualification	ACL Placing
2005–06	21 (23)	9 (9)	4 (5)	8 (9)	27 (28)	29 (31)	8	4th	Minor Semi-Final	DNQ	n/a
2006–07	21 (24)	8 (9)	6 (6)	7 (9)	32 (36)	30 (33)	8	3rd	Preliminary Final	DNQ	DNQ
2007–08	21 (25)	9 (12)	7 (7)	5 (6)	25 (31)	21 (26)	8	2nd	Champions	Qualified for 2009	DNQ
2008–09	21	4	6	11	21	39	8	8th	DNQ	DNQ	Round of 16
2009–10	27 (29)	10 (10)	4 (5)	13 (14)	33 (34)	45 (48)	10	6th	Minor Semi-Final	DNQ	DNQ
2010–11	30	9	8	13	29	33	11	7th	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
2011–12	5	3	0	2	7	7	10	TBD	TBD	TBD
Totals	141 (122)	49 (44)	35 (29)	57 (49)	167 (149)	235 (212)			Champions*	1**	Round of 16*

* Shows the best finish achieved ** Shows number of qualifications

Pre Season Cup

Newcastle United Jets Pre Season Cup History

Season	P	W	D	L	F	A	Teams	Placing
2005–06	3	0	2	1	3	4	8	7th
2006–07	6	0	2	4	5	10	8	4th
2007–08	5	3	0	2	5	7	8	5th
2008–09	3	0	2	1	1	2	8	5th

AFC Champions League

Newcastle United Jets AFC Champions League History

Season	P	W	D	L	F	A	Placing
2009	7	3	1	3	6	11	Round of 16

National Soccer League

The Jets competed in the last four seasons of the National Soccer League under the name Newcastle United

Brackets indicate statistics including NSL finals.

Newcastle United NSL History

Season	P	W	D	L	F	A	Teams	Minor Ladder Position	Finals Position
2000–01	28	5	9	14	37	56	15	14th	DNQ
2001–02	24 (27)	10 (11)	12 (12)	2 (4)	33 (36)	21 (26)	13	2nd	Preliminary Final
2002–03	24 (33)	10 (12)	7 (8)	7 (13)	37 (46)	25 (42)	13	4th	6th †
2003–04	24	6	6	12	18	33	13	11th	DNQ

† For season 2002–03 a round robin contest between the top six was undertaken to see who would be Grand Finalists. Newcastle were placed sixth and last in this competition, although a washed out game against Northern Spirit was never played as it did not affect the outcome of the top two.

Records

(All records as of round 19 2009–10)

Club

• Record victory:
  • Newcastle Jets 4 def. New Zealand Knights 0, 18 September 2005 (Round 4 – 2005–06)
  • Newcastle Jets 4 def. Melbourne Victory 0, 19 January 2007 (Round 21 – 2006–07)
  • Newcastle Jets 4 def. Perth Glory 0, 10 February 2011 (Round 27 – 2010–11)

• Record defeat:
  • Pohang Steelers 6 def. Newcastle Jets 0, 24 June 2009 (Round of 16 – AFC Champions League 2009)

• High scoring game (6)
  • Perth Glory 5 def. Newcastle Jets 1, 8 October 2005 (Round 7 – 2005–06)
  • Newcastle Jets 4 def. Adelaide United 2, 14 October 2005 (Round 8 – 2005–06)
  • Newcastle Jets 4 def. New Zealand Knights 2, 4 November 2005 (Round 11 – 2005–06)
  • Adelaide United 5 def. Newcastle Jets 1 8 September 2006 (Round 3 – 2006–07)
  • Perth Glory 3 drew Newcastle Jets 3, 14 January 2007 (Round 20 – 2006–07)
  • Perth Glory 3 drew Newcastle Jets 3, 22 August 2008 (Round 2 – 2008–09)
  • Newcastle Jets 4 def. Melbourne Victory 2, 19 December 2008 (Round 16 – 2008–09)
  • Pohang Steelers 6 def. Newcastle Jets 0, 24 June 2009 (Round of 16 – AFC Champions League 2009)
  • Newcastle Jets 5 def. Sydney FC 2, 5 February 2012 (Round 19 - 2011-12)

• A-League Streaks (Including Finals)
  • Winning Streak: 4
    • Round 19 2007–08 (4 January 2008) – Major Semi Final (leg 1) 2007–08 (27 January 2008)
    • Round 16 2009–10 (29 November 2009) – Round 20 2009–10 (20 December 2009) – Note: Round 19 played at a later date.
  • Losing Streak: 3
    • Round 5 2005–06 (25 September 2005) – Round 7 2005–06 (8 October 2005)
    • Round 17 2008–09 (26 December 2008) – Round 19 2008–09 (9 January 2009)
    • Round 6 2009–10 (12 September 2009) – Round 8 2009–10 (25 September 2009)
  • Games without losing: 7 Round 8 2005–06 (14 October 2005) – Round 14 2005–06 (25 November 2005)
  • Games without winning: 11 Round 20 2005–06 (26 January 2006) – Round 7 2006–07 (8 October 2006)

• A-league Regular Season Placings
  • Highest Placing 2nd 2007–08
  • Lowest Placing 8th 2008–09

• A-League Regular Season Attendance: 20,980 (vs Sydney FC – 1 January 2007)
• A-League Finals Series Attendance: 24,338 (vs Sydney FC – 2 February 2007)
• Record Average Regular Season Attendance: 13,209 (A-League 2007-08)
• Record Regular Season Total Attendance: 145,303 (A-League 2007-08)

Player

• Most A-League appearances: Tarek Elrich – 122
• Most goals in a game: (3)
  • Ante Milicic – New Zealand Knights v Newcastle Jets 4 November 2005 (Round 11 – 2005–06 season)
  • Matt Thompson – Newcastle Jets v Melbourne Victory 19 December 2008 (Round 16 – 2008–09 season)

• Most Goals in a Regular Season Joel Griffiths 12
• Record transfer fee received: A$650,000 for Nick Carle from Gençlerbirliği S.K.
• Most Yellow Cards in a season: (9)
  • Joel Griffiths (2006–07)
  • Adam Griffiths (2007–08)
• Most Red Cards in a Season: (2)
  • Mateo Corbo (2005–06)
  • Joel Griffiths (2006–07)
• Most Yellow Cards (Total): (17) Joel Griffiths
• Most Red cards (Total): (3) Joel Griffiths

Top goal scorers

	Name	Goals	Games	Average	Years
1	Joel Griffiths	28	59	0.47	2006–09
2	Labinot Haliti	16	89	??	2005–07, 2009–
3	Matt Thompson	15	111	0.14	2005–10
4	Mark Bridge	12	47	0.26	2005–08
5	Jeremy Brockie	10	34	0.29	2010
6	Vaughan Coveny	9	21	0.42	2005-2007
7	Ryan Griffiths	8	23	0.34	2010-
8	Jobe Wheelhouse	8	96	0.08	2005–
9	Ante Miličić	7	20	0.35	2005-06
10	Michael Bridges	7	35	0.20	2009-

External links

• Official club website
• Official A-League website

Preceded by Melbourne Victory

A-League Champions 2007/08

Succeeded by Melbourne Victory