CON Constantine faces the worst bottom line since he breathed life into the Newcastle Jets but the millionaire owner said he was committed as ever to taking the club back to the top of the A-League.
A dramatic slump in crowd figures and the lack of a major sponsor combined with spiralling costs, including the Asian Champions League, have hit Constantine hard.
Although Constantine would not put a dollar figure on the season loss, The Herald understands he has done close to $3 million.
The Newcastle Knights have lodged a winding-up application against the Jets in an attempt to recover $300,000 allegedly owed to them in rent for sub-leasing EnergyAustralia Stadium and other costs.
The matter has been adjourned until Tuesday.
Constantine has been at loggerheads with the NRL club for several years over their stadium-sharing arrangement.
The Knights owe the State Government more than $1 million in unpaid rent after a dispute over the redevelopment of the western stand, an issue that will be addressed by an independent arbitrator on March 22.
"I am happy to give them the $38,000 for catering and pourage I owe them," Constantine said last night.
"The other $260,000, we will deal with it after the arbitration comes down.
"If the State Government does not award them any money, because I am going to ask likewise, I'm happy to pay the balance of the money."
A-League clubs were originally granted five-year licences which expire in June.
Football Federation Australia will conduct a review of all clubs before granting renewals.
Constantine has had a number of run-ins with the governing body but was confident of an extension.
"I have no issues with the FFA," he said.
Constantine will meet with coach Branko Culina and chief executive John Tsatsimas this week to start planning for next season.
"We are already working behind the scenes, searching for players," Constantine said.
"In the past we have left it to the end, but now we have more time and opportunity to recruit the right players to do the job.
"I can tell you now with the players we are looking for and talking to the Jets will be better positioned in the new season than the one just gone.
"There is no doubt we need someone like Joel Griffiths or Nicky Carle, personality players, to capture the people.
"Nicky has always said if he comes back to the A-League he will knock on our door before he goes anywhere else.
"But if they [Crystal Palace] put a large fee on him, we wouldn't be interested."
Although keen to bring in three quality players, Constantine said he would reassess the marquee position after Italian Fabio Vignaroli suffered a season-ending injury in round 18.
"If a good marquee player comes along at a price affordable to the club we will go for him," he said.
"If one doesn't, we just have to roll the way we are.
"All the clubs who had huge marquee players didn't finish as high as we did, and we had all the injuries."
The club is in talks with Ljubo Milicevic and Ali Abbas about extending their stays. But it is believed that Milicevic has received a lucrative offer to head to China.
"If Ljubo wants to go to China, I don't think the Jets or Con Constantine can stop him," the owner said.
"He did well for us but if he has an offer and wants to go there, all we can do is wish him luck."
Constantine's attention will not be solely on performance on the pitch.
New club North Queensland are in danger of falling over and Constantine acknowledges he could not afford to lose millions every season.
"It is a business and has to be run like a business," he said.
The Jets' average home crowd dropped to below 6000 this season, almost 4000 down on last season's turnout of 9729 and in stark contrast to the 14,175-a-game in their championship-winning campaign two years ago.
"It was a disaster as far as the support base was concerned," he said.
"Because of that this is the worst bottom line since the club started, including the NSL.
"We had three Sundays where it was 40 degrees, the grandstand was not built on the western side, and the sun hit people in the face.
"We have to promote it differently next season to get more people to the park, No.1.
"No.2, we need large sponsors to come on board.
"We try and give our sponsor value for the money."
But Constantine said the biggest influence on the bottom line would be an improved arrangement at EnergyAustralia Stadium.
"Once a deal has been done with the stadium, that will open the gateway for us to negotiate with the state government," he said.
"I'm after fairer deal when it comes to match day income.
"Even though the Knights are a non-profit organisation, we are losing a lot of dollars.
"We have to try and minimise our losses."
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