Ken Edwards takes the reins at Newcastle Jets

The new owners of the Newcastle Jets A-League club have appointed Ken Edwards as Executive Chairman.

Mining magnate and horseracing identity Nathan Tinkler, who took control of the troubled club last week announced "the appointment of Ken Edwards as Executive Chairman will ensure a smooth transition of ownership.

"Ken is an experienced sports professional and will be a stabilising influence on the Newcastle Jets at this time.

"We have been delighted with the enthusiasm of the local community and potential corporate partners to yesterday's announcement and look forward to deepening the links of the club to the Hunter region."

Edwards is tasked with the dual responsibility of ensuring the team's premiership campaign continues uninterrupted while he prepares the groundwork for a new culture at the six-year-old club.

In the days since Football Federation Australia announced Tinkler as the club's new backer, the pair have been in constant dialogue about the desired model for the club.

"Nathan has said that he wants to put in place a proper governance structure," Edwards told local media, adding âonce that's done, he plans to engage knowledgeable Newcastle people to run the Jets as a community asset."

Tinkler has already drafted a values statement for the new venture. It underscores the stakeholders' passion for the game, the ideal of a united football 'family', community involvement, pathways for junior talent and promoting the health benefits of active sport.

Edwards confirmed that Tinkler's backing has guaranteed the existence of the team at least until 31st March, 2011.

"Nathan genuinely believes this community needs national teams and he's using his investment to buy time to identify whether Newcastle really does want to have this club. This is not an open chequebook. He wants it to be run properly and for Newcastle to show that it will get behind it."

Edwards is well qualified to sort out the Jets' problems. As Chief Executive and Managing Director of Stadium Australia Group from 1996 to 2009 he knows the business of community engagement, recalling "I was lucky to have been in that place during a period when the venue set world attendance records for rugby league and rugby union and the Australian record for the biggest football crowd."

Having began his career in 1982 as a Brisbane Commonwealth Games events manager for the road and track cycling and badminton programs he joined Ogden IFC, taking on various roles with the group including Group Executive Director (Asia) and Managing Director (Sydney) of Ogden International Facilities Corporation.

Among his many successes at Stadium Australia Group, managers of the ANZ Stadium, Edwards helped the South Sydney Rabbitohs with their new work on a new ownership model which offered a 25% stake for members and 75% for equity investors Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court.

As Edwards recalls, "the focus was on connecting with the fans and driving new membership (and) from a base of 6,000, Souths' membership is now beyond 20,000. Last year, the football club recorded a profit outside of the club's licensed operations.

"That was a really good example of how you can turn a business around providing you focus on the customer and getting the structure right. There is every reason to believe we can do that here in Newcastle."