{"id":54434,"date":"2026-07-20T10:11:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T10:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/54434\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T10:11:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T10:11:22","slug":"alex-grant-signs-with-newcastle-jets-after-sydney-fc-release-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/54434\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Grant signs with Newcastle Jets after Sydney FC release"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having fallen out of favour at Sydney FC, experienced defender Alex Grant has well and truly fallen on his feet at the A-League\u2019s \u201ctop dogs\u201d Newcastle.<\/p>\n

Grant has signed a one-year deal with the Jets after being released from his Sky Blues contract.<\/p>\n

A mainstay under former Sydney coach Ufuk Talay, the 32-year-old centre-back didn\u2019t play at all in the final two months of the Sky Blues\u2019 2025-26 campaign after Patrick Kisnorbo took over from Talay.<\/p>\n

With Kisnorbo preferring younger central defenders Alex Popovic and Jordan Courtney-Perkins, Grant was keen for a move and was delighted when Jets coach Mark Milligan came knocking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to play,\u201d Grant said ahead of his expected Jets debut in Tuesday night\u2019s Australia Cup round-of-32 clash against NPL Victoria club Preston at Genis Steel Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve come here to play and fight for my spot. You see now in the A-League a lot of young boys getting opportunities, and it\u2019s getting a bit harder for us old blokes \u2013 not that I\u2019m old yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to give everything I can for Newcastle.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while conceding Sydney was the A-League\u2019s \u201cmost decorated team\u201d, Grant was thrilled to have joined a club that won last season\u2019s Australia Cup and Premier\u2019s Plate and this season will play in the AFC Champions League Elite competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cNewcastle, you would say, are the top dogs at the moment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAuckland took out the A-League (championship), but in my opinion, winning the Premier\u2019s Plate is more important in terms of how the season goes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou play more games in (the regular season), and the finals are anyone\u2019s for the taking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grant\u2019s previous experience in Champions League football with Perth Glory and Korean club Pohang Steelers was a key factor in Milligan wanting to bring him to Newcastle.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a wonderful fit for us,\u201d Milligan said of Grant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal for us was always to add a little bit more experience because of Asia. At times we\u2019re definitely going to have to split the squad, and he ticks all the boxes for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s fantastic on the ball, he\u2019s played all across Asia as well, and he\u2019s won things. He\u2019ll help to guide this young team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite Grant having only trained twice with the Jets, Milligan won\u2019t hesitate to use him on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fortunate because he\u2019s been back in pre-season (with Sydney). He\u2019s been training, so in terms of the physical side of things, he\u2019s been able to slot straight in,\u201d the Jets coach said.<\/p>\n

Grant\u2019s former club in also in Australia Cup round-of-32 action on Tuesday night, with the Sky Blues travelling to Perth to meet NPL WA club Bayswater City at Frank Drago Reserve.<\/p>\n

In Tuesday\u2019s other Cup games, Perth Glory meets NPL Queensland outfit Lions FC at Spencer Park, and South Australian team Cumberland United hosts Victorian side Heidelberg United in an all-NPL battle.<\/p>\n

\"Marco<\/a>Marco Monteverde<\/a>Sports reporter<\/p>\n

Marco Monteverde is a Brisbane-based sports reporter for NCA Newswire. He worked in a similar role for The Courier-Mail from 2007 to 2020. During a journalism career of more than 25 years, he has also worked for The Queensland Times, The Sunshine Coast Daily, The Fraser Coast Chronicle and The North West Star. He has covered three FIFA World Cups and the 2000 Sydney Olympics, as well as a host of other major sporting events in Australia and around the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Having fallen out of favour at Sydney FC, experienced defender Alex Grant has well and truly fallen on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[47808,47775,47813,47825,47803,47833,47831,47777,36519,39234,47781,47814,47784,38151,37647,47791,47783,47837,47790,341,47805,26210,47806,47793,47826,297,22,4544,23,30846,47830,47816,172,47798,47812,37343,47788,47834,47778,709,47829,41984,47827,47787,47799,8019,47832,45588,47804,47815,47822,47802,3936,4708,47795,1080,36518,47774,47792,47796,596,47786,9859,7108,335,348,38588,317,47828,7611,247,1643,47835,47800,4876,39506,47797,47780,47818,47807,47821,47836,43069,47809,47801,37772,47794,47782,3336,47776,43078,47823,47820,47789,47811,38175,47819,41481,47817,29600,36985,47779,47810,47824,47785],"class_list":["post-54434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sydney","tag-s-top-dogs","tag-s-australia-cup","tag-s-australia-cup-round-of-32-clash","tag-s-former-club","tag-s-other-cup-games","tag-s-plate","tag-s-previous-experience","tag-2025-26-campaign","tag-a-bit","tag-a-club","tag-a-key-factor","tag-a-key-role","tag-a-little-bit-more-experience","tag-a-lot","tag-a-move","tag-a-one-year-deal","tag-a-rival-a-league-club","tag-a-veteran-defender","tag-a-wonderful-fit","tag-a-league","tag-afc-champipons-league","tag-alex-grant","tag-alex-popovic","tag-all-the-boxes","tag-an-all-npl-battle","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-auckland","tag-australia","tag-australia-cup","tag-australia-cup-round-of-32-action","tag-champions-league-football","tag-championship","tag-ex-sydney-defender","tag-experienced-defender-alex-grant","tag-favour","tag-former-sydney-coach-ufuk-talay","tag-frank-drago-reserve-in-tuesday","tag-genis-steel-stadium","tag-grant","tag-his-expected-jets-debut","tag-his-feet","tag-his-sky-blues-contract-a-mainstay","tag-jets","tag-jets-coach-mark-milligan","tag-jordan-courtney-perkins","tag-korean-club-pohang-steelers","tag-last-season","tag-milligan","tag-more-games","tag-my-opinion","tag-my-spot","tag-newcastle","tag-newcastle-jets","tag-newcastle-nsw","tag-newswire-sport","tag-night","tag-npl-queensland-outfit-lions-fc","tag-npl-victoria-club-preston","tag-npl-wa-club-bayswater-city","tag-nsw","tag-old-blokes","tag-opportunities","tag-patrick-kisnorbo","tag-perth","tag-perth-glory","tag-pre-season","tag-premier","tag-south-australian-team-cumberland-united","tag-spencer-park","tag-sydney","tag-sydney-fc","tag-sydney-fc-exit","tag-talay-with-kisnorbo","tag-team","tag-terms","tag-the-32-year-old-centre-back","tag-the-a-league","tag-the-afc-champions-league-elite-competition","tag-the-ball","tag-the-final-two-months","tag-the-finals","tag-the-goal","tag-the-jets","tag-the-jets-coach","tag-the-moment","tag-the-outer","tag-the-physical-side","tag-the-premier","tag-the-regular-season","tag-the-season","tag-the-sky-blues","tag-the-squad","tag-the-taking","tag-the-top-dogs","tag-this-season","tag-this-young-team","tag-times","tag-top-dogs","tag-transfers","tag-tuesday","tag-veteran-defender-alex-grant","tag-victorian-side-heidelberg-united","tag-young-boys","tag-younger-central-defenders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}