Fans plan golden protest over club
THE Squadron supporters group secretary Toby Mills said Jets fans were the ‘‘real losers’’ in the turmoil consuming the club.
The Squadron on Wednesday called on fans to wear gold shirts in protest against the management of the club.
The Jets wore gold during the first six seasons of the A-League, before owner Nathan Tinkler adopted the Knights colours of red and blue in 2011-12 as part of his ‘‘Team Newcastle’’ vision.
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The crisis deepened on Wednesday after the Jets said they had sacked players Kew Jaliens, David Carney, Billy Celeski, Joel Griffiths and Adrian Madaschi as well as staff Clayton Zane, Neil Young and Andrew Packer.
‘‘If the issues aren’t sorted out, the real losers are the fans,’’ Mills said. ‘‘We’re the people who have to show up week in week out and put up with this.
‘‘We don’t want to remove our support for the team and club, because you look how it went in North Queensland and the Gold Coast when things went pear-shaped there and people left the club enmasse and they no longer have clubs.’’
The Jets play their next game against Brisbane Roar at Hunter Stadium on February 6. The Squadron’s numbers have slumped in recent seasons, due to the Jets’ form and internal issues.
Mills said he was urging, not just The Squadron, but all Jets fans around the stadium to wear gold and send a clear message to Tinkler and Football Federation Australia.
‘‘What we wanted to do with wearing the gold kits was basically have something that is simple, visual and can be done by the masses,’’ he said.
‘‘Everyone who’s supported the club for years would probably have a gold kit or a piece of gold merchandise they can put on and say, ‘Look, I’m unhappy with how things are going,’ and I would love to see the stadium filled with gold shirts as it would show the football people in Newcastle actually care about the club.’’
It is not known whether Tinkler will be in charge of the Jets by the next home game as the FFA is understood to have set a deadline of Saturday for him to prove he is running the club properly.
Mills said The Squadron did not support nor condemn Tinkler but were demanding professional management of the club.
‘‘It’s the devil you know or the devil you don’t,’’ he said.
‘‘If the FFA take over and sell it to someone who might want to take them to south-west Sydney or somewhere like that, the FFA probably won’t stand in their way.
‘‘If Nathan Tinkler wants to keep the club here and runs it properly, that’s a good thing.’’
The FFA has said it was committed to having a team in Newcastle.