Newcastle Jets winning some steel town disciples for grand final

Newcastle has gone Jets-crazy ahead of tonight’s A-League grand final against Melbourne Victory.

Staff at Everything Football in Newcastle’s Kotara have been kept busy as Jets fever hits the town ahead of tonight’s grand final. Picture: Peter Lorimer

“Holy moley,” the shopkeeper says. “It’s unbelievable. Unthinkable. The town’s gone crazy.”

Belinda Hedley runs Everything Football with husband Shaun in the Newcastle suburb of Kotara. It’s the official merchandise outlet of the Jets football team. She can speak only for a second because Jets shorts, T-shirts, replica playing strips, scarfs, balloons, flags and caps are walking out the door. Thousands upon thousands of them this week.

Shaun goes out the back to iron the gear to be worn by the Jets players in tonight’s A-League grand final against Melbourne Victory.

How big are the Jets? The Hedleys have sold more than 2500 shirts, 700 scarfs and 600 flags since Newcastle qualified for tonight’s title-deciding match at McDonald Jones Stadium. When 460 commemorative gold jerseys arrived on Wednesday, they were sold in four hours. Queues have been 50-deep.

Captains Carl Valeri and Nigel Boogaard. Picture: Getty Images

Both the Jets and the town’s rugby league team, the Knights, are recovering from the shambolic end of the Nathan Tinkler era. When Tinkler’s finances went bust, so did the clubs as competitive forces. Both finished last a year ago. The Jets could be premiers and the Knights have ­improved out of sight.

“Newcastle’s different,” Belinda Hedley says. “The community has just completely embraced it … Everyone’s loving that Newcastle has successful teams again.”

League has a mostly older supporter base while the Jets’ shop right now is filled with kids. Junior football is incredibly popular. Give the generation of youngsters another decade and the Jets could be the new face of the city.

Sam Lavell, 7, selects gear for the big game. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

But for now, Newcastle is still a rugby league town. The Knights are still king. You take a 90-minute drive around Newcastle for signs of Jets’ fever.

We drive around until we’re red and blue in the face and discover … one “Go Jets” sign on a ute. No matter. Bums on seats is what matters. The Knights’ regular-season match against Souths was expected to draw 20,000-plus last night. The A-League decider is a 30,000-seat sellout.

“Everyone’s jumped on board,” says Shaun before getting back to his ironing.