Sydney FC has today announced a new senior management structure designed to support the club’s ambition to become the pre-eminent Hyundai A-League franchise and a leading Asian football brand.
Sydney FC has today announced a new senior management structure designed to support the club-s ambition to become the pre-eminent Hyundai A-League franchise and a leading Asian football brand.
In announcing the new structure, Sydney FC’s Vice Chairman Scott Barlow said, “Sydney FC is striving to be the pre-eminent club in this region within the next five years. In order to achieve this ambition, our Board has now put in place a management structure which will ensure we strategically utilise the best resources we can across both the commercial and football aspects of our business. They are positive changes that are critical to our future success.”
Current CEO Stefan Kamasz will assume the new role of Head of Football – responsible for the long term development of the Sydney FC player and coaching base – with particular focus on putting in place structures for the identification and development of youth and ensuring world-class football operations to support the club-s ambitions, as well as further enhancing the club-s links with the community and grass roots.
In announcing this newly created position, Vice Chairman Scott Barlow acknowledged the role Stefan has played as CEO since joining the club in March, 2008.
“Stefan has been a tireless contributor to the re-birthing of this club since our recent change in ownership. With only a small team, he has led both the commercial and football activities in often challenging circumstances. Freeing him now to purely concentrate on the football development aspect of the business is beneficial for both the club and Stefan. Given his considerable experience, he is the ideal person to set our future in stone with the best footballing structure and resources we can establish. We also desire to build the best football academy and development structure that will feed the requirements of our Hyundai A-League team for years to come.”
With four Sydney FC players in the recently announced Australian Under-20 World Cup squad to compete in Egypt later this month, Sydney FC has already established itself as a leading developer of talent within the A-League.
“I’m also pleased to announce our new CEO and Head of Commercial will be Edwin Lugt,” said Mr Barlow.
“Edwin recently relocated to Australia after a six-year spell as the CEO of the Royal Netherlands Football Association First Division Professional League (known as the Jupiler League) and significantly grew the commercial base of that League through improved broadcast, sponsorship and other strategic initiatives. He brings outstanding commercial and football administration skills from an International perspective, and has a long term passion for the game.”
Edwin will commence with Sydney FC on September 28, 2009.
“We welcome Edwin to the club and expect to continue to develop our commercial partnerships, and longer term revenue base, under his focus. His experience in the Netherlands was with a League of similar scale to the Hyundai A-League, where he significantly progressed its commercial outcomes and revenue streams. He understands the needs, and opportunities, for clubs to develop and extend their commercial base.” said Mr Barlow.
