Tag Archives: squadron

Squadron

BLOG: Why I Sing

When the Newcastle Jet’s won the A-league Grand-Final in 2008, I had never set foot in the Squadron. I had been to Jet’s games, I remember Nicky Carle’s length of the field goal against Adelaide, and Tarek’s rocket against the Roar to take us to that fateful day. I had never, however, stood and sung for My team.

Fast-forward seven years and the easiest way to find me on match day is to look for the bloke with a megaphone. Week in, Week out, I stand in front of a band of supporters who want to sing for their team. Being the current Squadron Capo, I spend my match encouraging this rowdy group to sing jump and dance for 90minutes.

Days leading up to a match are usually spent spray painting in my garage to create displays to be shown in the Squadron’s bay. Time is spent talking with other senior members of the Squadron organising match day plans, or looking weeks in advance to our next home game and how we can create the best atmosphere possible.

For much of the time I have spent involved with the Squadron since ’08, Newcastle has not had a team that I could honestly say deserve the time I, and others, have spent supporting them. Two last place finishes, and only one finals appearance are not what this city deserve, nor does it encourage people to go out of their way to support the team.

In spite of the circumstances, in spite of the situation that supporters of the Jet’s have been put in that they could not control, the Squadron has endured. I won’t tell lies and say it has been easy. Holding together key individuals to keep the group alive has been difficult. We have seen people move on, entire generations and groups disappear, however we have always been there, singing for the club.

This season, despite it’s early days, is different. The faces from last season are back. The Squadron has made year on year growth for the first time since the Grandfinal. I have the pleasure of greeting mates in the bay, people who I have shared emotions with, people who have been through the pain and suffering I have. We made it through the Tinkler era, and looking back at that tunnel we are stronger out the other side.

Friday night was one of those occasions that I will mark among the best as a Jet’s fan. That win against the reigning champions was more than 3 points. That win was the turning point in the culture of the players, the fans, and of our club. We may not have a team that will win every week, but we finally have a team that will give their all to play for the shirt. This will be the difference between this year and every single one of the previous seven.

This year, if you have not previously, I hope that I can encourage you to sing, wherever you sit around the ground.

As for me, I sing for this city, I sing for this club, I sing for it’s fans, and I sing for the 11 players on the pitch.

Toby

News, Next Match

2015/16 Hyundai A-League – Round 3 Match Preview – Newcastle United Jets FC vs Melbourne Victory

 

jets_mvc

2015/2016 Hyundai A-League
Season 11 Round 3
Newcastle United Jets FC vs Melbourne Victory

When: Friday 23rd October, 2015
Where: Hunter Stadium, 294 Turton Road, New Lambton, NSW
Kickoff: 740pm AEDST (gates open 640pm)
Tickets: Ticketmaster Link

Watch: LIVE on Foxsports 4 and FoxSports 4HD
Listen: ABC Newcastle 1233 or ABC Grandstand online
Tweet: @newyboys #NTUA #NEWvMVC                                                           

Active support is located in Bay 60. Anyone wishing to enter Bay 60 needs to hold a Bay 60 membership or a valid ticket. If you are already a Jets Member go to Members Services at Western Stand to be issued a gameday Bay 60 ticket. For non-members you can purchase a Bay 60 ticket via ticketmaster or the dedicated Bay 60 ticket window at the Western Stand entrance. 

FIXTURE FACTS

Overall – 30 matches between the two teams.
Jets Wins – 13, Victory Wins – 10, Drawn – 7

In Newcastle – 14 matches.
Jets Wins – 7, Victory Wins – 2, Drawn – 5
In Melbourne – 16
Jets Wins – 6, Victory Wins – 8, Drawn – 2

Average Home A-League Crowd – 10664
Average Away A-League Crowd – 18348

Goals in Fixture
Jets – 43, Victory – 43
In Newcastle –
Jets – 26, Victory – 18

1st Goals in Fixture
Jets – 16, Victory – 12

Cards in Fixture
Jets – 57 (53 yellow, 4 red), Victory 47 (44 yellow, 3 red)

Recent Form (FFA Cup & A-League)
Jets – LWL (3 points from last 6)
Victory – WWWDW (4 points from last 6)

Leading Scorers
Jets – David Carney, Milos Trifunovic (1)
Victory – Besart Berisha, Fahid Ben Khalfallah & Kosta Barbarouses (1)

Last Result –
Jets 1 (Montano 54′) – Victory 0 at AAMI Park, A-League, Round 25, 10/04/2015.

Starting line-ups from Last Meeting in Season 10 Round 25

Newcastle Jets Melbourne Victory
Ben Kennedy Lawrence Thomas
Nick Cowburn Nicholas Ansell
Taylor Regan Mark Milligan
Daniel Mullen Daniel Georgievski
Ki-Je Lee Matthieu Delpierre
Enver Alivodic Leigh Broxham
Jacob Pepper Guilherme Finkler
Allan Welsh Fahid Ben Khalfallah
Mitch Cooper Carl Valeri
Edson Montano Besart Berisha
Andrew Hoole Archie Thompson

FIXTURE RECORDS

Biggest Win

Jets 4 (Bridge 36’, Bridge 48’, Coveny 51’, J Griffiths 73’) – Victory 0 at Hunter Stadium, Round 21, Season 2006/07, 19/01/2007.

Heaviest Defeat

Jets 0 – Victory 5 (Hernandez 41’, Thompson 50’, Allsopp 61’, Allsopp 64’, Brebner 90’), Round 3, Season 2008/09 at AAMI Park, 29/08/2008.

Leading Scorers in fixture –

Jets – Joel Griffiths (5)
Victory – Archie Thompson (7)

2015/16 SEASON STATISTICS

Number Name Appearances Starts Substitute Appearances Subbed off Minutes Played Goals Assists Yellow Cards Red – Second Bookable Straight Red
1 Mark Birighitti 2 2 0 1 169 0 0 0 0 0
2 Daniel Mullen 2 2 0 0 180 0 0 0 0 0
3 Jason Hoffman 2 2 0 0 180 0 0 0 0 0
4 Nigel Boogaard 1 1 0 0 77 0 0 0 1 0
5 Ben Kantarovski 2 1 1 0 118 0 0 2 0 0
6 Cameron Watson 2 2 0 1 152 0 0 0 0 0
7 Enver Alivodic 2 2 0 0 180 0 0 1 0 0
8 Mateo Poljak 2 2 0 0 180 0 0 1 0 0
9 Milos Trifunovic 2 2 0 1 179 1 0 0 0 0
10 Leonardo Vitor Santiago 2 2 0 2 160 0 0 0 0 0
11 Labinot Haliti 2 1 1 1 24 0 0 0 0 0
12 Andy Brennan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 Ki-Je Lee 1 1 0 0 90 0 1 0 0 0
14 Mitch Cooper 2 0 2 0 12 0 0 0 0 0
15 Themba Muata-Marlow 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 Lachlan Jackson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 Radovan Pavicevic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
20 Ben Kennedy 1 0 1 0 11 0 0 0 0 0
23 David Carney 2 2 0 0 180 1 1 1 0 0
24 Nick Cowburn 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
25 Brandon Lundy 1 0 1 0 75 0 0 0 0 0

COACHING

Coaches Head to Head – 0 matches
Scott Miller – 0 wins, Kevin Muscat – 0 wins, 0 drawnNewcastle Jets A-League Coaching Records –

  • Phil Stubbins – 3 matches (1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss = 33% win ratio)
  • Gary Van Egmond – 16 matches (10 wins, 2 drawn and 4 losses = 63% win ratio)
  • Richard Money – 3 matches (1 win, 1 drawn, 1 loss = 33% win ratio)
  • Branko Culina – 6 matches (1 wins, 2 drawn, 3 losses = 17% win ratio)
  • Nick Theodorakopoulos – 1 match (0 wins, 0 drawn, 1 loss = 0% win ratio)
  • Craig Deans – 1 match (0 wins, 1 drawn, 1 loss = 0% win ratio)
  • Clayton Zane – 1 match (0 wins, 1 drawn, 1 loss = 0% win ratio)

Melbourne Victory Coach Record – Kevin Muscat 29% win ratio (2 wins, 3 drawn, 2 losses)

KEY FACTS:

General

  • The last Jets are 7 games, or more than 6 years, undefeated against Melbourne Victory in Newcastle. The last loss was 18/10/09.
  • Most goals in this fixture are scored in the second half, with 58% of the Jets, and 62% of the Victory’s goals coming after half time.
  • The Jets have scored the first goal against the Victory 5 times in the last 6 meetings.
  • Newcastle have 4-3-2 Win-Draw-Loss record against the Victory on a Friday night.
  • Newcastle have won 3 and lost 7 of their last 10 Friday night games.

 

Players

  • The player to captain the Jets will be the 5th different captain to lead the club against the Victory in the last 5 games.
  • In the last match between these teams, Edson Montano scored the Jets 300th A-League goal
  • In Season 2009/10, Labinot Haliti scored in 3 consecutive matches against the Victory.

 

Coaches

  • With Kevin Muscat in charge, the 3 matches at Hunter Stadium have ended in draws (1-1, 2-2 and 2-2)
  • The team leading at helf time has only ever lost once in this fixture. While a draw at half time has only ever remained a draw twice.
  • The team scoring first has only ever lost 3 times in this fixture – Jets once and Victory twice.
News, Squadron

BLOG: A new member’s view

This article was sent in by Will who, along with his family are recent convert to Bay 60.

It’s Sunday morning following our late draw with the Wanderers. I’m feeling frustrated and confused. It’s not because of the performance on the pitch last night. It’s because I’m not sure what it is that supporters of the Newcastle United Jets want.

My wife, some family members, friends and I have all joined Bay 60 in the last couple of seasons since moving to Newcastle. We used to be fans who looked across and longed to join the active support. We were unsure. How do you become a part of an established group? We moved over and were welcomed with open arms, asked to share our ideas and formed new friendships.

We couldn’t believe the commitment amongst the group. Imagine never missing a Jets game. Home or away. Making sure that you were there to watch the team in Perth and Wellington. Driving from Sydney to Newcastle to do your part for active support at every home match. Putting hours into tifo. Working with the club, security, police and ground staff in an effort to build an active support culture that is welcoming and friendly.

Maybe it’s the air of Valentine’s Day lingering, but it’s all driven by passion. The one thing that probably justifies the time and money spent on supporting the club. It surely hasn’t been easy when the results on the pitch have been so disappointing. Yet their support has held firm.

You may have tired of my excessive admiration already, but it leads me to why I feel frustrated and confused about what it is that Jets supporters want. It would seem that they want a loud and vibrant active support group, and indeed atmosphere, at our home ground. That much is clear judging from some of the remarks I’ve heard, read and witnessed at the match.
Yet, it seems that there are fans acting on the contrary. I can understand that people feel disappointed with the current state of support around our home ground. I’m sure other members share such sentiments. It is after all, although not the only group, the active support group that is widely considered to represent the club. As a football community, Newcastle is far from its best. Of course, those judging the commitment of its members may not be aware of the effort put in by many of the regulars. Particularly when ridiculing the size of the squadron, a lack of noise and presence or claiming that the group should be ashamed of their support.

Perhaps someone could explain to me the reasoning of those who don’t actively support the team, in the sense that the Squadron do, but criticise the group when they’re not loud or big enough?

Complaining online or even in person and then returning quietly to your seat does not help build numbers and noise. In fact, I’d say fuelling an air of negativity amongst the fans might actually hold back others who might be considering becoming a part of the atmosphere around the ground. Might I suggest some positive support for the team and fellow fans? It’s not a contest for all those who think they can do it better. It’s about supporting the team and building another facet of our great city.

The Squadron is a group that encourages active support around the ground. Any Jets supporter is encourage to join in with the group in Bay 60 or around the stadium. Imagine the swell of emotion to be experienced at home games if the entire stadium were to sing ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ or join in with chants. We are one of only seven places in the country fortunate enough to still have a top flight football team in our city. Something that should be cherished instead of taken for granted.

If you’d like to be a part of the Squadron, purchase a Bay 60 ticket and come and say hello. The aim is to create a friendly, large and vibrant active support group. If you want to help build a positive culture of active support then we’d love to see you at the coast derby. To everyone else around the ground, with your support, in time we can build a great culture and atmosphere at the club.

Ultimately, we all want the same thing. A football club that we can be proud of. A home fortress where tickets are like gold. A ground filled with chorus and colour. We supporters should support the club and one another.

Never Tear Us Apart.