Newcastle Jets’ new owner Martin Lee to take small steps

It will be a case of small steps for new Newcastle Jets owner, Chinese businessman Martin Lee.

New Newcastle Jets owner Martin Lee: ‘I want to work closely with everyone in Newcastle.’

It will be a case of small steps for millionaire Chinese businessman and football fanatic Martin Lee after he was officially unveiled as the new owner of the Newcastle Jets A-League club.

Following lengthy discussions that took almost 10 months, Lee reportedly paid $5.5 million to secure the licence for the Jets from Football Federation Australia, which had been running the club since May last year.

Draped in a Jets scarf, Lee, the founder and president of Chinese company Ledman Optoelectronic, said yesterday he was excited to own a club in the A-League and believed it would continue the strong and vibrant economic and football relationship between Australia and China.

Although he is a man used to success, Lee is prepared to bide his time with the Jets, suggesting he hopes to see the club secure a spot in the Asian Champions League within three years.

While the Jets won the A-League title in the 2007-08 season, they have not had much to crow about in recent times having made the finals just once since then (2009-10) and twice finished with the wooden spoon (2008-09 and 2014-15).

FFA was forced to take control of the club last year when it revoked the licence of Nathan Tinkler, though their results under new coach Scott Miller were a vast improvement on previous seasons.

Lee said he had been impressed by the A-League and described it as “one of the top professional leagues in Asia”.

“I want to work closely with everyone in Newcastle, the members, fans and the local football community, to make this club the best it can be,” Lee said.

Lee said he believed the club, which has always struggled financially, could break even within two years.

Former Central Coast Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna has been appointed chief executive of the club.

McKinna, who was also mayor of Gosford before the recent forced council amalgamations, said his first priority was to “re-engage with the fans”.

“They have had to do it tough in recent times with several changes of ownership and poor results on the field,” McKinna told The Australian.

“They want answers, they want encouragement and belief. They want an owner who cares, and they are certainly getting that with Martin.”

McKinna said the club would not invest in marquee signings next season and that one of the priorities was to get the Jets back on their feet financially.

FFA chief executive David Gallop described the sale of the Jets as “a watershed moment for Australian football”.

Meanwhile, Perth Glory have been give a massive boost with classy attacking midfielder Diego Castro agreeing to terms for another season with the West Australians.

The Spaniard was a standout last season, scoring 13 goals on the way to winning the Johnny Warren Medal as the best player in the A-League.