Newcastle Jets Executive Chairman, Shane Mattiske has issued the following letter to our Members, supporters and local football community.
To our Newcastle Jets family,
I’d like to provide an update to you all as we once again find ourselves in a time with so much unpredictability across our Club and league, and in our general community.
As most of you will know, many A-Leagues matches are being disrupted as a result of the rapid growth in Covid numbers.
The guidance from the APL has been that if a team cannot field five or more players from their typical matchday squad, then the game will be postponed.
Whilst we were ready to play our last two scheduled Men’s matches, outbreaks within the Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne City teams resulted in these matches been postponed.
For this weekend just past, Covid cases across the competition saw a total of five of the six scheduled Men’s matches be postponed. We have also seen postponement of Women’s matches including our scheduled game on January 2 against Melbourne City.
The APL is working to reschedule all postponed matches, however there is not yet a decision on how the competition schedule adapts to include the large amount of games missed.
We know that this uncertainty is frustrating for fans, Members and sponsors, as it is for our players and staff. Please be assured that we are confident these matches will still proceed over the coming months. We expect these matches to be played in front of crowds and at the stadiums where they were originally scheduled.
Importantly, our Men’s and Women’s teams remain dedicated to their preparations for upcoming matches and have adopted strict protocols to try and avoid the introduction of Covid into their training environment. This includes daily rapid antigen testing, consistent PCR testing, and limitations in interaction with people and places outside of our training and match environments.
Like most in our community, we understand that there is a likelihood that more of our players or staff will get Covid and we prepare to support these people and to manage our way through this disruption to the best of our ability.
We know that many of you either have, or are close to people who have acquired Covid. All at our Club hope that the impacts on you, your family or friends are not too great and that everyone is back to full health soon.
We will continue to work with the A-Leagues on confirming a new schedule for the postponed matches and will notify all our Members and supporters as soon as details are set.
We’re looking forward to football being the focus once again, and can’t wait for upcoming opportunities to prove the strength of our Men’s and Women’s teams against our oppositions.
We’re thankful for your continued commitment and support of this great Club and we look forward to standing alongside you, Bonded by Gold, through this 2021/22 season.
Finally, and importantly, I hope you and your families have had a peaceful, safe and relaxing holiday break.
Yours Sincerely,
Shane Mattiske.
