NEWCASTLE HERALD
By James Gardiner and Brett Keeble
WHAT Con Constantine promised, Con Constantine delivered.
The charismatic Jets owner, who has pumped $15 million into his sporting baby since 2000 and lost an estimated $2 million this A-League season, realised a dream for himself last night and his adopted home town of Newcastle.
No one at the Sydney Football Stadium could have been prouder or happier after the Jets eclipsed sworn enemies Central Coast 1-0 in the A-League grand final.
The eccentric multimillionaire stormed the pitch immediately after full-time, running to the sea of gold at the southern end and bowing down to the thousands of ecstatic Jets fans.
They repaid in kind when Constantine took to the dais, commandeered the microphone, and he led the Jets faithful in a rousing rendition of "New-cas-tle, New-cas-tle, New-cas-tle".
Constantine then turned his affections to the players, embracing them one by one and joining them on their lap of honour.
Considering how much time, energy and, most importantly, money he'd poured into his pet project, who could begrudge him basking in their limelight.
"It's a feeling that you never will forget in your life. It's a dream come true," Constantine said. "What's happened here tonight, for Newcastle, we made it happen!
"A lot of people underestimated us but we did it, I don't know what else to say. "What can you say? How good was that?"
Though it might have cost him some of his many millions, Constantine said a grand final win was priceless.
"Regardless of how much money we've put into the game, tonight we all saw something special something that you can't buy," he said. "Remember one thing, all the money in the world can't buy you a grand final, it can't buy you a trophy, but we did it.
"We did it with heart; we did it with heart and soul."
Constantine was not the only member of the Jets family to allow their emotions to run rampant. Korean import Song Jin-hyung threw his boots into the crowd before disappearing up the tunnel and uninhibited right wing-back Tarek Elrich gave away all of his playing strip except for his "skins" protective undergarments.
Article Source : http://theherald.yourguide.com.au/news/sport/soccer/impossible-to-put-dollar-value-on-charismatic-club-owners-ultimate-aleague-conquest/1189204.html
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