FORMER Newcastle Jets owner Con Constantine lead a simple life.
‘Con Constantine is what I would call the wog-ocker,’ says player agent Tony Rallis. A migrant from Cyprus, Constantine was one of the most passionate and enthusiastic A-League owners, having made his fortune from the huge Parklea Markets development in Sydney’s west, before expanding into the Hunter Valley with property and community newspaper projects.
Constantine was a man whose life centred on his family, and he was more comfortable having a drink with the locals than spending time in the big end of town.
‘Con ran [the Jets] on a smell of an oily rag,’ says director of football Remo Nogarotto. ‘We spent the salary cap [on players, but] the director of football was quasi CEO, quasi director of football. I went and got the ice for players if I had to.’
Then Jets goalkeeper Ante Covic, who had signed with the club after a career that started with National Soccer League powerhouse Marconi and then took him to Europe with Greek club PAOK and Swedish side Hammarby, was a bit underwhelmed with the setup at Newcastle.
‘At the Jets things were behind what Marconi were in terms of facilities,’ he says. ‘At that stage Newcastle was a little bit behind the game. You would scramble for the odd sock, and mixed and matched training gear ... The league, in my opinion, should have progressed more by that stage in terms of how the setup was at club level.’
A-League: The Inside Story of the Tumultuous First Decade is released on 23 September.
A-League: The Inside Story of the Tumultuous First Decade is released on 23 September.Source: Supplied
The man who had the challenging job of carrying out the orders of his employer shared the same sentiments. ‘His thinking was f**ked most of the time. But he had the heart,’ says Nogarotto. ‘Don’t forget, he picked up the club in the NSL when it was on its knees.’
One bizarre decision Constantine made was to recruit a player straight from a YouTube clip — the former FC Porto superstar striker Mário Jardel, twice the leading scorer in European football.
Nogarotto candidly tells the story: ‘So Con had a guy who used to work for him at the markets who was a football nut. Someone rang him and said, “Have a look at this YouTube thing.”
Showed it to Con, [who] rings me one night and says, “Remo! I’m going to give you a name.”
‘“A name of what?”
‘“A footballer.”
‘“Yeah, who?”
‘“Mário Jardel. I bet you have never heard of him.”
‘“Of course I’ve heard of Mário Jardel. What about Mário Jardel? I don’t know where he is these days.”
‘“He’s coming to Newcastle!”
‘“What?”
‘“He’s coming to Newcastle.”
‘“What are you talking about, for God’s sake?”’
Constantine told Nogarotto that someone had been in touch with his Parklea Markets employee and a deal had already been done, much to the consternation of the club’s director of football, as he had not been consulted.
Marquee Mario Jardel was signed after owner Con Constantine saw him on YouTube.
Marquee Mario Jardel was signed after owner Con Constantine saw him on YouTube.Source: Getty Images
‘[Jardel’s] last club was in Cyprus [Αnorthosis Famagusta FC] and Con’s a Cypriot,’ Nogarotto says. ‘So someone from Cyprus has rung Con. But when I did the research, mind you, it was too late because the guy was already on a plane. Con’s gone, “He’s played for Brazil!”
‘“Okay. Do you know how long ago that was?”
‘“Yeah, but they call him Super Mario.”
‘“Okay.”
‘“You’ve got to be at the airport tomorrow morning. He’s turning up.”
‘“What? Turning up at the airport? Righto.” So I turn up at seven a.m. to pick him up, and he made me look like Carl Lewis.’
Things went from bad to worse in Nogarotto’s mind when the former European Golden Boot winner asked his host if they could make a stop on the drive between Sydney Airport and Newcastle.
‘Mario [asked] if I could take him to a shop to buy a pair of boots. So I took him down to Paul’s Warehouse in the city, buying two pairs of boots on my credit card, so he could take them to Newcastle.
Mario Jardel turned up without boots.
Mario Jardel turned up without boots.Source: News Limited
‘Dutchy [Gary van Egmond] was the coach, of course. Dutchy goes, “Rem, what’s going on?”
‘“Mate, I’ve got no idea. Let’s just hope this guy can actually run.”
‘This is before I pick him up. Of course, I still had lingering nightmares of Nicola Berti [Nogarotto signed the ageing and out-of-shape Italian international midfielder when he was director of NSL club Northern Spirit]. He made Nicola look like Carl Lewis. Dutchy asks, “What’s he look like?”
‘“You don’t want to know.”
Mario Jardel in action for Newcastle Jets.
Mario Jardel in action for Newcastle Jets.Source: Getty Images
‘“Is he that out of shape?”
‘“Yep.”
‘“Better or worse than Nicola Berti?”
‘“Worse.”’
Nogarotto then sheepishly informed the Jets coach that he had even had to stop to buy the star striker some boots on the drive up to the Hunter. Needless to say, Van Egmond was less than impressed.
‘So we get to Newcastle and we do the media conference and Con was on top of the world,’ Nogarotto continues. ‘“Brazilian World Cup player. Don’t worry about Romário and all of these guys. We’ve got Mário Jardel!”
‘Jardel walks into the media [and journalist Michael] Cockerill comes up to me and says, “You’re kidding, aren’t you?” I said, “No, mate.” We do the media conference and he goes out onto the training paddock. He could not run.’
The career of the once prolific striker, who had scored 130 goals in 125 appearances for FC Porto between 1996 and 2000, had declined sharply, and he would appear for another nine clubs in seven years as it petered out altogether.
Jardel worked hard to improve his physical conditioning, but playing the game at a professional level in Australia proved beyond him. Having arrived just before the season started, he played his first game as a 70th-minute substitute in Round 4.
Mario Jardel during Newcastle Jets A-League training session at Ray Watt Oval, Newcastle University.
Mario Jardel hunched over during a training session.Source: News Corp Australia
The player who could once find the back of the net with his eyes closed did not produce a single goal in the 339 minutes of football he played for the Novocastrians.
Constantine could not understand why his coach only gave his star signing three starts. ‘He’s a Brazilian superstar. Why are you not starting him?’ Nogarotto remembers Constantine asking his coach. ‘Because you can outrun him over a hundred metres,’ Van Egmond replied.
The standoff between Van Egmond and the owner over Jardel cooled down as the team performed consistently well on the field. Jardel was eventually paid out his contract and Van Egmond led the team to second place on the ladder.
This is an edited extract from A-League: The Inside Story of the Tumultuous First Decade by John Stensholt and Shaun Mooney, published by Nero.
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