Con Constantine
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Con Constantine (b. 1 July 1945) is a Cypriot-Australian businessman and the current owner of the Australian football (soccer) club Newcastle United Jets.
[edit] Early life and rise to prominence
Con Constantine migrated to Australia with his parents and siblings from the town of Maroni, near Larnaka, Cyprus at the age of 10. An early career move saw him working in the takeaway food business before progressing to selling houseplants. In 1985 he built Parklea markets (on the site of a former drive-in cinema), initially operating it as a plant nursery while waiting for council approval. With approval granted, Parklea Markets quickly established itself as one of the premier retail destinations in western Sydney.
In recent years Mr Constantine has expanded his interests to Newcastle, 150km north of Sydney, where he is the owner of The Store, another markets business. He has also recently purchased two Newcastle community papers, the Newcastle & Lake Macquarie Post and the Hunter Post. He bought these papers from Fairfax Media, which was forced to sell the them upon buying Rural Press, having already owned two community papers as well as the Newcastle Herald.
Conscious of his humble origins, Mr Constantine is a generous supporter of his local Blacktown Greek Orthodox parish, as well as many legitimate Sydney and Newcastle charities.
[edit] Newcastle United Jets
Mr Constantine is the owner and chairman of Newcastle United Jets, an Australian professional association football (soccer) club based in Newcastle. The club currently competes in the A-League and plays its home games at EnergyAustralia Stadium (EAS). They are the reigning A-League Champions, after defeating the Central Coast Mariners 1-0 in the A-League 2007-08 Grand Final.
The club was formed in 2000 when it joined the National Soccer League (NSL) as Newcastle United.[1]
Constantine replaced Jets' manager Richard Money with an Australian, Nick Theodorakopoulos, for the 2006/2007 A-League season. Theodorakopoulos was sacked as manager after a lacklustre start to the season. The new coach is Gary van Egmond with support from Assistant Coach Mark Jones.
Constantine also chose to bring controversial striker Mario Jardel to Newcastle without asking the coach whether or not he wanted Jardel.
[edit] References
- ^ Newcastle Jets History. Newcastle United Jets FC. Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
