I know this as I’m in regular contact with owner Con Constantine due to my media commitments in Newcastle.
There is no doubt Constantine is as passionate about football as any football nut I know. So much so is that he has spent millions of his own coin to keep the flag of the round ball code flying in the Hunter.
He loves being involved in football but his love for owning a club is starting to wilt. He understands that football clubs struggle to make money, but seeing bail-outs to other clubs – while he receives next to no help – has crossed his line in the sand.
He has simply had enough.
I did a story on the problem the club had leading into its Asian Champions League campaign, where the Players Football Association was brought in to assure the Jets players of an overdue $100,000 superannuation payment, which was eventually paid months later.
Constantine played the situation to his own tune, labeling the PFA as troublemakers, while virtually echoing the same words as what’s happening at present, demanding Football Federation Australia to hand out money to help his club.
‘Why should I be disadvantaged because of other clubs struggling,” he said.
Since that situation, more handouts have occurred, further angering the Jets boss and keeping the A-League competition looking like a sturdy vessel from the outside.
Problem is, in reality, it has been more like the Titanic one hour after hitting the iceberg.
Full-steam ahead it seems for the FFA, with more teams planned down the track, which will eat into a thinning player stock that has already deteriorated the standard of competition.
‘If Adelaide United can’t make a profit after finishing runners up in the Asian Champions League, then what chance has anyone else in the A-League,” Constantine said after Adelaide’s owners decided to move on.
He has a point.
One thing the clubs don’t bring to the general public’s attention is that they are told to be self sufficient but can’t touch sponsorship which happens to rival the league’s existing host of contributors.
For example, as there’s a car company which is the major sponsor, no other car dealerships or companies can be looked at, narrowing the field.
Another would be the drink which Harry Kewell is seen in kicking around in a television commercial. Going to another drink company is simply out of the question.
Yes they have to protect these names, but it makes finding sponsorship dollars a tough job for any of the club’s hard working marketing people.
Money is tight these days and when you consider that Sydney couldn’t keep a basketball side in the NBL for a few seasons after some successful years winning – yes winning – championships, yet the league had two clubs in the north of Queensland, it just shows how important money is, as it is everywhere else in the world.
Getting back to Constantine, there is no doubt the man who was named in BRW magazine as being worth $100 million dollars in 2009 is trying to flex his muscles.
Yes he is asset rich, but his cash flow is running dry.
Will his stamping up and down work? Well that remains to be seen as I, a Novocastrian, sadly feel that if the owner walks away there won’t be an FFA rescue mission as there was for North Queensland and others.
Again, you have to ask why?
Football in the Hunter is on the increase like never before. In some cases there aren’t enough grounds to cater for the growth of junior clubs, and with rugby league giving itself a constant black-eye off the park, this is when the sport of football should be going for the jugular.
Con Constantine has his faults, but he doesn’t have to stay, holding up a city’s A-League flagship.
Time will tell if this is just another problem which will be put aside until it raises its ugly head again or is treated as seriously as it should be.
Whatever the scenario, I think this is more than just a Jets problem. It’s a real problem right across the board.
Constantine is just bringing it out.
Ref: https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/tough-times-just-beginning
