Head of Hyundai A-League Damien de Bohun spoke positively about the future of the Newcastle Jets at a special media briefing at Northern New South Wales Football’s impressive headquarters at Speers Point on Thursday.
De Bohun, along with key management personnel from Football Federation Australia (FFA), spent Thursday in Newcastle meeting with Jets staff, Northern NSW Football representatives, and other important stakeholders as day one of establishing a new, proud Jets entity took place.
“Today is a fresh start for the Newcastle Jets and football in Northern NSW,” De Bohun said. “Today we met with all the staff and all the people involved in football to step through what is involved from here.”
“We’ve made a number of important decisions, the most important of which is that the players who are currently contracted to the club we’ve provided like for like contracts, and the staff that weren’t paid last week will have their obligations met for the month.”
“We think that Newcastle is a critical region for the future of the Hyundai A-League. From the outset FFA has been committed to making sure that this region is strong and healthy, and we want to make sure that every post is a winner for this Club.”
READ FFA CEO DAVID GALLOP’S LETTER TO JETS FANS HERE
De Bohun praised the resilience of Jets employees, people he said have had to aim up during a “challenging time”.
“We’ve made it clear that we’re establishing a Club for the future,” he said. “But the staff I have met, the staff I know, are passionately committed to the Newcastle Jets and I have been very impressed with the way that they have responded to a challenging time.”
De Bohun also explained that the contracts of the Club’s current coaching staff remain with the old entity, which was put into voluntary administration by the previous ownership on Wednesday afternoon. Their positions will now be reviewed in due course.
Meanwhile, Northern NSW Football CEO, David Eland, threw his and his organisation’s support behind the FFA’s decision and the new Newcastle Jets club.
Indeed, Jets staff will work out of Northern NSW Football’s offices and facility until further notice.
“We’re looking forward to getting right behind this new entity,” Eland said. “There has already been positive engagement today and we look forward to working with the staff over the coming months to make sure that we take advantage of this opportunity.”
“I think the community are going to get right behind it [the new entity], and I applaud this action,” he said.Â
Â
