2025/26 was a historic season for the Newcastle Jets, securing the club’s first ever Australia Cup and A-League Premiership, with a strong contingent of young Novocastrians making a significant impact under the tutelage of first-time head coach Mark Milligan
Pre-Season/Australia Cup:
The Mark Milligan Era began with a pre-season fixture against St George FC on the 19th of July, with the Jets running out 4-1 winners courtesy of goas from Xavier Bertoncello, Oliver Cockle (Youth Team), Max Burgess and Kota Mizunuma. Three days later, Edgeworth were defeated 3-0, with Mizunuma bagging a brace either side of a Daniel Wilmering strike.
Our first competitive fixture under Mark Milligan came next, as we drew Adelaide United in the Australia Cup. On a rainy night at Maitland Sports Ground, Adelaide opened the scoring as Stefan Mauk ghosted to the front post before slotting past Delianov. Ben Gibson equalised in the 31st minute, cutting inside before finessing his shot past Vartuli. Badolato would score the winner on debut in the 48th minute, smashing a low effort from the edge of the box which nestled into the bottom right corner. A 2-1 win was sealed, with a Newcastle derby looming for the Round of 16 as the Jets drew NNSW NPL side Cooks Hill. Also in this fixture came the professional debuts of Xavier Bertoncello, Max Cooper and Ethan Debono, whilst Lucas Scicluna, James Delianov, Alex Badolato
Next up was a four-day pre-season tour to Lismore, powered by Greater Bank. We took on Brisbane Roar at Oakes Oval, where we were defeated 3-1, with our goal coming through a Bouzanis own goal, as he parried a Daniel Wilmering cross into his own net.
It was dominance in the Australia Cup Round of 16 against Cooks Hill at No. 2 Sportsground. Daniel Wilmering opened the scoring 20 minutes in, as his cross looped over the head of the Cooks Hill custodian, before settling into the back of the net. Bertoncello scored his first senior goal in the 41st minute, slotting his one on one effort through the keepers legs. Kota Mizunuma made it 3-0 shortly after the break, beating two defenders before finding the bottom right corner. Ben Gibson scored his second in two games to make it 4-0, before another stunning long-range strike from Daniel Wilmering secured the 5-0 victory.
On the 19th of August, we made the trip to Wanderers Football Park to face Western Sydney. Oscar Fryer scored whilst Jordan Baylis saved a penalty from Kosta Barbarouses, as we went on to draw the game with one goal apiece.
It was back to Maitland Sports Ground, as we hosted Macarthur FC in the Australia Cup Quarter-Finals. Max Burgess opened the scoring in the 18th minute, finishing a neat cut-back from Daniel Wilmering. Will Dobson doubled the lead with his first senior goal, driving into the box before smashing his effort into the bottom corner. Kota Mizunuma sealed the 3-0 result just moments later, as the Jets qualified for the Australia Cup semi-finals for the first time in Club history.
Next up, NPL Victoria powerhouse Avondale FC. We took an early two-nil lead thanks to a Bertoncello header and Mizunuma goal, before a Tevere brace brought the scores level by the 57th minute. Up steps Eli Adams, who scored the go-ahead goal in the 75th minute, before academy product Alex Nunes scored his first professional goal to give us the 4-2 win, and a place in the Australia Cup final.
Three more pre-season fixtures followed in quick succession, as we drew 2-2 with Sydney FC at Valentine Sports Park, with a goal apiece from Lachlan Rose and Thomas Aquilina, before a resounding 4-0 win over the Northern NSW All-Stars at Darling St Oval. Oscar Fryer and Xavier Bertoncello scored either side of a brace from Lachlan Rose. We also tasted defeat against Melbourne City in Melbourne, with our goals coming from Bertoncello and Max Burgess.
On the 4th of October, we faced Heidelberg United at Lakeside Stadium in the Australia Cup Final. Heidelberg scored early, through Lethlean, to open the scoring. Max Burgess equalised in the 22nd minute. The scores remained at 1-1 at the end of regulation. Oscar Fryer scored a stunning curling effort to give us the lead in the 96th minute, before Ben Gibson sealed the win with just five minutes left in extra-time. The result meant we won the Australia Cup, our second ever piece of silverware and our first since the 2008 A-League Grand Final. Max Burgess won the Mark Viduka Medal, given to the best player in the Australia Cup Final.
A-League:
October:
Our A-League season commenced away at Gosford, as we faced our fierce rivals, the Central Coast Mariners. Things started positively, as Alex Badolato scored a thunderous volley from just outside the box, a true goal of the season contender 14 minutes into the season. However, McCalmont and Di Pizio scored in quick succession to give the Mariners a lead going into the break. Lachlan Rose equalised in the 80th minute, before we were awarded a penalty deep into injury time. Unfortunately, Andrew Redmayne saved Eli Adams effort, before Duarte scored a winner just moments later, as our league campaign started in derby defeat.
The F3 Derby result would quickly be forgotten, as we thumped Melbourne Victory 5-2 in our first home game of the league season. Alex Badolato showed why he won the AFC Youth Player of the Year award, as he scored a superb hat-trick, including two thumping strikes from distance, the first of which won goal of the week, his second in a row. Ben Gibson also scored, whilst Oscar Fryer popped up in the 90th minute with his first A-League Goal.
November:
Things took a turn for the worst in November, as we suffered three successive defeats. A 1-4 defeat to Sydney FC at McDonald Jones Stadium in which Oscar Fryer suffered a devasting second ACL injury in two seasons was followed by a 0-3 loss to Brisbane Roar on the Sunshine Coast. We returned home, only to fall to defeat at the hands of Perth Glory, with the only bright spot being a first A-Leagues goal for New Lambton junior Xavier Bertoncello.
After the first five rounds, we sat dead-last on the table, with two wins and three losses. We returned to the winners column in Round 6, as we defeated Auckland at Go Media Stadium in the pouring rain, with a first A-League goal for Will Dobson, as well as a Lachlan Rose strike.
December:
We returned back to McDonald Jones to face Melbourne City, as we debuted our new third-kit, however we would once again taste defeat in front of a season-low crown of 3,728.
We headed back across the ditch for Round 8, this time to Wellington, where we recorded a solid 3-1 win thanks to goals from Eli Adams, Lachlan Rose and Clayton Taylor.
We locked in back to back wins for the first time in the league this season, as academy products Will Dobson and Xavier Bertoncello both netted against Sydney FC to secure a 2-0 win.
A few days after the Sydney fixture, we announced that Aleksandar Šušnjar had departed the club by mutual agreement to seek opportunities elsewhere.
Round 10 against Macarthur FC was a goal-fest in which we were on the wrong end of, with Macarthur winning 4-5 at McDonald Jones Stadium. Bernardo opened the scoring for Macarthur in the 15th minute, as his deft touch beat Delianov. Eli Adams equalised in the 42nd minute with a stunning free-kick from 30 yards out, which knuckled past the stranded Kurto. Dean Bosnjak put the Bulls back ahead shortly before half-time, however Clayton Taylor equalised just after the break with a powerful strike into the roof of the net. Bosnjak would score oncd again, before Sawyer gave Macarthur a two-goal cushion. Xavier Bertoncello would fire a volley into the back of the net to half the deficit, before Ben Gibson would scramble an equaliser into the goal in the 83rd minute. Luke Vickery scored the winner for Macarthur in controversial circumstances, as it appeared Max Cooper had been fouled by Harrison Sawyer in the build-up, but the goal stood none-the-less.
January:
We began the New Year with a bang, securing a vital win away to Auckland despite finishing the game with nine-men. However, the result was marred by the devastating news that Alex Badolato and Christian Bracco had suffered season-ending ACL injuries.
The win over Auckland was followed by a victory away against Melbourne City, with Lachlan Rose scoring the only goal of the game after winning the ball from the City defence, before calmly slotting past Patrick Beach.
As the mid-season transfer window opened, we announced the signing of English midfield maestro Zach Clough from Malaysian club Selangor FC. Zach had previously competed in the A-League with Adelaide United, working under Mark Milligan, who was an assistant to Carl Veart at the time.
A third away trip in a row, this time to Western Sydney, also resulted in a win, with Irish import Joe Shaughnessy scoring his first goal for the club, whilst Eli Adams scored another top-notch free-kick.
We followed up with two box office 4-1 wins over Wellington Phoenix and Brisbane Roar at home, which pushed us on top of the ladder after an unbeaten January in which we won five out of five games.
February:
The wins kept rolling in as we moved into February, with a Clayton Taylor hat-trick against Adelaide bringing us to six wins in a row.
Straight from Adelaide, the squad travelled to Perth where they avenged the earlier defeat this season with a 1-3 win at HBF Park, extending our record winning streak to seven games.
A return home against Macarthur FC in front of 14,035 fans saw Lachlan Bayliss score his fifth goal in five games, as our winning streak hit eight games. We also had a pre-match performance from Shannon Noll, who also participated in our half-time Spartan Race AU/NZ Paper Jets Challenge.
We returned to Polytec Stadium, as we looked to avenge our round one loss, as well as extend our winning streak. Eli Adams scored, only for the goal to be controversially ruled out as Will Dobson was deemed to have impacted the play from an offside position. The game finished 0-0, ending the winning streak at eight games but extending the unbeaten streak to nine.
March:
March started with a 2-1 win over the Western Sydney Wanderers at McDonald Jones Stadium, as we increased our club-record unbeaten streak to ten games. Goals from Eli Adams and Mark Natta secured the come-from-behind win after Kraev scored in the 20th minute.
All good things come to an end however, as Auckland FC brought an end to our ten game unbeaten streak, as they prevailed 1-2 at McDonald Jones Stadium thanks to a Cosgrove brace.
The result was quickly pushed to the side, as we took three points from Allianz Stadium the following week thanks to a worldie from Kota Mizunuma, as well as a last-minute from Ben Gibson, set up by a brilliant assist from Xavier Bertoncello.
April:
The season paused for a week and a half for the international break. In that time, Lachlan Bayliss made his senior international debut for New Zealand. Will Dobson and Max Cooper also represented Australia at U-20 level in a two-game series against China. Following the break, we headed to Campbelltown Stadium, but left empty handed after a Mitch Duke brace pushed Macarthur to a 3-2 win. Xavier Bertoncello scored his first senior brace in the same game.
A last minute goal from Daniel Wilmering locked in a gutsy draw at home against Adelaide United, keeping us narrowly in front of Auckland FC in the race for the Premiers Plate. The draw secured our position in the Asian Champions League Elite for the 2026/2027 Season.
A trip to AAMI Park followed, as we lined up against Melbourne Victory with a chance to lock in the Premiers Plate. Eli Adams opened the scoring with a low pile-driver, before a quickfire brace from Charles Nduka gave Victory the lead going into half-time. Eli Adams stepped up to the penalty spot in the 89th minute, slotting home with confidence to give us a 2-all draw and one hand firmly on the Premiers Plate. All eyes turned to the Mariners vs Auckland game, as a Mariners win would hand us the Premiers Plate. The Mariners did just that, defeating Auckland 1-0 to hand the Premiers Plate to us with a game to spare.
This left one more game in the regular season, at McDonald Jones Stadium against the Central Coast Mariners. 20,930 Novocastrains crowded into McDonald Jones Stadium to watch us demolish the Central Coast Mariners 4-0, as well as lift the Premiers Plate, our first in Club history and second trophy of the season.
Finals:
Sydney FC defeated Melbourne Victory in the A-League Elimination Finals, meaning we were set to play them over a two-leg home and away semi-final. The first game was a 1-1 draw away at Allianz Stadium, which Sydney dominated for large portions. Former Jet Stamatelopoulos opened the scoring for Sydney FC, before Eli Adams equalised just 8 minutes later, sending the fixture back to McDonald Jones Stadium with a grand-final spot on the line.
Returning to McDonald Jones, the Jets showed an improved attacking threat, but Sydney still scored first, with Quispe reacting quickest to a loose ball. However, right at the end of injury time, Eli Adams scored a sublime side-foot volley to send the 25,000 fans at McDonald Jones Stadium into raptures, and the game to extra time.
After a goal-less extra time period, the game would go to penalties, ultimately ending in heartbreak as Sydney FC prevailed 2-4 in the shoot-out.
Whilst the season ended in heartbreak, it was still a highly successful campaign, winning both the Australia Cup and A-League Premiers Plate, as well as securing a spot in the 2026/2027 Asian Champions League Elite competition.
Season Statistics:
| (Number) Player Name: | Australia Cup Appearances/ Goals | A-League Men Appearances/Goals (Finals Included) | Total Appearances/ Goals |
| (1) James Delianov | 5/0 | 28/0 | 33/0 |
| (5) Joe Shaughnessy | 0/0 | 22/1 | 22/1 |
| (7) Eli Adams | 2/1 | 23/10 | 25/11 |
| (8) Lachlan Bayliss | 4/0 | 27/5 | 31/5 |
| (9) Lachlan Rose | 4/0 | 26/8 | 30/8 |
| (10) Zach Clough | 0/0 | 6/0 | 6/0 |
| (11) Ben Gibson | 4/3 | 27/4 | 31/7 |
| (13) Clayton Taylor | 0/0 | 23/9 | 23/9 |
| (14) Max Burgess | 5/2 | 26/0 | 31/2 |
| (15) Aleksandar Šušnjar* | 4/0 | 5/0 | 9/0 |
| (17) Kosta Grozos | 5/0 | 20/0 | 25/0 |
| (18) Kota Mizunuma | 5/3 | 20/2 | 25/7 |
| (19) Alex Badolato | 4/1 | 11/4 | 15/5 |
| (20) Alex Nassiep | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| (21) Noah James | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| (22) Joel Bertolissio | 0/0 | 27/0 | 27/0 |
| (23) Daniel Wilmering | 5/2 | 25/1 | 30/3 |
| (24) Alex Nunes | 4/1 | 8/0 | 12/1 |
| (25) Oscar Fryer | 3/1 | 3/1 | 6/2 |
| (28) Will Dobson | 5/1 | 26/4 | 31/5 |
| (33) Mark Natta | 2/0 | 23/1 | 25/1 |
| (34) Richard Meliwethu Nkomo | 0/0 | 1/0 | 1/0 |
| (39) Thomas Aquilina | 4/0 | 10/0 | 14/0 |
| (40) Jordan Baylis | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| (41) Lucas Scicluna | 2/0 | 10/0 | 12/0 |
| (42) Max Cooper | 4/0 | 9/0 | 13/0 |
| (43) Xavier Bertoncello | 5/2 | 27/7 | 32/9 |
| (44) Ben Van Dorssen | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| (45) Christian Bracco | 3/0 | 5/0 | 8/0 |
| (46) Ethan Debono | 1/0 | 0/0 | 1/0 |
Coaching Staff:
Head Coach – Mark Milligan
First Assistant Coach – Nick Stavroulakis
Second Assistant Coach – Ruben Zadkovich
Goalkeeping Coach – Jess Vanstrattan
Head Performance Analyst – Caleb Wickens
Head of Strength and Conditioning – Chris Smith
Head Physiotherapist – Justin Dougherty
Assistant Physiotherapist – Luke Vallone
Football Operations Manager – Adrian Talevski
Kit Manager – Ezekiel Gentle
