Newcastle has won the A-League Premier’s Plate for the first time in the club’s history.
Second-placed Auckland FC’s hopes on knocking the Jets off the top of the A-League ladder ended with a shock 1-0 home loss to the Central Coast Mariners on Sunday.
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With only one round of the regular season remaining before next month’s finals series, Newcastle has an unsurmountable four-point lead over the Black Knights.
Despite having won the A-League championship in 2008, the Jets were yet to clinch a premiership.
However, that has now been accomplished, and should the Mark Milligan-coached Jets also win the championship, they will complete a 2025-26 treble, having also lifted the Australia Cup in October.
A-League chief executive Steve Rosich said Milligan’s men had “captured the hearts of the Hunter this season with their fearless playing style by an exciting young squad”.
“They’ve been the stand-out side all season, and congratulations to all involved at the club on their first-ever premiership,” Rosich said.
“The club has built great momentum on and off the field this season (with) an historic unbeaten run and record crowds, and we look forward to seeing if they can make more history in the A-League 2026 finals series.”
The Jets will receive the Premier’s Plate following their final round fixture against the Mariners on Saturday at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Auckland’s loss on Sunday also ended the Kiwi outfit’s hopes of securing back-to-back premierships, having won the Premier’s Plate last season in the club’s maiden A-League campaign
The only goal of the game – which included lengthy delay during the first-half due to nearby lightning – at Go Media Stadium came in the 19th minute through Central Coast attacker Ali Auglah.
Fed by teammate Nathanael Blair, who capitalised on an error from Auckland defender Jake Girdwood-Reich, Auglah slotted the ball home from close range to score his fifth goal since joining Central Coast in January from NPL NSW club Sydney Olympic.
Mariners captain Andrew Redmayne said the win was typical of Central Coast’s season.
“We do it the hard way,” Redmayne told Sky Sports NZ.
“We have to roll up our sleeves at times, but there’s a lot of character in this team. At the start of the season, I said we’ll upset a few teams, and in a way we’ve done that today.”