Gary van Egmond is back in Newcastle but unsure as to his next move

The 58-year-old, who led Newcastle to their only A-League championship in 2007-08, is back in Newcastle after parting ways with the Chinese Football Association.

Van Egmond left the Jets, where he was the club's A-League Women's head coach and academy director of football, in January to take up a lucrative one-year contract in China's national youth women's program.

But his tenure ended by mutual agreement after China finished fourth at the AFC Under-17 Women's Asian Cup in Bali in May.

The top-three sides from the Asian tournament, where Australia failed to win a match in the same group as China, qualified for the under-17 World Cup.

Van Egmond, who lives in Warners Bay, told the Newcastle Herald he was "really happy I went" to China and was taking his time before plotting his next move.

"I really want to coach," van Egmond said.

"I'll have a look and hopefully something will come up and I'll get into that but at the moment I've not really looked at anything.

"I'm definitely looking for a new project but what I do I'm not too sure. I'm not in any rush. It depends what that project is.

"I haven't really tested the waters or searched. I'm just sitting back and enjoying being back in Newcastle."

The former Socceroos' coaching resume includes roles at the Australian Institute of Sport, with the Matildas and Young Socceroos as well as in the A-League.

After taking over from outgoing mentor Ash Wilson midway through the 2022-23 A-League Women's campaign, van Egmond overhauled the squad for 2023-24.

Key signings were strike weapons Melina Ayres and Sarina Bolden, who helped the Jets break a six-year finals drought under van Egmond's successor Ryan Campbell.

"I really enjoyed coaching the Jets women," van Egmond said.

"The girls were great but I also enjoyed the building of the team, the training of the team, the development of the team, the development of the individuals.

"I hadn't really been a head coach for a period of time and I really enjoyed it.

"It was really good to see the girls kick on and do well, make finals. I was really happy for them. They've got a real good base now to build off and I'm hopeful that they'll build off that and be more successful."

The immediate future for van Egmond holds a trip to Paris to watch daughter Emily represent the Matildas at her third Olympic Games, starting July 26.