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The sport of soccer (association football) has had a long history in the Newcastle, New South Wales and the wider Hunter Region. The area has had a number of teams involved in national competitions from 1978 through to the present day, being represented by the Newcastle Jets in the A-League.
Previous NSL clubs have included Newcastle KB United, Adamstown Rosebuds (as Newcastle Rosebud United) and the Newcastle Breakers. In 2000 Newcastle United were formed who survived the end of the NSL in 2004 and currently play in the A-League competition.
In 1951 a group of immigrants from different backgrounds from the Greta camp came together to form a soccer team.
"And so the Austral club were born. Originally accepted into the north NSW second division, the club eventually rose to prominence. They won their first northern NSW first division grand final in 1966 and followed suit in 1969. Continuing to thrive throughout the seventies and eighties, Austral searched for higher-ranked company. In 1988 Newcastle Austral entered the NSW state league first division, reaching the semi-finals at their first attempt!" [1]
Full name | Newcastle KB United | ||
---|---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | KB | ||
Founded | 1977 | ||
Dissolved | 1984 | ||
Ground | International Sports Centre, Newcastle | ||
League | National Soccer League | ||
The first Newcastle-based team to play in a national league was Newcastle KB United which was formed in 1978, one year after the inception of the National Soccer League (NSL). [1] KB United had a strong following in their initial seasons with a crowd of over 15,000 attending the first home game at the International Sports Centre on 5 March 1978, with fans turning out to see a 4–1 loss to Hakoah Eastern Suburbs [2] During the first seasons crowds were good including a record crowd of over 18,000 in 1979 with season averages around 10,000. English star Bobby Charlton and local prodigy Craig Johnston both played at least one game for KB United.
KB United were generally a mid to low table team although they did have some success in the national cup competition in 1984, travelling to Melbourne to defeat Melbourne Knights 1–0 to claim their only piece of silverware. [1]
Due to an poor team performance and increasing financial troubles KB United's NSL licence was taken over in April 1984 by Adamstown Rosebuds who renamed themselves Newcastle Rosebud United while they played in the NSL. The Rosebuds could not return to prominence in the National League and were subsequently relegated in 1986. [1]
Brackets indicate total number of teams in competition
Year | Position | W | D | L | GF | GA | Cup Pos | Ave Home Crowd |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1978 | 11 (14) | 6 | 10 | 10 | 33 | 40 | =3 (32) | 8500 |
1979 | 6 (14) | 11 | 9 | 6 | 43 | 30 | =3 (32) | 10200 |
1980 | 6 (14) | 12 | 6 | 8 | 32 | 31 | =9 (32) | 6400 |
1981 | 10 (16) | 11 | 8 | 11 | 41 | 41 | =29 (36) | 5300 |
1982 | 12 (16) | 10 | 7 | 13 | 43 | 52 | =9 (16) | 4400 |
1983 | 5 (16) | 14 | 7 | 9 | 45 | 26 | =5 (16) | 2900 |
1984 † ‡ | 8 (12) | 11 | 4 | 13 | 35 | 52 | 1 (24) | 1700 |
1985 † ‡ | 12 (12) | 4 | 4 | 14 | 20 | 45 | =3 (24) | 1500 |
1986 † ‡ | 6 (12) | 9 | 6 | 7 | 36 | 33 | =9 (32) | 1800 |
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Full name | Newcastle Breakers FC | ||
---|---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | The Breakers | ||
Founded | 1991 | ||
Dissolved | 2000 | ||
Ground | Breakers Stadium, Newcastle | ||
Manager | Lee Sterrey | ||
League | National Soccer League | ||
The licence was then taken over in 1987 by an organisation who named themselves Newcastle Football Ltd. They played in the NSW State League after Newcastle Rosebuds were relegated from the Northern Conference of the National Soccer League. 1988 saw the move to the Newcastle Australs. As Newcastle Australs, they also played in the NSW State League until 1991. Five years without a national representative, the Newcastle Breakers were then formed out of that NSW state league club Newcastle Australs. The Breakers played home games at Breakers Stadium in Birmingham Gardens, a suburb in the far west of the city. Since the Breakers' demise in 2000 the stadium was left dormant until 2005 when it was redeveloped into a greyhound racing facility. Aside from the main grandstand and lighting fixtures all infrastructure from the Breakers has been removed. [4]
Brackets indicate total number of teams in competition
Year | Position | W | D | L | GF | GA | Cup Pos | Ave Home Crowd |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1991-92 | 11 (14) | 7 | 8 | 11 | 28 | 39 | =8 (14) | 4200 |
1992-93 | 8 (14) | 10 | 8 | 8 | 38 | 29 | =9 (14) | 3700 |
1993-94 | 12 (14) | 5 | 8 | 13 | 28 | 47 | =8 (14) | 2800 |
1995-96 | 12 (12) | 4 | 5 | 24 | 35 | 77 | 2 (12) | 3700 |
1996-97 | 11 (14) | 7 | 9 | 10 | 40 | 46 | ? | ? |
1997-98 | 13 (14) | 4 | 9 | 13 | 30 | 50 | ? | ? |
1998-99 | 8 (15) | 11 | 7 | 10 | 29 | 33 | ? | ? |
1999-2000 | 7 (16) | 14 | 9 | 11 | 44 | 44 | ? | ? |
Note: The Breakers did not play in the 1994–95 season of the NSL.
Newcastle United was formed in 2000 by Cypriot-Australian businessman Con Constantine from the remnants of the Newcastle Breakers club. [6] The Breakers was dissolved when Soccer Australia revoked its NSL licence 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 EnergyAustralia Stadium.
Brackets indicate total number of teams in competition
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Newcastle United Strip 2000-04 |
Year | Position | W | D | L | GF | GA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000-01 | 14 (15) | 5 | 9 | 14 | 37 | 56 |
2001-02 † | 2 (13) | 10 | 12 | 2 | 33 | 21 |
2002-03 ‡ | 4 (13) | 10 | 7 | 7 | 37 | 25 |
2003-04 | 11 (13) | 6 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 33 |
Full name | Newcastle United Jets Football Club | ||
---|---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | Jets | ||
Founded | 2000 | ||
Ground | EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle | ||
Capacity | 33,000 | ||
Manager | ![]() | ||
League | A-League | ||
2011-12 | TBD | ||
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 English club Newcastle United.
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.
Following the demise of the NSL in 2003-04 the Jets underwent a major overhaul. With all player contracts null and void following the end of the NSL each club had to recruit from scratch. Newcastle assembled an impressive squad with players such as Jade North, Nick Carle and notably, former Socceroo star Ned Zelic who became the inaugural captain. Englishman Richard Money was appointed coach with Gary van Egmond (former assistant to Ian Crook) his assistant. Rumour about the appointment of former England and Australia manager Terry Venables proved unfounded. [8]
After the first regular season the Jets finished in 4th place and lost a two legged playoff with eventual runners up Central Coast Mariners. Following this, coach Richard Money left the club and was replaced by former NSL coach Nick Theodorakopoulos. Ned Zelic left the club but was replaced with players like Joel Griffiths, Paul Okon and Colombian Milton Rodriguez. Due to a poor start to the season Theodorakopoulos was sacked and his assistant van Egmond took over. The club saw a vast improvement over the rest of the regular season and finished third. Upon defeating Sydney FC in the minor semi-final the Jets then went on to lose the preliminary final to Adelaide United on penalties following a 1–1 draw.
Season three saw Okon retire and Rodriguez, and Carle leave leaving the Jets with a depleted squad. Con Constantine brought in former European Golden Boot winner Mario Jardel but he was clearly well past his prime and did not last the season out. Nevertheless, with a number of young players the Jets finished 2nd on goal difference after the regular season and were eventually crowned Champions after defeating now arch rivals Central Coast Mariners 1–0 in the Grand Final. A first for a Newcastle soccer team. In season 2008-09 the Jets will represent the A-League in the AFC Asian Champions League.
Brackets indicate statistics including A-League finals.
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 | Round of 16 |
2008-09 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8th | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ |
Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian Professional Leagues (APL),. The club was formed in 2000 when it joined the National Soccer League (NSL) and was one of only three former NSL clubs to join in the formation of the A-League.
Newcastle International Sports Centre, known as McDonald Jones Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose sports stadium located in Newcastle, Australia. The ground is home to the Newcastle Knights and Newcastle Jets FC (A-League). It is owned by the Government of New South Wales and is administered by Venues NSW. Due to past sponsorship deals, the ground has been previously known as Marathon Stadium, EnergyAustralia Stadium, Ausgrid Stadium and Hunter Stadium. Newcastle International Sports Centre is also known as Newcastle Stadium when in use during AFC competitions due to conflicting sponsorship reasons.
The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, the organising body in New South Wales. The league is a subdivision of the second tier National Premier Leagues (NPL), which sits below the national A-League. Prior to becoming a subdivision of the NPL in 2013, the league was previously known as the NSW Premier League.
The 2005–06 A-League was the 29th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the inaugural season of the A-League. After over 12 months without a national professional club competition since the close of the 2003–04 National Soccer League season, the first match in the A-League was played on 26 August 2005. The competition was made up of a triple round robin league stage before a championship playoff featuring the top four teams.
Ante Milicic ( AN-tay MIL-ə-chitch; Croatian: Ante Miličić ; is an Australian soccer manager and former professional player.
Nick Theodorakopoulos is an Australian soccer coach.
Gary Rudy Peter van Egmond is an Australian former soccer player and former head coach of Newcastle Jets in the A-League Men and Women.
Soccer in New South Wales is a popular participation and spectator sport. It is organised and managed on a state level by two separate governing bodies; Football NSW and Northern New South Wales Football which are affiliated at a national level to Football Federation Australia.
Newcastle KB United are a defunct Australian association football club. They participated in the National Soccer League from 1978 until early in the 1984 season.
Mark Sean Jones is a former Australian association football player. He last served as manager of the Newcastle Jets.
Graham Jennings is a former Australian association footballer, who played predominantly as a defender and was renowned for his speed, earning him the nickname flash. After a distinguished club and international career spanning twenty years, Jennings was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1999, receiving the Award of Distinction. Graham is married to wife Louise, and has three children.
The History of the Newcastle Jets FC starts at their inception in 2000 by businessman Con Constantine after the collapse of the city's previous football club the Newcastle Breakers. The Breakers were dissolved when Soccer Australia revoked its NSL licence 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 EnergyAustralia Stadium.
The 1996–97 NSL Cup was the 21st and final edition of the NSL Cup, which was the main national association football knockout cup competition in Australia. The NSL Cup was sponsored by Johnnie Walker and known as the Johnnie Walker Cup for sponsorship purposes.
The 1984 season was the seventh and final season in the history of Newcastle KB United. It was also the seventh and final season in the National Soccer League. They were replaced by Newcastle Rosebud United after Round 5 of the 1984 National Soccer League. Newcastle Rosebud United finished 8th in their National Soccer League season and won the NSL Cup Final against Melbourne Knights.