Con Constantine

Cypriot-Australian businessman Con Constantine

Con Constantine (born 1 July 1945) is a Cypriot-Australian businessman and the current owner of the Australian football (soccer) club Newcastle United Jets.

Biography

Early life and rise to prominence

Con Constantine migrated to Australia with his parents and siblings from the town of Maroni, near Larnaka, Cyprus at the age of 10. At a young age, he started working in a takeaway food store before going on to sell houseplants.

In 1985 he built Parklea Markets (on the site of a former drive-in cinema), initially operating it as a plant nursery while still awaiting for the council's formal approval. After approval was granted, Parklea Markets quickly established itself as one of the premier retail destinations in Western Sydney.

In recent years, Constantine has expanded his interests to Newcastle, 150 km north of Sydney, where he is the owner of The Store. He recently purchased two Newcastle community papers, the Newcastle & Lake Macquarie Post and the Hunter Post, from Fairfax Media.

Constantine is a supporter of his local Blacktown Greek Orthodox parish, as well as other Sydney and Newcastle charities.

Newcastle United Jets

Mr Constantine is the owner and chairman of Newcastle United Jets, an Australian professional football (soccer) club based in Newcastle. The club currently competes in the A-League and plays its home games at EnergyAustralia Stadium (EAS). They are the reigning A-League Champions, after defeating the Template:ALeague CCM 1-0 in the A-League 2007-08 Grand Final.

The club was formed in 2000 when it joined the National Soccer League (NSL) as Newcastle United.

Constantine replaced Jets' manager Richard Money with an Australian, Nick Theodorakopoulos, for the 2006/2007 A-League season. Theodorakopoulos was sacked as manager after a lacklustre start to the season. The new coach is Gary van Egmond with support from Assistant Coach Mark Jones.

Constantine chose to bring in controversial striker Mario Jardel to Newcastle without asking the coach whether or not he wanted Jardel. The Brazilian legend had a successful career, but was out of shape and out of form by the time he arrived at the Jets.

He claims to have invested over $15 million dollars into the Newcastle Jets.

After an unsuccessful 2008/2009 season, a group of Newcastle supporters staged a small protest by hanging all their banners upside down. Constantine invited the leaders of the group to his corporate box, and allegedly threatened them. The incident was investigated by the Football Federation Australia.