Meet the former international that’s signed on to help grow Sydney FC.
If football pedigree is any indication, then the newest member of the Sydney FC board has plenty to offer the club, with former young Socceroo, Ian Rowden hoping to help grow the Hyundai A-League heavyweight into the premier sporting brand in the nation.
Recently signing on as a director of Sydney FC, the Marketing executive is returning to Australian football, ready to repay the sport that steered him into his business career.
“I believe this is the greatest brand in Australian football and potentially the strongest sporting brand in the country,” said Rowden. “There is a hell of an opportunity for us to take the club, the performance of the team and sporting entertainment to a new level, and I think that’s really exciting.”
Playing in the domestic competition in the 1980s alongside the likes of Sydney coach, John Kosmina, and technical director, Steve O’Connor, Rowden was also given the honour of captaining Australia’s inaugural World Youth Championship team.
“It was a fabulous time, a great adventure. We played through the Oceania qualifying stages, as well as in Israel and Paraguay. It was a very enjoyable memory and great life experience.”
Rowden later gave up on his football ambitions to focus on his career, but after a twenty year hiatus from the game he admits he is excited to return to where it all began.
“I always felt that it was my business career that kind of took me away from football before I had the opportunity to give much back,” he acknowledged.
“This a really important step for me, I really want to be in a position where I can truly give back to the sport that got it all started for me.”
