ALM schedule tough on clubs, fans: Papas

Newcastle coach Arthur Papas says back-to-back midweek A-League Men's matches hurt the Jets' ability to attract fans to the games, as the COVID-19 hit competition's attendance figures slump.

Just 3403 spectators turned up to McDonald Jones Stadium for Tuesday's clash with ALM champions Melbourne City - the seventh lowest home attendance for the Jets in their league history.

It was even smaller in the preceding home game when 3109 attended Newcastle's 2-1 win over Brisbane on February 3 - a Thursday night fixture.

That total was the fifth-smallest home crowd in Jets' history, with the club's average attendances slumping from 12,559 in 2017-18 to a current average of 5061 this season.

Papas says it did little to help the club's bottom line to have matches played late in midweek.

"It's been disappointing obviously that we've played our home matches on weekdays ... pretty late at night," Papas said.

"I understand the scheduling, it's quite difficult to get organised, but in saying that our supporters are critical to us and they're important and we've probably missed an opportunity to play in front of more supporters because of the timeline of playing at eight o'clock on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

"I'm sure a lot of kids that we would have had at the game probably couldn't come because of school the next day and so forth."

The Jets are just the latest club to find themselves suffering from the impact of ongoing fixture uncertainty due to COVID-19 postponements and border restrictions.

Wellington hosted Melbourne Victory behind closed doors at WIN Stadium on Wednesday after failing to secure a game-day sponsor for the match to cover costs.

The Phoenix have been based in Wollongong for the better part of the past two years due to