Newcastle United Jets FC season 2007-08

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Newcastle Jets A-League 2007-08 season was their most successful A-League season. They defeated Central Coast Mariners 1-0 in their first Grand Final, winning the Championship and qualifying for the AFC Champions League 2009.

During the pre-season, former Jets CEO George Liolio was replaced by Newcastle solicitor John Tsatsimas.^[1]

Defender Jade North has been named as the captain for the season.^[2]

Contents 1 Squad 1.1 Changes 1.2 Players 2 Pre-Season Cup 2.1 Group Stage 2.1.1 Group A Points Table 2.1.2 Round 1 2.1.3 Round 2 2.1.4 Round 3 2.2 Play-offs 2.3 Finals 3 A-League Season 3.1 Regular Season 3.1.1 Points Table 3.1.2 Round 1 3.1.3 Round 2 3.1.4 Round 3 3.1.5 Round 4 3.1.6 Round 5 3.1.7 Round 6 3.1.8 Round 7 3.1.9 Round 8 3.1.10 Round 9 3.1.11 Round 10 3.1.12 Round 11 3.1.13 Round 12 3.1.14 Round 13 3.1.15 Round 14 3.1.16 Round 15 3.1.17 Round 16 3.1.18 Round 17 3.1.19 Round 18 3.1.20 Round 19 3.1.21 Round 20 3.1.22 Round 21 3.2 Finals series 3.2.1 Major Semi-Final (Leg 1) 3.2.2 Major Semi-Final (Leg 2) 3.2.3 Preliminary Final 3.2.4 Grand Final 4 Goal Scorers 5 References

[edit] Squad

[edit] Changes

The Newcastle Jets lost several of their most notable players for the 2007-08 season. Nick Carle moved overseas to play with Gençlerbirliği in order to improve his chances of selection for the Socceroos.^[3][4] The Jets received a transfer fee of AU$650,000 for the talented midfielder. Paul Okon retired due to his inability to keep up at training.^[5] Milton Rodriguez went back to his native Columbia after he failed to come to a new agreement with the Jets,^[6] apparently asking more money than the Jets were prepared to pay. Three New Zealand players, Tim Brown, Steven Old and Vaughan Coveny decided to join with the new Kiwi outfit Wellington Phoenix.^[7][8]

Gary van Egmond took a trip to South America to try and find replacements for lost squad members.^[9] Argentinian attacking midfielder Livio Prieto and Brazilian forward Flavio Barros agreed to terms with the Jets as a result of the scouting trip but later reneged on their agreements.^[6] However the trip wasn't entirely useless with Argentinian forward Jorge Drovandi and a Brazilian midfielder Denni Rocha dos Santos signing for the club.^[10][11]

Three new Australians also joined the club. Joel Griffiths' twin brother Adam Griffiths was signed from English club Brentford to bolster the defence,^[12] Scott Tunbridge from Scottish outfit Hamilton Academical and Noel Spencer from Sydney FC (where he had been playing on a short-term deal after being ditched by the Mariners).^[13]

The club officially announced on August 14th, 2007 that Brazilian Mário Jardel who has won the European Golden Boot award twice, would be joining the side as a marquee player.^[14][15]

Another late signing was announced before Round 4, with former Socceroo Stephen Laybutt joining the club.^[16]

Liberian striker Boima Karpeh trialled with the Jets in September 2007 but was not signed. He was expected to be signed on an injury waiver for Steve Eagleton.^[17][18]

AIS midfielder James Holland was signed on a short term contract for Round 8 to cover for Stuart Musialik who was away on national duty with the Olyroos. Holland impressed on his A-League debut and scored the opening goal for the Jets against the Wellington Phoenix. He was then signed for a further 1 week before returning to the AIS.

On 22 October Gary van Egmond revealed that Drovandi and Tunbridge had been given permission to look for new clubs, stating that they did not fit into the Jet's setup.^[19] Drovandi later agreed to terminate his contract allowing the Jets to sign James Holland for the remainder of the season.^[20] The talented midfielder also signed for the following two years.^[21]

In January 2008 the club signed promising young midfielder Ben Kantarovski to a four year contract.^[22] The club also announced that they were in the process of obtaining a visa for South Korean youth international Song Jin-Hyung and that he would be signed on a two year contract.^[23]

In

Name	Position	From (Club)	Date Joined	Debut
Noel Spencer	Midfield	Sydney FC	7 May 2007	Round 1
Adam Griffiths	Defender	Brentford	17 May 2007	Round 1
Jorge Drovandi	Forward	Rosario Central	2 August 2007	Round 1
Denni	Midfield	Santo André	17 August 2007	Round 1
Scott Tunbridge	Forward	Hamilton Academical	4 July 2007	Round 11
Mário Jardel	Forward	Anorthosis	13 August 2007	Round 4
Ben McNamara	Goalkeeper	Lake Macquarie City	18 August 2007	Uncapped
Jason Hoffman	Forward	Hamilton Olympic	30 August 2007	Round 2
Stephen Laybutt	Defender	Gent	30 August 2007	Round 6
James Holland	Midfield	AIS	14 October 2007 [24]	Round 8
Ben Kantarovski	Midfield	Broadmeadow Magic	12 January 2008	Uncapped
Song Jin-Hyung	Midfield	FC Seoul	18 January 2008	Semi Final (2nd leg)

Out

Name	Position	To (Club)	Date Left
Milton Rodriguez	Forward	America de Cali	Start of season
Tim Brown	Midfield	Wellington Phoenix	Start of season
Labinot Haliti	Forward	Slaven	Start of season
Tony Faria	Midfield	Released	Start of season
Tolgay Özbey	Forward	Blacktown City	Start of season
Steven Old	Defender	Wellington Phoenix	Start of season
Vaughan Coveny	Forward	Wellington Phoenix	Start of season
Nick Carle	Midfield	Gençlerbirliği	Start of season
Paul Okon	Defender	Retired	Start of season
Ivan Necevski	Goalkeeper	Sydney FC	Start of season
Shane Webb	Defender	Released	Start of season
Jorge Drovandi	Forward	Unknown	4 December 2007

[edit] Players

No. Position Player 1 GK Ante Covic (Vice-Captain) 2 DF Adam Griffiths 3 DF Jade North (Captain) 4 DF Steve Eagleton (de-listed due to injury) 5 MF Stuart Musialik 6 DF Andrew Durante 7 FW Jorge Drovandi 8 MF Matt Thompson 9 FW Joel Griffiths 10 MF Denni 11 MF Tarek Elrich (Youth) 12 DF Paul Kohler 13 MF Adam D'Apuzzo (Youth) 14 MF Jobe Wheelhouse

No. Position Player 15 FW Scott Tunbridge 16 DF Craig Deans (de-listed due to injury) 17 MF Troy Hearfield (Youth) 18 MF Noel Spencer 19 FW Mark Bridge 20 GK Ben Kennedy (Youth) 21 FW Mário Jardel (Marquee) 22 GK Ben McNamara (Youth) 23 FW Jason Hoffman (Youth) 25 MF James Holland (Youth) 26 MF Ben Kantarovski (Youth) 27 DF Stephen Laybutt 28 MF Song Jin-Hyung

[edit] Pre-Season Cup

[edit] Group Stage

[edit] Group A Points Table

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	BP
Adelaide United	8	3	1	2	0	6	3	3
Perth Glory	8	3	2	1	0	4	2	1
Newcastle Jets	3	3	1	0	2	2	5	0
Melbourne Victory	1	3	0	1	2	2	4	0

[edit] Round 1

---

July 14, 2007 14:30 UTC+10	Newcastle Jets	0 – 1	Perth Glory	Port Macquarie Regional Stadium Attendance: 2,700 Referee: James Lewis
		Report	Harnwell  48'

The bumpy ground at Port Macquarie caused troubles for both teams. New signings Scott Tunbridge, Adam Griffiths and Noel Spencer started for the Jets. The game was drawed nil all at half time but Jamie Harnwell won the game for the Glory early in the second half.

[edit] Round 2

---

July 22, 2007 14:00 UTC+10	Melbourne Victory	0 – 1	Newcastle Jets	Skilled Stadium Attendance: 8,500 Referee: Ben Williams
		Report	Wheelhouse  51'

The Jets managed to come back from Victoria with 3 points. Midfielder Jobe Wheelhouse knocked home a 51st minute Joel Griffiths free kick to give the Jets the win.

[edit] Round 3

---

July 27, 2007 19:30 UTC+9:30	Adelaide United	4 – 1	Newcastle Jets	Hindmarsh Stadium Attendance: 3,800 Referee: Craig Zetter
	Burns  6' Djite  66' Sarkies  80' (pen) Alagich  86'	Report	Bridge  69' A. Griffiths  79' J. Griffiths  90+2' (pen)

Adelaide demolished Newcastle in a game full of penalties and cards, not many of which seemed to go the Jets way. Adelaide was four up through four different players before the Jets finally scored a consolation penalty goal in the dying moments of the game despite only having 9 players on the field.

[edit] Play-offs

---

4 August 2007 19:30 UTC+10	Newcastle Jets	3 – 2	Sydney FC	Parramatta Stadium Attendance: 2,611 Referee: Peter Green
	J. Griffiths  5',  76' Tunbridge  56'	Report	Zadkovich  79' Talay  83'

The Jets managed their second win of pre-season despite a late comeback from Sydney FC. Argentinian Jorge Drovandi got his first taste of Australian football, playing for 50 minutes of the game. The ever impressive Joel Griffiths scored a brace for the Jets and Scott Tunbridge was gifted a goal after a mix-up in the Sydney defence. Despite Sydney playing poorly for most of the game they managed to score two late goals.

[edit] Finals

---

10 August 2007 19:30 UTC+12	Wellington Phoenix	0 – 0	Newcastle Jets	Westpac Stadium Attendance: 5,174
		Report

	Penalties Smeltz Aloisi Christie Johnson	2 – 4	Penalties J. Griffiths Bridge Thompson Elrich

A close game that resulted in another nil all draw. Both sides had plenty of chances but failed to capitalize. Joel Griffiths put the ball into the net but was ruled offside. Jets goalkeeper Ante Čović produced two saves during the penalty shootout to see the Jets finish the pre-season in 5th position.

[edit] A-League Season

[edit] Regular Season

[edit] Points Table

#	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Central Coast Mariners	21	10	4	7	30	25	5sm=n	34
2	Newcastle Jets	21	9	7	5	25	21	4sm=n	34
3	Sydney FC	21	8	8	5	28	24	4sm=n	32
4	Queensland Roar	21	8	7	6	25	21	4sm=n	31
5	Melbourne Victory	21	6	9	6	29	29	0sm=n	27
6	Adelaide United	21	6	8	7	31	29	2sm=n	26
7	Perth Glory	21	4	8	9	27	34	-7sm=n	20
8	Wellington Phoenix	21	5	5	11	25	37	-12sm=n	20

[edit] Round 1

---

August 26, 2007 15:00 UTC+8	Perth Glory	0 – 0	Newcastle Jets	Members Equity Stadium Attendance: 8,508 Referee: Simon Przydacz
		Report Summary

A scrappy game in the Western Australian capital resulted in a nil all draw. South American imports Denni and Jorge Drovandi both made their A-League debuts. Jobe Wheelhouse was rewarded with a start after a convincing pre-season. Gary van Egmond was pleased to come away from Perth with a point.

[edit] Round 2

---

September 2, 2007 17:00 UTC+10	Newcastle Jets	1 – 1	Queensland Roar	EnergyAustralia Stadium Attendance: 13,144 Referee: Simon Przydacz
	J. Griffiths  88'	Report Summary	Reinaldo  70' McLaren  42', 85'

A large crowd turned up to see the Jets play their first home game of the season at EnergyAustralia Stadium. Jets playmaker Denni made more of an impression than the previous week, showing off his fancy footwork. Queensland opened the scoring in the 70th minute through striker Reinaldo when the Jets defence was caught off-guard. The Roar's captain McLaren was sent off after bringing down hardworking Jets player Joel Griffiths on the edge of the penalty box. Griffiths equalised the scoring with a classy free kick from the resulting set-piece.

[edit] Round 3

---

September 9, 2007 17:00 UTC+12	Wellington Phoenix	0 – 1	Newcastle Jets	Westpac Stadium Attendance: 11,478 Referee: Peter O'Leary
		Report Summary	Thompson  77'

The Jets were without Stuart Musialik and Mark Bridge who were away on national duty. Although Wellington put the Jets under a lot of pressure the Jets managed to steal a victory. Goalkeeper Ante Čović continued his good form and again kept the Jets in the game with a number of fine saves. A free kick late in the game by Matt Thompson took a huge deflection off the foot of Jets defender Adam Griffiths and found the back of the net. Thompson was awarded the goal despite Griffiths claiming the flick-on was intentional. The win lifted the Jets clear of the middle of the table to 2nd.

[edit] Round 4

---

September 15, 2007 19:00 UTC+10	Newcastle Jets	1 – 0	Adelaide United	EnergyAustralia Stadium Attendance: 13,627 Referee: Angelo Nardi
	Bridge  81'	Report Summary

This game marked the debut of Brazilian superstar Mário Jardel who was welcomed loudly by the home crowd when he came on as a substitute in the 71st minute. Mark Bridge scored a superb goal, his second of the week after playing for the Olyroos. Midfielder Denni was pulled from the pitch in the first half after coach Gary van Egmond felt he was losing the ball too often.

[edit] Round 5

---

21 September 2007 20:00 UTC+10	Newcastle Jets	2 – 2	Melbourne Victory	EnergyAustralia Stadium Attendance: 11,179 Referee: Matthew Breeze
	A. Griffiths  3' Musialik  21'	Report Summary	Thompson  65' Caceres  83'

[edit] Round 6

---

September 29, 2007 19:00 UTC+10	Sydney FC	1 – 0	Newcastle Jets	Sydney Football Stadium Attendance: 13, 755 Referee: Craig Zetter
	Brosque  36'	Report Summary

[edit] Round 7

---

October 7, 2007 17:00 UTC+10	Central Coast Mariners	1 – 1	Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium Attendance: 12,622 Referee: Matthew Breeze
	Pondeljak  62'	Report Summary	Bridge  82'

[edit] Round 8

---

October 14, 2007 15:00 UTC+10	Newcastle Jets	2 – 1	Wellington Phoenix	EnergyAustralia Stadium Attendance: 11,947 Referee: Ben Williams
	Holland  17' J. Griffiths  40'	Report Summary	Old  90+4'

[edit] Round 9

---

October 19, 2007 20:00 UTC+10	Newcastle Jets	1 – 1	Queensland Roar	EnergyAustralia Stadium Attendance: 12,326 Referee: Mark Shield
	J. Griffiths  47' (pen)	Report Summary	Kruse  1'

[edit] Round 10

---

October 26, 2007 20:00 UTC+10	Melbourne Victory	0 – 2	Newcastle Jets	Telstra Dome Attendance: 27,123 Referee: Matthew Breeze
	Pantelidis  66'	Report Summary	A. Griffiths  8' J. Griffiths  88'

[edit] Round 11

---

November 3, 2007 19:00 UTC+11	Newcastle Jets	0 – 1	Sydney FC	EnergyAustralia Stadium Attendance: 16,433 Referee: Matthew Breeze
		Report Summary	Bridges  69'

[edit] Round 12

---

November 9, 2007 20:00 UTC+11	Newcastle Jets	1 – 4	Perth Glory	EnergyAustralia Stadium Attendance: 8,122 Referee: Peter Green
	J. Griffiths  49'	Report Summary	Durante  25' (own) J. Simpson  51' Rukavytsya  63'  90'

[edit] Round 13

---

November 18, 2007 18:30 UTC+10:30	Adelaide United	1 – 1	Newcastle Jets	Hindmarsh Stadium Attendance: 10,256 Referee: Matthew Breeze
	Dodd  76'	Report Summary	J. Griffiths  70'

[edit] Round 14

---

November 25, 2007 17:00 UTC+11	Newcastle Jets	0 – 0	Central Coast Mariners	EnergyAustralia Stadium Attendance: 14,169 Referee: Mark Shield
		Report Summary

[edit] Round 15

---

November 30, 2007 19:00 UTC+10	Queensland Roar	0 – 1	Newcastle Jets	Suncorp Stadium Attendance: 14,193 Referee: Peter Green
		Report Summary	J. Griffiths  90+2'

[edit] Round 16

---

December 7, 2007 20:00 UTC+11	Sydney FC	1 – 0	Newcastle Jets	Sydney Football Stadium Attendance: 10,732 Referee: Matthew Breeze
	Zadkovich  52' Corica  90+3'	Report Summary

[edit] Round 17

---

December 16, 2007 17:00 UTC+11	Melbourne Victory	1 – 3	Newcastle Jets	Telstra Dome Attendance: 22,626 Referee: Matthew Breeze
	Hernández  11'	Report Summary	Denni  41' J. Griffiths  54'  76'

The Jets defeated Melbourne in their most convincing win of the season. It was the first time that the Jets had won after going behind. New Australian national coach Pim Verbeek was watching from the stands as numerous players such as Joel Griffiths, Ante Čović and Archie Thompson tried to impress him. Carlos Hernández put the home side ahead early in the first half but Denni scored his first goal A-League goal to put the Jets back on level terms. Griffiths came close to scoring a hat-trick but had to be happy with reclaiming the position as the league's top goal scorer. James Holland played his first game for the club after signing a permanent contract for the next two seasons.

[edit] Round 18

---

December 30, 2007 19:00 UTC+11	Newcastle Jets	2 – 3	Wellington Phoenix	EnergyAustralia Stadium Attendance: 15,107 Referee: Srebre Delovski
	Bridge  29' (pen) Tunbridge  81'	Report Summary	Smeltz  16' Ferrante  49' Rees  51'

[edit] Round 19

---

January 4, 2008 20:00 UTC+11	Newcastle Jets	2 – 1	Adelaide United	EnergyAustralia Stadium Attendance: 13,047 Referee: Peter Green
	J. Griffiths  13' Holland  73'	Report Summary	Pantelis  41' Barbiero  18, 45+1'

[edit] Round 20

---

January 12, 2008 19:00 UTC+11	Central Coast Mariners	1 – 2	Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium Attendance: 19,238 Referee: Matthew Breeze
	Kwasnik  9'	Report Summary	Holland  6' J. Griffiths  52'

[edit] Round 21

---

January 18, 2008 20:00 UTC+11	Newcastle Jets	2 – 1	Perth Glory	EnergyAustralia Stadium Attendance: 16,212 Referee: Michael Hester
	J. Griffiths  22' Bridge  64'	Report Summary	Rizzo  37' Harnwell  45+2'

[edit] Finals series

[edit] Major Semi-Final (Leg 1)

---

27 January 2008 18:00 UTC+11	Newcastle Jets	2 – 0	Central Coast Mariners	EnergyAustralia Stadium Attendance: 22,960 Referee: Matthew Breeze
	A. Griffiths  22' J. Griffiths  85' (pen)	Report Summary

[edit] Major Semi-Final (Leg 2)

---

10 February 2008 18:00 UTC+11	Central Coast Mariners	3 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium Attendance: 19,112 Referee: Ben Williams
	Kwasnik  37' Petrovski  74',  95'	Report Summary

[edit] Preliminary Final

---

17 February 2008 18:00 UTC+11	Newcastle Jets	3 – 2 (a.e.t.)	Queensland Roar	EnergyAustralia Stadium Attendance: 16,021 Referee: Peter Green
	Thompson  40' J. Griffiths  104' (pen) Elrich  111'	Report Summary	Reinaldo  90+2' (pen),  118' (pen) Moore  77', 112'

[edit] Grand Final

See also: A-League Grand Final 2008

---

24 February 2008 17:00 UTC+11	Central Coast Mariners	0 – 1	Newcastle Jets	Sydney Football Stadium Attendance: 36,354 Referee: Mark Shield
	Vukovic  90+5'	Summary	Bridge  64'

[edit] Goal Scorers

Last updated 29 January 2008

Name	Pre-Season	A-League	Finals
Joel Griffiths	3	12	2
Mark Bridge	0	4	0
Adam Griffiths	0	2	1
James Holland	0	3	0
Scott Tunbridge	1	1	0
Denni	0	1	0
Matt Thompson	0	1	1
Stuart Musialik	0	1	0
Jobe Wheelhouse	1	0	0
Tarek Elrich	0	0	1

[edit] References

Football in Australia v • d • e
Governing body: Football Federation Australia National leagues: A-League • Youth League | Former: National Soccer League
Hyundai A-League v • d • e
Lists: Champions • Records • Foreign players Seasons:  2005-06 • 2006-07 • 2007-08 • 2008-09 Teams:  Adelaide United • Central Coast Mariners Melbourne Victory • Newcastle Jets • Perth Glory Queensland Roar • Sydney FC • Wellington Phoenix Defunct team: New Zealand Knights
Newcastle Jets v • d • e
Home: EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle, New South Wales Coach: Gary van Egmond | Captain: Jade North Seasons: 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 Current squad: 1 Covic | 2 A. Griffiths | 3 North | 8 Thompson | 9 J. Griffiths | 11 Elrich | 13 D'Apuzzo | 14 Wheelhouse | 18 Spencer | 19 Naidovski | 20 Kennedy | 23 Hoffman | 25 Holland | 26 Kantarovski | 28 Song | – Ontong | – Patafta