The inevitable finally happened last week. Football Federation Australia (FFA) stripped the financially troubled Nathan Tinkler of his A-League license, thus ending his near five-year reign as owner of the Newcastle Jets.
This also ended the club’s tenure in the A-League, as David Gallop also terminated its license. For loyal Novocastrians it comes as no real surprise. Tinkler has had financial woes for almost all of his run in charge, especially recently which resulted in players and staffers repeatedly not being paid on time.
Newcastle will continue to have a team compete in the competition which will play its home matches at the same stadium, wear the same colours and more than likely (but yet to be confirmed) will run under the same name.
Most contracted players have been offered new deals and most are expected to be accepted. Sacked club legend Joel Griffiths even offered to play for free, but what is the big problem here?
The problem is that Newcastle has been represented in Australia’s first division since 1978, debuting as Newcastle KB United and has since gone through three other franchises. Newcastle Rosebuds and Breakers both followed, but it was not until 2000 when the club seemed to have financial stability.
Con Constantine created Newcastle United at the turn of the century and controlled the club until 2010. In that time he developed a club from scratch that would go on to win the 2008 A-League grand final.
On a personal level, I was devastated when I heard the news the club’s license would be terminated. I attended my first game in 1999. My father took me to Breakers Stadium to watch Newcastle face the Wollongong Wolves and I have been to almost every home game since.
I have grown up with the Newcastle United Jets and it has been sad to see how a one-time championship winning team has been run over the past five years or so.
Newcastle football played a big part of my childhood growing up in a small regional town. Being an attacker I modelled the way I (tried to) play on the likes of Nick Carle, Joel Griffiths and Ante Milicic.
They brought me great joy. The 2007-08 championship winning season was just reward for the thousands of Novocastrians who, after two NRL grand final victories, finally got to see their football team be crowned champions.
I had to go to school the next day but my parents allowed me to stay up until after midnight to wait for the Jets’ return home for celebrations at the historic Adamstown Oval.
They brought me sadness. The 12-year-old me was reduced to tears when we were eliminated by Adelaide in the 2006-07 preliminary final via the dreaded penalty shoot-out.
They taught me to fight for what I believed in. I was among the thousands of Jets fans who protested at the front of Hunter Stadium in April 2012 when Tinkler originally wanted to hand his license back to the FFA.
They brought me happiness and nostalgia. Being a Liverpool fan since before I can even remember, I was so excited to hear that we signed Emile Heskey in 2012. When I finally met him at a Jets function I could not hide my fan girl status and could not stop telling him how big a fan I was of him back in his Liverpool days.
And now devastation. Five seasons without qualifying for the finals, along with a wooden spoon and a mid-season debacle which included the sacking of five key players and several other members of the squad.
Now I feel despair. When I heard the news I was almost speechless. I told my mum they will never be terminated – less than five minutes later, the news came through. So I did whatever every young person does when they hear bad news. I vented to my friends and posted an angry Facebook status.
Through all the ups and downs, the fans continued to support the club over the years. In its 15 years we only claimed one championship and unfortunately two wooden spoons but we had plenty of other highlights, which included this goal from Nicky Carle.
Newcastle will still be represented in the A-League, but as a new entity, with new owners, a new team. It will be given a fresh start. This was headlined earlier this week when it was announced that former head coach Phil Stubbins will not be coaching the side next season.
The new franchise will bring in new emotions, new highlights and new lowlights as the rollercoaster of Newcastle football will continue in October. As a fan, I cannot wait for this to happen and I know I can speak on behalf of over 10,000 members who will undoubtedly renew with the new club. So as we say goodbye to the Newcastle Jets as we know them, there is one final thing to say. Thank you for the memories.
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