Stefan Kamasz 1949-2025 - Celebrating the life of a remarkable gentleman
Athens: July 2000; I was lucky enough to find myself in the company of Stefan Kamasz.
Football was on our minds as always; he was gushing about Wollongong Wolves come-from-behind victory over Perth Glory in the National Soccer League while I was beyond excited that my schoolboy club Ipswich Town were back riding-high in the Premier League. They were about to return “The Tractor Boys” to European Football at a time when Ed Sheerin was still too young for the guitar.
It was a new century and a time bursting with promise…I’d recently managed to create the Fox Sports Channels in Australia. Somewhere along the way, I’d also been able to create a buzz on TV in the UK for Aussie Rules Football, The Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race and 18 Foot Skiff sailing.
Stefan and I talked about Australia coming of age, after a few of us had pulled some strings to bring the imminent 2000 Olympics to Sydney. Stefan felt that I had the know-how and networks to make his dream of taking Australian Soccer to the world, a reality - and the time was right.
As an incurable polymath and engineer I’d cooked up an idea for broadcasting television over the information superhighway. As it evolved into the internet and the dot.com boom raged in Palo Alto and London, the clever people laughed over cocktails. Perhaps they were too busy to visualise a future dominated by DAZN, Netflix or even Stan or Optus Mobile in Australia.
These were heady times; I’d not only caught the eye of the future Mrs Bunn the previous week in Paris but now in Athens here was Australian Soccer Royalty, keen to talk about the huge global potential for Australian Footballers through the new millennium.
As English football fans are wont to do, Stefan and I wound each other up as we cooked up a plan to leverage the dozen or so Aussies thriving in the top tier of the Premier League. We dreamed of packaging Aussie highlights for TV and staging a friendly football match between England and Australia. Stefan then repaired to his happy place in Poros and I took some quiet time to re visit Andros where I had penned my degree thesis a few years earlier...
And so it was, …over the weeks that followed we implemented that plan to repackage the Channel Seven Australian weekly highlights for Sky in Britain and across Europe. We ‘top and tailed’ it, with perspectives from Aussie football talent playing at the highest level across the UK and Europe as we worked towards that Australia-England friendly, which went ahead in 2002.
Often in life, positive transformation is not universally welcomed by the established order. As George Gurdjieff the great Armenian-Greek philosopher once said; “you must learn not what people round you consider good or bad, but to act in life as your conscience bids you”
So, when we reconvened during the Sydney Olympics, I was surprised and perplexed when a football executive didn’t share our enthusiasm and expressed himself with dramatic effect. I’d heard it all before of course, but I’d rarely felt more at risk - and that was where Stefan’s gold-class diplomatic skills came into play.
As highly respected business leader Paul Nicolaou aptly said in his eulogy last week, “Stefan was a giant of Australian football, whose influence and vision have left an enduring legacy. His dedication to the game, from grassroots to the professional level, helped shape the sport we know and love today. Stefan’s knowledge, leadership, and passion for football inspired so many within our community. Stefan was universally admired across the Australian football community as both a pioneering sports executive and a dignified gentleman who consistently championed the protection and well-being of everyone within the football family.”
I was fortunate enough to witness this first-hand. Having inspired me, he enabled me to take a step back to safety once we had set the wheels of change in motion…
领英推荐
May you rest in peace Stefan – thank you for a life well-lived…
Paul Nicolaou’s post in full is at:
Sydney’s football community united together on Wednesday night to celebrate the life & legacy of a football legend Stefan Kamasz. A revered figure whose contributions to the game shaped its landscape across decades.
His lifetime achievements were recognised when he was inducted into the Football Australia Hall of Fame in 2014. Beyond his formal roles, Stefan was known for his mentorship, kindness, and ability to inspire those around him. His vision for football as a unifying force for communities was deeply felt, and his influence extended from grassroots initiatives to the elite levels of the sport.
Stefan was a giant of Australian football, whose influence and vision have left an enduring legacy. His dedication to the game, from grassroots to the professional level, helped shape the sport we know and love today. Stefan’s knowledge, leadership, and passion for football inspired so many within our community. Stefan was universally admired across the Australian football community as both a pioneering sports executive and a dignified gentleman who consistently championed the protection and well-being of everyone within the football family. He will be deeply missed, but his contributions will never be forgotten.
The celebration on Wednesday night organised by the one & only and the best in the business Harry Michaels OAM to honour the remarkable life and contributions of Stefan Kamasz.
Speakers included David Hill former Chair of Soccer Australia, the Chair of Football Australia Anter Isaac, Stefan’s daughters Anne, Stephanie & Joanne, Stefan’s brothers David & Stuart, Stefan’s wife Terri-Anne, the Consul General of Greece Yannis Mallikourtis who read out a message from the Mayor of Poros an island in Greece which Stefan frequented every year, CEO of Football Australia James Johnson and close friends Remo Nogarotto & Angelo Picca.
The following did vox pop’s after the official proceedings Football Australia Non Ex Spiro Pappas, former Chair of FA Chris Nikou, former Socceroo Captain Paul Wade OAM, former Socceroo coach Graeme Arnold, CEO of Sport NSW Stuart Hodge, sport broadcaster Andrew Paschalidis, living legend Ted Simmons, former Socceroo players Peter Raskopoulos & Peter Katholos and CEO of Football NSW John Tsatsimas and former Matilda’s coach Trixie Tagg.
Bouquets to Harry Michaels OAM with his team for co-ordinating the whole event, Con Dedes and the staff at Alpha for providing the wonderful venue & catering, Jack Zervos for assisting in securing sponsorship for the event and Elia Santoro for the courage to risk her own fragile health and be there to direct traffic.
Rest in Peace, Stefan Kamasz. Your impact will forever endure in Australian football.