Newcastle searching for a lifeline

FOOTBALL

Newcastle coach Rob Stanton is confident the troubled A-League club will be able to lock in new owners and look to brighter days.

The Jets’ season came to an end after rivals Central Coast scored late via Harrison Steele and Ryan Edmondson in their Saturday affair to condemn them to a 3-1 loss at McDonald Jones Stadium, but Stanton is optimistic about the road ahead.

Questions over Newcastle’s longterm sustainability have dogged Stanton since he took the reins of the club at the start of the season.

The Jets remain propped up by rival A-League Men clubs, after previous owner Martin Lee was stripped of the licence in January 2021 for failing to inject any money into the club or to pay off debts.

Denied a safety net by the Australian Professional Leagues, Newcastle are at risk of folding.

Their hopes were dashed when USbased consortium FC32 pulled out as a potential buyer in early April, but Stanton hinted at another deal coming close to finalising.

“I don’t want to say it’s done until you actually see a piece of paper and it’s signed, but I’m pretty confident that something is happening,” Stanton said after the match.

“I feel good. I think everyone’s feeling good, it would be nice to have it announced soon.”

Reflecting on his first season at the helm of the Jets, Stanton praised the club’s ability to work through their strife.

“If someone asked you at the start of the season that there’ll be sevennil, eight-nil, I guarantee you, Newcastle would have been mentioned but it never happened,” Stanton said.

“Our biggest defeat was four-nil to Sydney. It was on the back of three road trips, there and back on the same day.

“But the rest didn’t happen. I credit the team, the staff, the players who are working extremely hard to make sure we didn’t embarrass ourselves, or where people thought we would be embarrassed.

“I don’t think that was the case. I think we surprised a lot of people.”