| Gary van Egmond returned the Jets head coaching position in the early part of the 2011/12 season after topping a list of candidates from Australia and abroad who expressed interest in the vacant position.
The appointment marks a return to the club where van Egmond first enjoyed A-League success. He was head coach at Newcastle from 2006-09, guiding the Jets to a grand final win in 2007-08 and being named A-League coach of the year.
A product of the Manly district, van Egmond established himself as a defender in the National Soccer League in the early 1980s with Apia-Leichhardt and later Footscray-JUST before trying his luck in Europe where he won a contract with Dutch club Roda JC.
He made the first of 15 appearances for Australia in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and returned to Sydney to win an NSL championship with Marconi in 1993.
Van Egmond took his first step on the coaching ladder in 1998 with Northern Spirit's youth team. He steered Manly-Warringah Dolphins to a State League title before joining Newcastle in 2001 as an assistant coach.
With the Jets winless after seven rounds of the 2006-07 season, van Egmond was promoted to replace Nick Theodorakopoulos, taking the side to the play-offs.
The following season, the Jets finished second and went on to defeat the Mariners 1-0 in the grand final.
Since 2009, he worked in Canberra as AIS and Australian under-17 coach which he left to return to the Jets on a two-year contract. |