Newcastle has snared the services of Perth Glory defender Scott Neville for the next two A-League seasons, but Jets striker Jeremy Brockie has left the A-League club.
Neville was offered a two-year contract extension to stay at the Glory but turned down the reduced deal in order to link up with the Jets.
Newcastle also locked up Melbourne Heart left back Craig Goodwin for the next two seasons, and announced it had parted ways with Brockie, Ali Abbas and Tarek Elrich.
The Jets had been in negotiations to retain 24-year-old Brockie, but the New Zealand international was said to be also exploring his options overseas after scoring nine goals last season.
Neville established himself as one of Glory's most important players during his four years at the club, notching 63 games and filling in as skipper several times.
The hard-running defender's 2011-12 campaign was severely disrupted by a serious knee injury, but the 23-year-old made it back in time to play a handy role off the bench in Perth's run to the grand final.
Perth was eager to keep Neville, but could only offer him a reduced deal due to the club's major cost-cutting drive.
"Scott was a player we wanted to keep so it's disappointing (he) has decided to leave," Glory coach Ian Ferguson said.
Jets coach Gary van Egmond praised the character of Neville, describing him as just the type of player Newcastle needed.
Goodwin, originally from Adelaide, was named man of the match in his A-League debut against Melbourne Victory in round 19.
The 20-year-old went on to play four more games for the Heart, and also earned a call-up to the Olyroos squad for their final Olympic qualifying match against Iraq.
AAP
Tags: a-league, soccer, sport, newcastle-2300, nsw, australia First posted May 07, 2012 21:46:01
