A-League grand final has Newcastle ready to party like it’s 1997
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If interest in the A-League has been on the decline this year, someone clearly forgot to tell the people of Newcastle.
The story of their football team's run from bottom of the ladder last season to a home grand final has captured the imagination of an entire town, a whole region.
On one reading, it has actually been propelled by it.
Much has changed in Newcastle since the days when heavy industry and mining, along with rugby league success, defined a robust local character.
But passion for football has remained a constant and it will have a glorious avenue for expression on Saturday when the Jets host Melbourne Victory for the big prize.
It won't be the first time.
The party that lasted a whole week
In 1997 Newcastle was in desperate need of something to lift an enveloping gloom.
The BHP steelmaking plant, the town's main employer and a key pillar in its identity for decades, was due to close.
Uncertainty gripped the region. Though not its rugby league team.
The story of the Knights' ARL grand final win that year has entered legend.
Andrew Johns darting down the blind side, 'that' dummy, the pass to Darren Albert, the ball touched down in the dying moments for a dramatic, famous win over Manly.
Bedlam greeted the side on their return by coach from Sydney.
Impromptu parties sprang up on the side of the road from Gosford onwards. The town's streets were flooded with jubilant fans.
The place ground to a delirious standstill for a week.
"It was tough in 97. There was a lot of people put out of work and the Newcastle Knights gave people something to be able to puff their chests out about," said Craig Hamilton, a former miner turned ABC sports broadcaster who has spent his lifetime in the city.
"The impact that win had on Newcastle was immeasurable.
"Talk to anyone who was there: it was the best party that was ever held in the city. And the one that went on the longest as well."
Newcastle's rebirth as a city
Today's Newcastle is a different place.
The air is cleaner for a start. The worst held fears of economic and social collapse once BHP left town did not come to pass.
Instead, the Hunter region has diversified and prospered. Unemployment today is comparable with other metropolitan centres across the country. Cranes dominate the skyline.
Government and BHP provided funds eased the transition. But the town's rebirth owes as much to that persisting sense of community, an honest toughness.
"Newcastle's always been a working-class city," said Hamilton.
"It has changed in recent times because of the closure of the steelworks. And the coalmines.
"[But] one thing that has not changed is the passionate support for our two football codes.
"It's a football town. And the history's here. And it will be out in force on Saturday night."
The Knights claimed a second title in 2001. And the Newcastle Jets enjoyed their — to date — sole A-League title success in the 2007-8 season.
But since then the pickings have been rather leaner. Newcastle's sporting teams plunged into decline as the town reinvented itself.
In the last three years the Knights and Jets have occupied bottom place on their respective ladder on all bar one occasion. A promising start to this year's NRL campaign has Knights fans dreaming of a return to finals football.
For the Jets, of course, the dream is already a reality.
Newcastle and Jets pulling in the same direction
Success for the Jets has had many fathers.
A well-resourced owner, in the form of the Chinese Ledman group and their affable chairman Martin Lee, took over in 2016 in the wake of the disastrous era of Nathan Tinkler.
Tinkler, a local mining magnate, was viewed as a saviour for both football clubs when he took them over earlier in this decade. His hubris and incompetence in running sports teams drove both close to the wall.
By contrast Lee has had a light touch, ceding control to football men who know how to do their jobs. CEO Laurie McKinna is one of the most hard working and progressive CEOs in Australian sport.
His appointment last year of Ernie Merrick, a two-time A-League title winner with the Victory, has been central to the rapid turnaround in fortunes.
But perhaps the most important work of all has been a deliberate attempt to tap in to the latent energy of the region.
The owner might be Chinese and the chief management roles held by Scotsmen, but they have made ground by re-engaging with the local community in a fundamental and holistic sense.
What McKinna recognised was a club that had drifted away from its roots. From the local community that gave it its greatest strength.
A one club philosophy bringing together youth teams, the women's game, administrators and supporters has forged an identity of togetherness.
There is power in the collective.
Grand final the hottest ticket in town
Many who wish to be in the ground on Saturday, however, will be locked out.
Disquiet has been voiced this week over a ticketing system that allowed members to buy up to 10 tickets in an opening round of sales.
True to his belief that the Jets should be a shared experience, McKinna has vowed to ban for life any members found trying to profit via scalping.
"To me Newcastle Jets fans are mates," McKinna said.
"And you should be looking after each other, not stitching your mates up."
More happily, he also tells the tale of a member with an extra ticket contacting him to track down a pensionable age supporter they had seen queue up to buy a ticket only to be told none were left.
With the CEO's help the pair were united. The former is now giving the latter a lift to the ground this weekend.
Forget tales of profiteering. That speaks to the real heart of a family football club.
Winning helps, of course.
And it's easier to be engaged as a fan when your team is playing the brand of football Newcastle supporters have been treated to this season.
"I don't think this town will realise the full impact Ernie Merrick has had on this club and this team until maybe a few years down the track. It has been a quantum leap," Hamilton said.
"In his first press conference he said this is the way we're going to play: play forward, attack. If we're 2-0 up we won't park the bus, we're going to go and score more goals.
"And they've done it. They have been a fantastic team to watch."
Merrick has changed the side's make up with some smart business in the transfer market.
But more than that he has changed the belief in the side. His words at that first press engagement were not hollow platitudes.
Newcastle's date with history
Considering where the club was just 12 months ago, to finish as runners-up this season would not be considered a failure.
But the dynamics of the final has changed.
Melbourne Victory's breathless upset win over minor premiers Sydney FC is why Newcastle, who finished above Victory on the ladder, has been granted home advantage.
After playing the fearless, free flowing underdogs punching above their weight, Newcastle now finds itself the favourite for its biggest match of the season.
How that change in circumstances affects the team, if at all, will be seen on Saturday. But it is an added pressure entirely subsumed by the excitement across the town.
"In my view it is the biggest sporting event that Newcastle has hosted in its history," Hamilton said.
"You could argue that the Socceroos playing here in the Asian Cup [semi-final in 2015] was as big, and there is that link to the national side … but there is a stronger personal connection to the local team."
The strength of that connection has already helped lift the side to this point. And may yet help them over the line.
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