The new-look Newcastle Jets will look to showcase their new, exciting style of play when they face Western United this Saturday night, 7:45pm, in their first competitive match, in the FFA Cup.
The Cup presents an opportunity like no other for football clubs around Australia, with many NPL clubs having the chance to play against their professional Isuzu UTE A-League counterparts.
To further motivate the remaining teams this FFA Cup season, is the entry into the AFC Champions League for the winners of the 2021 edition – a first in the Cup’s history.
As the squad continue to prepare for their FFA Cup play-off fixture, we’ve taken a look at the history of Jets in the national knockout competition.
2014 – ROUND OF 32
In the inaugural season of the FFA Cup, 631 teams from around Australia would compete across the qualifiers to reach the Round of 32, with the then ten A-League sides, and 22 FFA member federation sides progressing.
Jets took on Perth Glory at home in their first ever match, but would be eliminated by the eventual runners-up of the competition, going down 2-0 courtesy of a brace from Irish import Andrew Keogh.
Perth Glory would go on to progress to the final against Adelaide United, with Adelaide claiming the inaugural FFA Cup, 1-0.
2015 – ROUND OF 32
In 2015, the Newcastle Jets would again face Perth Glory as the side looked to get revenge for the previous season’s early defeat.
It was an engrossing affair played out at local ground, Magic Park, an early David Carney goal give us the lead for most of the contest. 
With just minutes to go, a goal to Sidnei levelled the game in agonising fashion, before the visitors then took the lead through Nebojsa Marinkovic in extra time.
Labinot Haliti pulled us through to penalties though scoring in the 115th minute, but our team would go down in the shootout, 4-3, eliminating us once again at the first stage.
Perth Glory would go on to progress to the final before again falling short, this time against Melbourne Victory 2-0.
2016 – ROUND OF 32
In the third annual FFA Cup, the Jets would again be pitted against an A-League side after being drawn against last year’s Cup winners, Melbourne Victory.
Our team got off to a slow start at Magic Park, with Besart Berisha nabbing an early goal, but in the second half, Wayne Brown got us back on track to level the game.
It was a back-and-forth affair, but ultimately goals to Oliver Bozanic and George Howard turned the game in the visitors favour as we went down in miserable conditions, 3-1.
2017 – ROUND OF 32
Once again, the Jets would be slated to play an A-League side, this time Adelaide United in Adelaide, for their Round of 32 match.
It was a rather stagnant affair, but ultimately a second half goal to Michael Marrone sealed our fate, as we continued to have no luck at the initial stage.
Sydney FC would go on to claim their maiden FFA Cup, downing Adelaide United 2-1.
2018 – ROUND OF 16
In 2016, our boys would have their breakthrough in their fifth Cup campaign after progressing through past the Round of 32 for the first time since its inception.
The Jets would be drawn to face NPL Queensland side, Gold Coast Knights, claiming a 1-0 victory thanks to Nikolai Topor-Stanley poking home a goal in the first half.
We would then face Melbourne City in the next round, but after a challenging bout, Bruno Fornaroli managed to claim a second half goal which would prove the deciding play and eliminate us from the competition.
2019 – QUARTER FINALS
The 2019 edition of the tournament would prove to be our most successful yet, as the team reached the quarter-finals for the first time.
In the Round of 32 match, the Jets would face Melbourne Victory, and it proved to be a stunning clash.
After being down 2-0 away from home, second half goals from both Johnny Koutroumbis and Dimi Petratos, sent the team into extra time, and with momentum. Our fate would be sealed with just seven minutes to go, as youngster Patrick Langlois scored to send us into the next round.
Progressing to the Round of 16 for the second year running, the Jets would be up against same-town rivals, the Edgeworth Eagles, in a great event for the city of Newcastle.
Our team would go on to win 5-1, with goals to Abdiel Arroyo, Wes Hoolahan and Nicholas Fitzgerald, and Dimi Petratos with a double.
Moving onto the quarter-finals for the first time, the Jets’ Cup run would come to an unfortunate end and we faced a determined Adelaide United outfit.
Al Hassan Toure scored the only goal of the game, as Adelaide went onto successfully defend their Cup title.
NOW
With the 2020 FFA Cup being cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the upcoming Play-off match will prove to be our first knockout match since our Quarter Final performance two years ago.
Our team will not only be looking to walk away from Geelong with a win and strong start to the new season, but also to showcase the new style of play that Manager Arthur Papas has been instilling over the course of the pre-season.
Our contest against Western United at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night can be watched on 10 Play from 7:45pm.
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