The Jets are featuring in their maiden Australia Cup final after overcoming NPLM VIC premiers Avondale FC in the club\u2019s first semi-final in 12 years.<\/p>\n
Next up for Newcastle is a clash with Heidelberg, who have stunned Isuzu UTE A-League trio Western Sydney Wanderers, Wellington Phoenix and Auckland FC en route to the decider under former A-Leagues assistant John Anastasiadis.<\/p>\n
BIG INTERVIEW: Milligan\u2019s \u2018belief\u2019 for Aussie football inspired by a legend and what it means for Jet<\/a><\/p>\n Mark Milligan\u2019s tenure as Newcastle head coach is in its infancy after replacing Rob Stanton heading into 2025-26 but the Jets\u2019 new era under the A-Leagues great is continuing to take shape.<\/p>\n Never before had the Jets reached the cup decider but in their first semi-final after 12 years, Milligan\u2019s Newcastle set up a showdown against giant-slaying NPL outfit Heidelberg United on October 4 \u2013 not only a chance to claim silverware but qualify for the 2026-27 AFC Champions League Two.<\/p>\n \u2018HE\u2019S GOING TO BE ONE OF THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE A-LEAGUE\u2019:\u00a0How do Wanderers replace quartet?<\/a> \u201cWhen we sit down at the start of pre-season, you want to go deep into the cup,\u201d Milligan told aleagues.com.au. \u201cObviously, there are now big rewards for doing well in the cup, but it also means competitive games, albeit different types of games to what you face in the league. Cup football is quite different to league football, but it\u2019s good for us because it\u2019s a little indicator of where we\u2019re at.<\/p>\n \u201cWe set pre-season up in three phases. It\u2019s very much about us, first and foremost, creating habits in players to allow us to play the football we want. Giving them the tools to be able to play, so it doesn\u2019t just sort of happen. We\u2019ve had to break it down.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not easy and you always go through periods where players want to sort of test our resolve a little bit as well, and see how much we really believe in what we\u2019re doing. It\u2019s good to have these competitive games to be able to show them that we\u2019re on the right track, otherwise it\u2019s just us telling them all pre-season that they\u2019re heading in the right direction.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s still going to take time, and by no means is that a cop out, because I still feel like we can get good results whilst we\u2019re becoming the team that we want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Hahn Australia Cup Final![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2229874334.jpg\")
Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne.<\/p>\n
EXPLAINED:\u00a0Why Isuzu UTE A-League star has finally said yes to World No. 168 after 7 years<\/a>
INSIDE AUCKLAND FC\u2019S TRANSFER PLANS:\u00a0\u2018Biggest challenge\u2019 clear as global search begins<\/a>
INTERVIEW:\u00a0\u2018Amazing story\u2019 that highlights A-Leagues club\u2019s \u2018deliberate\u2019 academy strategy<\/a>
WHO IS PIERO QUISPE?\u00a0Meet the South American \u2018MVP\u2019 who only wanted Sydney FC after snapping 10-year trophy drought<\/a>
FEATURE:\u00a0\u2018Unique\u2019 opportunity for \u2018club of the future\u2019 as A-Leagues academy share \u2018big goal\u2019<\/a>
\u2018CREDIT TO THE A-LEAGUE\u2019:\u00a0Popa\u2019s passionate message as \u2018proven\u2019 pathway produces new wave of Socceroos<\/a><\/p>\n
Heidelberg United vs Newcastle Jets
Date:\u00a0Saturday, 4 October 2025\u00a0
Venue:\u00a0Lakeside Stadium, Melbourne
Kick-off:\u00a07.40pm AEST
Broadcast: Channel 10, Paramount+<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newcastle Jets will travel to Melbourne to face giant-slaying Heidelberg United in next month\u2019s historic 2025 Hahn Australia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126467,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[20417,20418,20419,64,63,44],"class_list":["post-126466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-a-league-men","tag-a-leagues","tag-almfeatured","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}