By David Gold
May 4 – Newcastle Jets will be competing in next season’s A-League after all, following a meeting between the club’s owner Nathan Tinkler and Football Federation Australia (FFA) chief Frank Lowy.
The Jets had pulled out last month after announcing they had failed to resolve a number of long standing issues with the A-League.
Hunter Sports Group (HSG), the company Tinkler owns and which holds the club’s A-League licence, cited the high cost of running the team, as well as a dispute with the FFA over who was responsible for the insurance liability of injured Jets’ player Jason Culina (pictured below), also an Australian international.
FFA had refused to accept Tinkler’s decision and said that Newcastle Jets had a club participation agreement which ran until 2020.
“It was a good opportunity for Nathan and I to meet face-to-face and resolve the issues that had affected the relationship between FFA and HSG,” Lowy said in a statement following the meeting between him and fellow billionaire Tinkler.
“FFA has made some concessions in good faith in order to resolve the matters.
“When Nathan first took on the Newcastle Jets, I welcomed his commitment to running a strong and successful A-League club in Newcastle on behalf of the community of the Hunter region.
“Today, my confidence is renewed over Nathan’s personal drive to make the Jets and the A-League successful.
“We agreed on a way forward that addresses the issues HSG have raised and we are now going to get on with developing the game together in a key region for football.
“With more than 10,000 Jets members and an average crowd this season over 12,000, HSG has demonstrated its ability to engage with the community and to run a successful team and club.”
Of the meeting with Lowy, Tinkler said: “I welcomed the opportunity to meet and discuss these issues in person.
“We now have a way forward and I remain committed to ensuring the Newcastle Jets is one of the most successful clubs [in the A-League].
“I am delighted to be able to support the Newcastle Jets on behalf of football fans in the Hunter region and to continue to build a strong relationship with the community.
“When I first made this commitment, I did it on behalf of the community and I am committed to further developing football and sport in a community I grew up in and am proud of.”
The news that Jets will be in the league next season means there will be ten teams competing, a boost for the FFA.
The FFA had revoked the licence of Gold Coast United owner Clive Palmer following a dispute with him last season, and subsequently announced a new team would be set up in West Sydney to ensure the league had ten clubs.
Since the A-League started seven years ago, Newcastle Jets have won it once in 2008.
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