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See also: Newcastle United (disambiguation)
Newcastle United Jets
Newcastle United Jets logo
Full nameNewcastle United Jets Football Club
Nickname(s)Jets
Founded2000
GroundHunter Stadium
Capacity33,000
OwnerNathan Tinkler
ChairmanRay Baartz
Head CoachGary Van Egmond
LeagueA-League
2012–13A-League, 8th
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 Template:ALeague CCM 1–0 in the 2007–08 Grand Final.[1] 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,[2] and was 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.[3] 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.[4] 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, which marked the start of the clubs' 'Gold Era', in reference to the gold jerseys worn by the players from 2005-2011. 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 Tinkler's assumption of ownership, which was supposed to last until at least 2020, a football advisory board was set up in place of Constantine's autocratic system of ownership.

In April 2012 Tinkler, with mounting financial problems, handed back the Newcastle Jets A-league licence to the Football Federation Australia (FFA).[5] The FFA 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.[6] A few weeks later, after face-to-face talks between Tinkler and FFA chairman Frank Lowy, it was announced that Tinkler would remain the owner of the club.[7]

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".[8] 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."

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

2012/2013 A-League Season

At the end of the 2011/2012 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 2012/2013 pre-season with wins over defending champions Brisbane Roar and rivals Central Coast Mariners. On 21 September 2012, the Newcastle Jets signed former England international and Premier League giant Emile Heskey as their marquee for the 2012/2013 season. Heskey signed for a one year deal but hopes to extend his stay. He will wear 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 will wear the captains arm band for the rest of the season. The Jets finished 8th missing out on the finals for the 3rd year on a row.

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 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. The clash jersey for the 2011/12 season was revealled to be a black and white, with the same design of the home kit. The Jets wore these kits from October 2011 - March 2013, at the conclusion of the 2012/13 A-League Season. It was after the conclusion of that season in 2013 when it was announced that Newcastle Jets season membership holders would vote for a new away jersey. The first of three options was an emerald jersey with a brown and white stripe going diagonally across the shirt, based on KB United, a team that represented Newcastle in the NSL. The second was a white jersey that featured red down the sides, and blue on the back at the base of the shirt. The final option was a dark grey jersey, with a red and blue diagonal stripe, the same design as the first option. After members chose the emerald green jersey, the club revealed a new home kit. Similar to the home shirt from the previous two seasons, the red and blue stripes became slightly thinner, featuring five stripes on the front of the jersey, opposed to three stripes on the old kit. The stripes were largely replaced on the back of the shirt with a solid blue, yet stripes still featured at the bottom. The three jets that are on the clubs crest are now also seen on the back of both the home and away kits, located just underneath the neck.

Stadium

Main article: Newcastle International Sports Centre
Western stand of then Ausgrid Stadium

Hunter Stadium, at the Newcastle International Sports Centre, was the home ground of the Newcastle United Jets and is the home of 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.[9] 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.[10] Prior to that game the football attendance record for a match in Newcastle stood for 52 years, set when Australia played Rapid Vienna.

This upgrade is a result of Australia gaining rights to hold the finals of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia between 4 to 26 January 2015. Newcastle may be one of the venues for this event, and minimum standards set by FIFA mean EAS is inadequate for this role. The newest upgrade involved 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 cost around $60 million, of which $50 million was provided by the State Government.[11] 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

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.

A recent addition in past seasons has been the small flamboyant and good humoured group, “Zad’s Lads”, who are positioned behind the goal at the southern end of the stadium. Originally named “Topper’s Troopers” and sporting large afro wigs, the group suffered a blow to their image with the departure of their namesake to a rival club. Now named “Zad’s Lads” in honour of the current Jets captain they are easily identifiable by their bald caps.

Rivalries

Due to its geographical proximity, Newcastle shares a strong rivalry with two out of the three 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,[12] 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.[13] 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.
  • 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 defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Australia AUS Ben Kennedy
2 DF Australia AUS Scott Neville
3 MF Australia AUS Zenon Caravella
4 DF Australia AUS Josh Mitchell
5 DF Netherlands NED Kew Jaliens
6 MF Australia AUS Ben Kantarovski
7 MF Australia AUS James Brown
8 MF Australia AUS Ruben Zadkovich (Captain)
9 FW England ENG Emile Heskey
10 FW Australia AUS Nathan Burns (on loan from Incheon United)
11 DF Australia AUS Connor Chapman
12 MF Australia AUS Joshua Brillante
No. Pos. Nation Player
13 DF Australia AUS Sam Gallaway
14 DF Australia AUS Taylor Regan
15 DF Australia AUS Craig Goodwin
16 FW Australia AUS Joey Gibbs
17 FW Australia AUS James Virgili
18 MF Australia AUS Jacob Pepper
19 FW England ENG Michael Bridges
20 GK Australia AUS Mark Birighitti
21 DF Australia AUS Andrew Hoole
22 FW Australia AUS Adam Taggart
— DF Netherlands NED Kew Jalians

Youth squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
24 MF Australia AUS Mitchell Oxborrow
25 MF Australia AUS Mitch Cooper
30 GK Australia AUS John Solari
— GK Australia AUS Nicholas Hartnett
— DF Australia AUS Nick Cowburn
— DF Australia AUS Blake Green
— DF Australia AUS Mason Campbell
— DF Australia AUS Luke Remington
— MF Australia AUS Brandon Lundy
— MF Australia AUS Josh Murray
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Australia AUS Beau McDonald
— MF Australia AUS Bobby Russell
— MF Australia AUS Reece Papas
— MF Australia AUS Nicholas Pepper
— MF Australia AUS Michael Kantarovski
— MF Australia AUS Michael Finlayson
— FW Australia AUS Radovan Pavicevic
— FW Australia AUS Koh Satake
— FW Australia AUS Kale Bradbery
— FW Australia AUS Stevan Ilic

Captains

Head coachs

Staff

[14]

Former Advisory Board Members

  • Australia Ray Baartz : Head Chairman, Former Socceroo (still involved with the club)
  • Australia Troy Palmer : Executive Chairman, Owners Representative
  • Australia Joe Senkalski: Former Socceroo (no longer involved with the club)
  • Australia Keith Harris: Newcastle KB United Player (no longer involved with the club)
  • Australia Jeffrey Green: Former President Northern NSW Football (no longer involved with the club)
  • Australia Neil Jameson: Newcastle Herald Journalist (no longer involved with the club)
  • Australia Cheryl Salisbury: Former Matilda and Jets W-League player(no longer involved with the club)

Administration

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

Football department

Medical

  • Australia Dr. Matthew McDonald: Club Doctor
  • Australia Adam Leslie: Physiotherapist
  • Australia Paul Hazell: Physiotherapist
  • Australia Rob Dingle: Physiotherapist

Honours

Domestic

League

Champions (1): 2006-07

Cups

Minor Trophies

Wooden Spoon

  • Winners (1): 2008-09

Continental

Asia

Worldwide

  • The QANTAS Challenge
    • Winners - Newcastle Jets 2 def. L.A. Galaxy 1 (Saturday 27 November 2011)

Individual Honours

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 24 10 4 10 34 35 10 7th DNQ DNQ
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

Australian A-League

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

See also Australian clubs in the AFC Champions League#Newcastle Jets

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

  • 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
    • 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
  • 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

Top goal scorers

Name Goals Games Years
1 Australia Joel Griffiths 28 59 2006–09
2 Australia Ryan Griffiths 18 53 2010–2013
3 Australia Labinot Haliti 16 89 2005–07, 2009–12
4 Australia Matt Thompson 15 111 2005–10
5 Australia Mark Bridge 12 47 2005–08
6 England Michael Bridges 11 53 2009–
7 New Zealand Jeremy Brockie 10 34 2010
8 New Zealand Vaughan Coveny 9 21 2005–07
9 England Emile Heskey 9 23 2012-
10 Australia Sasho Petrovski 8 35 2009–11

References

  1. ^ Ritson, John (24 February 2008). "Jets 1 – Mariners 0: Minute by Minute". AU FourFourTwo. Retrieved 12 April 2008.
  2. ^ "Newcastle Jets History". Newcastle United Jets FC. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
  3. ^ Cockerill, Michael (2 November 2007). "Con's old style autocracy the wind beneath Jets' wings". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 November 2007.
  4. ^ Thompson, T: "One Fantastic Goal", pages 300–302, ABC Books/Griffin Press Australia, 2006, ISBN 0 7333 1898 3
  5. ^ Rigney, Sam (11 April 2012). "Jets fans feel their hearts 'ripped out'". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  6. ^ "Tinkler cannot hand back licence, says Ben Buckley". Sydney Morning Herald. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  7. ^ Cockerill, Michael (1 May 2012). "Tinkler back as Newcastle Jets owner". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  8. ^ http://www.newcastlejets.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=41234
  9. ^ "Minor Semi Final – 2nd Leg – 2 February 2007". Football Federation Australia. 2 February 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
  10. ^ "Newcastle Jets V Sydney – 1 January 2007". Football Federation Australia. 1 January 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
  11. ^ Cronshaw, Damon (27 May 2008). "State's $20m Grandstand". The Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 27 May 2008.
  12. ^ "Nick sick over tackle". Fox Sports. 10 May 2005. Retrieved 14 September 2007. [dead link]
  13. ^ SBS The World Game – Griffiths settles fiery derby
  14. ^ Board and Management
Preceded by A-League Champions
2007/08 		Succeeded by

Template:AFC Champions League 2009

Template:Link GA

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