Jet's going going gone??

FFA Newcastle to join FFA Fury and FFA Adelaide and formerly FFA Perth.

Tough game away at Adelaide too - what chance of the Jets crashing and burning on Sept 11?

from twitter
jets to stay on but under new owner Nathan Tinkler

Lack of inclusion finally cost Con control of his beloved football club

BY JAMES GARDINER
23 Sep, 2010 12:00 AM
CON Constantine will be remembered as the man who brought a national soccer championship to the Hunter.
That is his legacy.

From a pure football sense, that magical moment on February 24, 2008, when the Jets held aloft the A-League championship trophy was the pinnacle, the holy grail.

It brought an end to 30 years of heartache for a region that has produced some of the country's best players but was without a title to hang it on.

But like a coach who has lost his dressing room, the larger than life owner of Parklea Markets was unable to hold the Newcastle community.

Through his business practices and dictatorial style, he disenfranchised the people who matter most - the fans.

Right or wrong, the Jets were seen as Con's club, not the community's club.

By his reckoning, he has poured $15 million into the Jets. On that basis, he had every right to run it the way he wanted.

Ultimately, he could not pay the bills and the Newcastle corporate community was not about to come running to his aid.

Constantine is a unique package. He divides opinion. You either love him or hate him.

Yesterday's announcement was nearly 10 years to the day (September 28, 2000) since he formed Newcastle United after coming to the rescue of the financially crippled Newcastle Breakers.

For the past five years, the Jets have been a part of Australian soccer's new frontier - the A-League.

There have been some spectacular achievements.

The dramatic 1-0 victory over arch enemies Central Coast Mariners in the 2007-08 A-League grand final will go down as one of the greatest days in the Hunter's rich sporting history.

Thousands of Novocastrians turned Sydney Football Stadium into a sea of gold.

And boy, did they party when Mark Bridge struck that crisp drive past Mariners goalkeeper Danny Vukovic to seal the 1-0 triumph and wipe away years of anguish.

The premiership triumph brought with it qualification for the Asian Champions League and a new stage on which to show off the Hunter.

And again, the Jets soared, beating teams with bigger names and much bigger budgets, to progress past the group stage, only to be knocked out by eventual winners Pohang Steelers.

Apart from the title, Constantine, through the Jets, has provided the opportunity for youngsters Ben Kantarovski, Jobe Wheelhouse, Ben Kennedy, Stuart Musialik, Jason Hoffman and others to compete at the elite level without leaving their home town.

Championship-winning coach Gary van Egmond may still have been working as a sales representative for a soft-drink company if not given a chance by Constantine.

But for all the success, there has been a long list of poor decisions and public relations disasters.

The recruitment of fallen Brazilian star Mario Jardel and Constantine's subsequent insistence that he played made the Jets the laughing stock of the league.

His decision to let grand final heroes Stuart Musialik, Andrew Durante and Bridge go was deemed inexcusable by large sections of the supporter base.

At one point Constantine threatened to throw members of the Squadron supporters club off the balcony of the Andrew Johns Stand at EnergyAustralia Stadium after they criticised his management style.

But while you can question Constantine's methods, his passion for the Jets is not in dispute.

It has been at the forefront from the moment he bought the licence, paying $319,000, for Newcastle to compete in the old National Soccer League after it was withdrawn from David Hall, who was later declared bankrupt.

In his opening address, Constantine boldly declared: "I'm going to make a club that everyone in Newcastle will be proud of. The only way we are going to make it happen is for everyone to unite.

"If we are all united, we are going to stand and we are going to go forward."

Yesterday, as he presided over a bitter and tearful press conference at his headquarters in The Store, a banner hung from the table proclaiming "United as one".

Sadly, that was no longer the case.

First he lost the Newcastle business sector.

Then he lost the Newcastle football fraternity.

Now he has lost his team.

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/sport/football-soccer/lack-of-inclusion-finally-cost-con-control-of-his-beloved-football-club/1949421.aspx?storypage=0

Knights, Jets could form super club

Barry Toohey From: The Daily Telegraph September 23, 2010

THE Newcastle Knights and Newcastle Jets could form a new super club following mining magnate Nathan Tinkler's decision to take over the city's A-League football licence.
In a stunning development yesterday, which ends weeks of uncertainty over the Jets' A-League future, Football Federation Australia has stripped former owner Con Constantine of the club's licence and handed it to Tinkler.

It's understood the FFA and Tinkler had been in secret negotiations in the past few weeks regarding a possible change of ownership for the club.

Tinkler's interest in soccer has come out of left field.

A huge player in the racing industry, his other chief sporting interest is rugby league where he is a significant sponsor of the Newcastle Knights.

There has been widespread speculation his financial involvement with the Knights will escalate in 2011 with the club exploring a range of private investment possibilities, including part-privatisation, to shore up its own financial future.

Knights CEO Steve Burraston, a close friend of Tinkler, yesterday refused to rule out the possibility of the two Newcastle sporting flagship clubs joining forces at some point in the future. He said there was a lot of merit in merging the two clubs' administrations and running the two operations from a central point at EnergyAustralia Stadium.

"While we have not had any formal discussions on the matter, you would never say never," Burraston said of a potential merger. "Financially, it could make a lot of sense.

"One is a winter sport and the other a summer sport and there are examples of successful models like this overseas.

"It would obviously hinge on what Nathan's plans are for the Jets and the thoughts of the Knights board and members.

"Our chairman has stated on several occasions that if the need to raise capital arises, then we are happy to assess all available models."

It's understood Tinkler and Burraston have spoken several times about the future of the Knights and Newcastle sport in general at a national level.

"We both have a genuine concern about losing national sporting teams from Newcastle and I'm really pleased he has stepped in to save the Jets," he said.

"He will be great for the Jets and the city."


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/knights-jets-super-club-on-the-cards/story-e6frexnr-1225928000850 Knights, Jets could form super club

That idea about merging into one club doesn't seem like such a daft one.

How keen will the rugby league community in the area be on that, I wonder?  Especially consider the league team would bring in more fans/money than the football team - so I'd suspect anyway.

Who is Nathan Tinkler?

23 Sep 2010 | 00:00-David Basheer


Nathan Tinkler is a paradox: a big man with big achievements in a short period of time, but a man who shuns publicity, preferring to act rather than speak.

Tinkler emerged from obscurity to amass a $441 million fortune, earned over two years of the some of most astute investment in the history of the Australian mining industry.

The 34-year-old converted his coal dollars into an equine passion that has taken Australian horse racing by storm. His Patinack racing and breeding operation is a major player in an industry dominated by the Gulf billions of Darley and the Irish colossus Coolmore.

Now Tinkler is in charge of the Newcastle Jets in what the football community hopes will represent a long term commitment to the club�s survival and growth.

Exactly what Tinkler will bring to the club and the Hunter football region in general, apart from substantial financial clout, is the crucial question and one that has a sharper focus given Con Constantine�s disappointing exit and a litany of uncertainty that shrouds the A League.

Not for the first time, I spoke to Nathan Tinkler this week. I share a passion in horse racing and was part of a group which bought a Tinkler/Patinack horse a few months ago. (Now if only the nag would win something)!

Tinkler described his move into the A League as an �act of community� and �a duty to Newcastle and the Hunter region.� He said: �with over 50,000 registered kids playing football in the Hunter, I could not stand by and see the Newcastle Jets fold.�

Strong, emotive and direct, Tinkler spoke of a proud region and the importance of engaging the local kids and building from the grassroots up.

In just a few words, Tinkler, a young man with no football pedigree, summed up the missing link in our game between the grassroots and the A-League: converting the youth, football�s most innocent and passionate group into supporters and stakeholders of the A League. That remains the greatest challenge in the Australian professional game.

The very thing that Tinkler has touched on is the glaring weakness in the A League, engagement. For this to happen FFA must gain control of the grassroots of football from the State Federations.

According to an FFA insider, that is close to happening, but holding up the process is an agreement with Football NSW.

Let�s hope the greater good of the game can rise above the politics which weighs it down.

But control is one thing, what you do with it is quite another. It�s the make or break of the game down under.

Let�s hope FFA makes the hard calls for the betterment of the game and starts really listening to what the football community wants.

Tinkler is the first to admit that football is more an interest than a passion. But he was also quick to point out that unlike his predecessor Con Constantine, he doesn�t want any voice in the football decisions of the club.

But Nathan Tinkler did not amass his fortune by suffering fools, he would not commit to a long term ownership of the club and although he didn�t say it directly, I suspect there will be a testing out period of FFA and the direction it may take in the most trying period of the A League�s short history.

It�s not good enough to ask whether Newcastle simply wants an A League club .

The challenge ahead is to re-engage Novocastrians. �Newcastle deserves a top class A-League team and we are keen to help rebuild the club for the city,� said Tinkler, who�s rebuild refers to the loss of faith among the corporate sector and fans of the Newcastle Jets.

Constantine invested his money, 15 million dollars over 10 years, amid sweeping changes in the game. He helped bring a national title to a football-proud region but in my view, his business conduct in recent months has tarnished that legacy.

Make no mistake, the A League needs owners like Tinkler.

Why? Because he has community in his make up, not because he feels he has to, or contrives to, but because that is who he is. But community alone won�t see Nathan Tinkler remain as a long term player.

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/david-basheer/blog/1024001/Who-is-Nathan-Tinkler

Actually seems a really good idea to me.� Would be plenty of economies of scale savings, should be able to negotiate a really good stadium deal due to full year guaranteed usage.� As long as one code isn't treated like dirt within the relationship it could be a really positive move.

Newcastle Herald wrote:

JAMES GARDINER
15 Oct, 2010 02:41 PM

Newcastle Jets will throw open the gates to the first 10,000 fans for the match against Melbourne Heart on Sunday, October 31.

The ��Community Day�� is one of a raft of incentives and initiatives aimed at reconnecting the Jets with the community.

In a move that will make Jets games the most affordable of any national sporting competition the the club has introduced a series of new ticket prices.


�Children under the age 15 will be given a season pass.

�A family pass for the final 11 home games, which includes reserved seating in a designated bay, is $100.

�General admission tickets for the remainder of 2010 will cost $10.
All offers are only available by registering online at the Newcastle Jets's website.

The new ticket prices were the feature of a new advertising campaign that encourages the community to ��Be A Part of It��.

The club also announced a new partnership with the Hunter Medical Research Institution.

The Jets will display the institute�s logo on the front of the playing strip.

In addition to the exposure the Jets will donate $5000 for every goal scored at home and $2500 for every goal scored away to HMRI.

The partnership is the first of its kind and, going on last season�s goal haul, should raise at least $110,000 for the charity.

Jets executive chairman Ken Edwards said yesterday�s announcements were all a part of reconnecting the club with the community.

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/sport/football-soccer/jets-throw-open-gates-for-match-against-melbourne/1970115.aspx

The Newcastle Jets have pulled off a major coup by signing former England international Francis Jeffers as a guest player.