2007–08 Newcastle Jets FC season

Newcastle United Jets FC
2007–08 season
Owner	Con Constantine
CEO	John Tsatsimas
Manager	Gary van Egmond
Top goalscorer	Joel Griffiths - 14
Highest home attendance	22,960 v Cen. Coast; 27 January 2008
Lowest home attendance	8,112 v Perth; 9 November 2007
	← 2006–07 2008–09 →

The 2007–08 season was Newcastle Jets' third season in the Hyundai A-League and their most successful, placing second in the regular season, and defeating Central Coast Mariners in the Grand Final to be crowned the 2007–08 Champions.

Players

First team squad

Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


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


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

Transfers

In

Name	Position	From (Club)	Date Joined	Debut
Noel Spencer	Midfield	Sydney FC	7 May 2007	Round 1^[2]
Adam Griffiths	Defender	Brentford	17 May 2007	Round 1^[3]
Jorge Drovandi	Forward	Rosario Central	2 August 2007	Round 1^[4]
Denni	Midfield	Santo André	17 August 2007	Round 1^[5]
Scott Tunbridge	Forward	Hamilton Academical	4 July 2007	Round 11^[6]
Mário Jardel	Forward	Anorthosis	13 August 2007	Round 4^[7]^[8]
Ben McNamara	Goalkeeper	Lake Macquarie City	18 August 2007	Uncapped^[9]
Jason Hoffman	Forward	Hamilton Olympic	30 August 2007	Round 2
Stephen Laybutt	Defender	Gent	30 August 2007	Round 6^[10]
James Holland	Midfield	AIS	14 October 2007^[11]	Round 8
Ben Kantarovski	Midfield	Broadmeadow Magic	12 January 2008	Uncapped
Song Jin-Hyung	Midfield	FC Seoul	18 January 2008	Semi Final (2nd leg)^[12]

Out

Name	Position	To (Club)	Date Left
Milton Rodriguez	Forward	América de Cali	Start of season^[13]
Tim Brown	Midfield	Wellington Phoenix	Start of season^[14]
Labinot Haliti	Forward	Slaven Belupo	Start of season
Tony Faria	Midfield	Marconi Stallions	Start of season^[15]
Tolgay Özbey	Forward	Blacktown City	Start of season
Steven Old	Defender	Wellington Phoenix	Start of season^[16]
Vaughan Coveny	Forward	Wellington Phoenix	Start of season^[17]
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	Bankstown City Lions	Start of season^[18]
Jorge Drovandi	Forward	Aldosivi	4 December 2007^[19]

Matches

2007 Pre-season Cup

Group A
Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Adelaide United	3	1	2	0	6	3	+3	3	8
2	Perth Glory	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	1	8
3	Newcastle Jets	3	1	0	2	2	5	−3	0	3
4	Melbourne Victory	3	0	1	2	2	4	−2	0	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

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

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

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

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

10 August 2007 Finals	Wellington Phoenix	0 : 0 (a.e.t.)	Newcastle Jets	Westpac Stadium
19:30 UTC+12		(2-4 pen.) Report		Attendance: 5,174
	Penalties
	Smeltz Aloisi Christie Johnson		J. Griffiths Bridge Thompson Elrich

2007-08 Hyundai A-League fixtures

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

2 September 2007	Newcastle Jets	1 : 1	Queensland Roar	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
17:00 UTC+10	J. Griffiths 89'	Report Summary	Reinaldo 70' McLaren 42' 85'	Attendance: 13,144 Referee: Simon Przydacz

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

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

21 September 2007	Newcastle Jets	2 : 2	Melbourne Victory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+10	A Griffiths 5' Musialik 21'	Report Summary	Thompson 65' Caceres 83'	Attendance: 11,179 Referee: Matthew Breeze

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

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

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

19 October 2007	Newcastle Jets	1 : 1	Queensland Roar	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+10	J. Griffiths 49' (pen.)	Report Summary	Kruse 1'	Attendance: 12,326 Referee: Mark Shield

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

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

9 November 2007	Newcastle Jets	1 : 4	Perth Glory	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
20:00 UTC+11	J. Griffiths 49'	Report Summary	Durante 25' (o.g.) J. Simpson 51' Rukavytsya 63', 90+1'	Attendance: 8,112 Referee: Peter Green

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2007-08 Finals series

27 January 2008 Major SF Leg 1	Newcastle Jets	2 : 0	Central Coast Mariners	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
18:00 UTC+11	A. Griffiths 22' J. Griffiths 85' (pen.)	Report Summary		Attendance: 22,960 Referee: Matthew Breeze

10 February 2008 Major SF Leg 2	Central Coast Mariners	3 : 0 (a.e.t.)	Newcastle Jets	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
18:00 UTC+11	Kwasnik 37' Petrovski 74', 95'	Summary		Attendance: 19,112 Referee: Ben Williams

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

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

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Central Coast Mariners	21	10	4	7	30	25	+5	34	Qualification for 2009 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series^[a]
2	Newcastle Jets (C)	21	9	7	5	25	21	+4	34
3	Sydney FC	21	8	8	5	28	24	+4	32	Qualification for 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship and Finals series
4	Queensland Roar	21	8	7	6	25	21	+4	31	Qualification for Finals series
5	Melbourne Victory	21	6	9	6	29	29	0	27
6	Adelaide United	21	6	8	7	31	29	+2	26
7	Perth Glory	21	4	8	9	27	34	−7	20
8	Wellington Phoenix^[b]	21	5	5	11	25	37	−12	20

Source: ultimatealeague.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:

↑ First place qualifies for the 2009 AFC Champions League group stage.
Winning the 2008 A-League Grand Final earns qualification for the 2009 AFC Champions League group stage, unless the Grand Final winners are also first place, in which case the Grand Final runner up qualifies.
↑ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

Statistics

Goal scorers

Name	Pre-Season	A-League	Finals
Joel Griffiths	3	12	2
Mark Bridge	0	4	1
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

References

↑ Tsatsimas, John (17 July 2007). "New Jets Boss Speaks To Fans". Newcastle United Jets. Retrieved 14 September 2007.^{[permanent dead link]}
↑ "Jets To Unleash "Excitement Machine"". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
↑ "Jets To Unleash "Excitement Machine"". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
↑ "Jets To Unleash "Excitement Machine"". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
↑ "Jets snare Brazilian gun". a-league.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
↑ "Jets sign Scott Tunbridge". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
↑ "A-League book extract: How Mario Jardel joined Newcastle Jets as marquee". Fox Sports. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
↑ "Jardel Deal Is Done". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
↑ "Jets Name Their Youth Squad". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
↑ "Laybutt to sign with Jets". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
↑ Holland made his debut as a temporary squad member and was later signed to a permanent contract on 5 December 2007.
↑ "Jets Sign South Korean For Finals". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
↑ "Milton switching to Glory". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
↑ "Brown to head home". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
↑ "Tony Faria » Profile". www.worldfootball.net. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
↑ "Phoenix Plan Surprise Signings". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
↑ "Coveny Signs For Phoenix At Last". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
↑ "Shane Webb » Profile". www.worldfootball.net. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
↑ "Jorge Drovandi » Profile". www.worldfootball.net. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[table_note_res_GS0.56888330195513-20] First place qualifies for the 2009 AFC Champions League group stage.
Winning the 2008 A-League Grand Final earns qualification for the 2009 AFC Champions League group stage, unless the Grand Final winners are also first place, in which case the Grand Final runner up qualifies.

[table_note_WP0.56888330195513-21] Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

[1] Tsatsimas, John (17 July 2007). "New Jets Boss Speaks To Fans". Newcastle United Jets. Retrieved 14 September 2007.^{[permanent dead link]}

[2] "Jets To Unleash "Excitement Machine"". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[3] "Jets To Unleash "Excitement Machine"". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[4] "Jets To Unleash "Excitement Machine"". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[5] "Jets snare Brazilian gun". a-league.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

[6] "Jets sign Scott Tunbridge". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[7] "A-League book extract: How Mario Jardel joined Newcastle Jets as marquee". Fox Sports. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[8] "Jardel Deal Is Done". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[9] "Jets Name Their Youth Squad". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[10] "Laybutt to sign with Jets". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[11] Holland made his debut as a temporary squad member and was later signed to a permanent contract on 5 December 2007.

[12] "Jets Sign South Korean For Finals". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[13] "Milton switching to Glory". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[14] "Brown to head home". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[15] "Tony Faria » Profile". www.worldfootball.net. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[16] "Phoenix Plan Surprise Signings". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[17] "Coveny Signs For Phoenix At Last". FTBL. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[18] "Shane Webb » Profile". www.worldfootball.net. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

[19] "Jorge Drovandi » Profile". www.worldfootball.net. Retrieved 1 December 2025.

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2007–08 season
Owner	Con Constantine
CEO	John Tsatsimas^[1]
Manager	Gary van Egmond
Top goalscorer	Joel Griffiths - 14
Highest home attendance	22,960 v Cen. Coast 27 January 2008
Lowest home attendance	8,112 v Perth 9 November 2007
← 2006–07 2008–09 →