"It's hard at times," admits Symone. . In his role as head of the AFL Commission, he was responsible for a number of changes, including the expansion of the league from 16 to 18 teams, the restructuring of the tribunal system, and the brokering of two new television rights deals. Demetriou was 38. Andrew Demetriou speaks to the media during the official opening of the Learning Life Centre at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre on February 18,. "I can't see another 10 years here," he says, looking around his office. By the time we've got two teams there the Swans will have been playing in Sydney for 31 years. He suffered heartbreak a decade ago when his first wife, the academic and historian Jan Bassett, died of cancer, but today Andrew Demetriou's life seems very much on an even keel. ", Admits O'Neill, "We all have to play to our own competitive advantages, but I envy the AFL their deep pockets. Likewise, his partner, Emma, wore a white strapless mermaid wedding gown. And the caption said something like: 'That's what it takes'. [17], Demetriou has interests in factories in Brazil and India which manufacture dental products and exports them to 70 markets, including Australia. Demetriou is best known for his position as CEO of the Australian Football League. Join 1.7 Million Subscribers Demetriou in 2014 became the Chairman of the Advisory Board at Acquire Learning. One of the more significant challenges he has faced was his first wife died of cancer in 1999. Recruited from Pascoe Vale, Demetriou played for the North Melbourne Football Club as a winger between 1981 and 1987, playing 103 games and kicking 47 goals. According to our Database, He has no children. (m). And we watch a bit of junk on television. "Don't quote me on this, I could get it wrong. In 2002 he married his current wife Symone, and they have three daughters and a son. But he also likes happiness.". He took his first job back in football in 1997, partly so he could be at home with Bassett during her illness. That deal is up for renegotiation, and he's expected by many to winkle more than $1 billion out of broadcasters this time around. "My wife and I talk about it now, about how we try to find a balance for our children. It had got a lot easier by the time Andrew went through - his cohort was that big '60s influx of migrants - but I know he copped it on the footy field. It's based in northern Italy. Free market forces might not deem Demetriou's playing career worthy of football's pantheon - a 1985 Scanlen's card of the moustachioed player was selling for $1.99 on eBay last month - though anyone who gets to pull the boots on for more than 100 matches can't be too shabby, a record that would mark a Demetriou boy a potential father-son recruit. Andrew Demetriou has a distinctive walk. Demetriou is not one of them. When he told his children on Sunday night he was stepping down their first question was whether they could still go to the football. We provided a small injection of capital which gave the business the ability to borrow money and it's grown incredibly well. . "But what I do know is that in greater western Sydney, there are 220 different ethnic groups, 220 languages spoken and 180,000 indigenous people. We spent a hell of a lot of time travelling in the last two or three years, we did some really wonderful things together, and in some ways, she changed quite a bit as a person in that time, too. "Every dollar that goes to the GWS, that's a dollar less to the existing clubs or players.". 1988: Played three games for Hawthorn before retiring. In April 2014, it was announced that Gillon McLachlan, Demetriou's then deputy, would be his successor. Suitably enough, Demetriou met Symone Richards, then a corporate accounts manager, in 2001 at a grand-final-day function. "We have an agenda and someone takes the minutes and Mirabai and Sanjay are pretty much out the door by 11 o'clock," adds Symone, who met her husband while working in the AFL's commercial department and keeps her hand in by helping Purebaby with marketing. "What we've got is five years of data (that) shows we're doing nearly triple the number of tests, and the percentage (of those caught) is dropping. More importantly, they're great institutions for the community and economy in this state.". "Not with four children, no. "I love my girls," he says, scooping up Mattea, who abbreviates the Greek "baba" to "bubs" when she calls him. Aghast, she never went back. Demetriou is the youngest son of Greek Cypriot immigrants. But to be truthful, I never thought I'd last long in football. I want to be challenged by that team. "But had he been misunderstood? "It's either that or Andy," says Symone. About colours. View the profiles of professionals named "Andrew Demetriou" on LinkedIn. I used to go to the races. [citation needed] During the 2013 Finals Series he also co-hosted Talking Footy for the Seven Network. "Definitely. Along the way, he also chaired Baxter, a waste management company that was eventually sold to a bigger outfit. She and Andrew married soon afterwards (friends recall him saying he wished he'd done it earlier), and Bassett fought the illness for three years. ", He probably should have got into the Victorian cricket side, too - he was playing in the Victorian and Australian under-21 sides at 16 - but in those days, as his long-time friend and AFL medical commissioner Dr Harry Unglik puts it, "who had ever heard of a Demetriou in the Australian cricket team?". "I think the task is absolutely massive," says Ireland. Says Demetriou now: "It was an incredibly powerful statement. ""When (players) leave the game they're infinitely better people, more rounded, because they've been educated, involved in a club, they've got experts talking to them. I always put the players first: Andrew Demetriou. But Demetriou, the negotiator, has talked them around. "Demetriou can absorb a punch or two, clearly. Industrial harmony has been a cornerstone of the AFL's recent success, though there are always issues brewing. Exports to about 70 countries. He seems relaxed but self-possessed, friendly but not confiding. "The business is a good business. I just know it won't be politics." It's the first time in history it's gone into a market without there being some demand for the game there.". Demetriou married twice. Collect, curate and comment on your files. We don't own this game. Andrew . But money isn't the whole story. But, you know, that's Andrew defending his patch. But there wouldn't be footy. We don't have much information about He's past relationship and any previous engaged. "But I really can't fault him. He was educated at La Trobe University, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts in 1983 and a Diploma of Education in 1984. Seven years later though, Demetriou praised the Swans for their new attacking style of play under coach John Longmire and rated them as serious contenders for the premiership. "He's a boy from Cypriot parents who used to muck around in the backblocks of Coburg, and I think he's a very driven man.". Please try again later. We've carefully put building blocks along the way to target a time, and the time is right now because if it's not now when (the league) is in a strong position, then when? That's the reality of the world we're living in. This is in itself quite charming. "I remember Andrew speaking at an AFL conference a couple of years ago," recalls Swans CEO Andrew Ireland. Jokes about people's mothers hurt people!". "It doesn't make this better," he said at the time, "but it has helped me through a very difficult period. And Dad going off into the corner and crying. According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly, Mackenzie filed for divorce on Monday . I don't begrudge that at all. I've said it 3000 times. Aries. Andrew Demetriou was born, the youngest of four boys, in Melbourne to Greek Cypriot parents in 1961. Historically, in fact, it's tried to go even further. "His favourite holiday destination was St Moritz, and 'classical' was his favourite music," Buckley laughs. Bit like Lindsay Lohan.". 1988 He had a brief move to Hawthorn in 1988, but played only three games and kicked one goal. Andrew J. Demetriou | Corporate Attorney | Los Angeles | Husch Blackwell Andrew J. Demetriou Senior Counsel Los Angeles phone: 213.356.2949 fax: 213.337.6551 email: andrew.demetriou@huschblackwell.com Overview Experience Thought Leadership Outside the Office Community Leadership Download Bio Download vCard Overview (But) I was very careful not to tread on too many toes. Lead commercial strategy and business development, major event partnerships, production and venue hire for Carriageworks, Australia's largest multi-arts organisation. I remember my mother getting the same call. The deal included unprecedented live TV coverage of the AFL competition in all states of Australia through free-to-air, subscription and IP television. We're changing people's behaviour. "I'm a big fan, and a great supporter," says Jill Lindsay, who started at league headquarters 40 years ago. But Toorak, Melbourne's most prestigious suburb, can seem a long way from Coburg. "If you've done all the prep, you can't do more than that, so I never think about it. "We've been around for 150 years, and we understand that for a lot of our supporters, their club is in their DNA, their bloodlines. I'm the little chairman. Demetriou is uniquely fitted for the expansionist task by two great strengths: his belief in the game's ability to promote causes like multiculturalism and egalitarianism, and his expertise in harnessing exactly these causes to make a great deal of money. Andrew finished his tenure with the AFL in June. I've said to my staff and to myself that everyone's got to modify their lifestyle. I don't think there's anything wrong with giving people options.". "James Brayshaw, the North Melbourne chairman and media personality who crossed swords with Demetriou when the AFL was pushing hard for North to relocate to the Gold Coast, says the AFL boss can bury the hatchet if he has to. The AFL's headquarters are at afl House in Melbourne's Etihad Stadium. "Well, nobody said anything about my mother, thank God. His parents, whose fathers were both dead, had left Cyprus in 1951 and didn't return until 1983, until after their sons had completed their university studies. He is not dating anyone. In 2002 he married his current wife Symone, and they have three daughters and a son.[22]. The year after Bassett's death, Ben Buckley's first wife, Kim, was also diagnosed with breast cancer. [5], In 2005 he was instrumental in securing a record breaking A$780 million TV rights deal. He lacks fanaticism. , money, salary, income, and assets. She was quite a reserved person. Date of Birth: 14 April 1961. . "To be frank, if the clubs had had their way, there'd be no national expansion," says Gale. And it was possibly a greater asset to him than his kicking, which could be a bit hit and miss. "I don't make any decisions without everything having been thought through, chewed up, sliced, diced, looked at inside out, been criticised," he says. "I don't think we want to get Andrew involved in the grow suits. I don't know why people are so obsessed by that." "In many ways, they didn't expect anything from us. I didn't take things as seriously.". "He was the boy from the northern suburbs," one observer puts it. Sydney won the 2012 premiership implementing a style of relentless tackling and attacking play. The expansion has been planned and supported by Demetriou's AFL at its streamlined, spin-savvy best, with a massive fighting fund, an aggressive recruiting policy and a much-denied-but-hard-to-escape determination to become the dominant football code in Australia. 2023 Getty Images. I want equality of opportunity. ", Finally - and perhaps most importantly - he believes (or persuades others he believes) that no deal is worth dying for. These are good qualities. About expanding into new territories. [16], In April 2014, it was announced that Gillon McLachlan, Demetriou's then deputy, would be his successor. First Name Andrew. I've always done that from the day they were born.". We take these people and put them into a club environment and we expect them all to behave exactly the same. His self-assessment went like this: "I am impatient when I see injustice, I am not happy with mediocrity, I have no place for lack of integrity, lack of honesty, lack of respect for others. [9], In the first half of 2005, Demetriou criticised the Sydney Swans and then-coach Paul Roos, labelling the team's play as "unattractive" and "ugly". "A bit different from the rest of us, all putting the Gold Coast and AC/DC.". Name: Andrew Demetriou. In terms of game attendance, AFL is the most popular sport in Australia. He's revolutionised the code's response to illicit drug use; initiated a policy to improve the treatment of women; allowed free movement of uncontracted, end-of-term players between clubs; and supported some of the strongest anti-discrimination policies in international sport. And on the drugs policy, the heat was coming in the form of a blowtorch from Howard Government ministers George Brandis and Christopher Pyne, who in the lead-up to the 2007 election beat a path to league headquarters, media in tow, demanding change. "Except, perhaps, the meta-narcissism of some of the best political leaders. I played golf once three or four years ago, and when I got home after six hours " - he pauses, smiling - "no, no. Development of Carriageworks' commercial and major events programs to expand our . I get home and see the children, help with the bath, reading books, getting to bed. Andrew Demetriou at Monday's announcement.Credit:Penny Stephens. "I've said from day one I regard it as a privilege to be in the role; I love the job, but I'm sensible enough to know one day it will come to an end.". The AFL are incredibly good at leveraging causes into money. Nor does she recall easily his number. [15], Demetriou announced on 3 March 2014 that he would step down from the role as AFL CEO after eleven years, at the conclusion of the 2014 AFL season. Demetriou has been a remarkable leader of Australias greatest and most successful football code. He always puts the family first. Beyond this foundation, the brothers' childhoods combined both genuine acceptance and deep-rooted racism. And I read the form guide, which I love. "Was it four years?" [19][20] Acquire Learning entered voluntary administration in May 2017, shortly after Demetriou left the company. And we adopted an attitude of making the most of every day and every hour. ", "Andrew Demetriou," wrote Bassett, "has taught me much about life.". It hurts people. He has wide interests outside the AFL. They never saw their mothers after they left. I invest heavily in my family, and in friends and colleagues. just moments after touching on the death of his first wife. But I think it was 28." But there's something about his knees, as if he were once pigeon-toed, or injured in some way, that makes him kick out his feet as he walks. In the spirit of reconciliation the AFL acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. What he lacks in celebrity style, however, he makes up for in knowledge. We're changing people's lives. Demetriou's tastes are eclectic if nothing else. Demetriou currently leads a great life - great job, great family, great health etc. Discover Andrew Demetriou's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. There are 70+ professionals named "Andrew Demetriou", who use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. You've got to invest in the things you care about.". "Adrian Anderson, the defamation lawyer whose left-field appointment by Demetriou as football operations manager mimicked Demetriou's own path, witnessed the stand-off close up. ', he would say things like, 'You know, I don't know what the right way to feel is, but at the moment I don't feel comfortable doing that.' No responsibility for Essendon scandal: Demetriou, No responsibility for Bombers scandal: chief. The new general manager of football operations was stunned, to say the least. "It wasn't whim. He says the national game has a record of kicking into a stiff breeze and still scoring goals, and timing is everything: key sponsors have been bedded down until 2011, the players agreement is locked in similarly and the broadcasting rights will be re-negotiated when the country is likely pulling out of its slowdown. They've just gone to Blacktown because they think they can get some money from the government.". Andrew Demetriou was born on 14 April, 1961 in Australian, is an Australian rules footballer, born 1961. Much has been made in the past of a possible move into politics, though Demetriou has consistently denied it. But I always had my eye on other things. Thu 11 Feb 2021 06.27 EST First published on Thu 11 Feb 2021 02.37 EST. Andrew Demetriou is the CEO of the AFL Commission (which runs the AFL competition) and, like Lindsay Lohan, he's a consistent performer. But now, a sudden round of interviews granted by Demetriou poses the question of whether the corporate journeyman, who has previously headed up companies making false teeth and managing waste, might be positioning himself for life after football. My mother, who passed away three years ago, was an incredible woman. JANE BALLANTYNE We've never underestimated them. Of course, the less you appear to care, the more you are likely to care. "No disrespect to Andrew, but I don't think that's really his area of expertise," she laughs. He was awarded the University's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009 and a Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) in 2015 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to sport management and to Australian society through his leadership and support of important social issues, and currently serves as an Adjunct Professor. And all I know (about) what we did was as a game (we) always put the players first to protect the integrity of the game., When pressed later about his own level of culpability Demetriou was firmer: I do not accept any responsibility for people who seek to infiltrate the game, who inject young men with god knows what substances, to introduce substances which are abhorrent to the game and to families.. Chairing several companies after his retirement from playing, he was appointed CEO of the AFL Players Association in 1998, and was responsible for negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players. The commission has not guaranteed McLachlan the job and appointed an executive search team to test the market for Demetrious successor long before he told Fitzpatrick at the 2014 Super Bowl that he would officially resign in early March. If I hadn't had footy this year, it would have been a lot worse. [citation needed] He has an older brother Jim Demetriou who played senior football for Essendon in the mid-1970s. 1983 Today it's like heaven in comparison. "I think - and I'm sure Andrew knows this - that GWS is the biggest challenge by far that the AFL has ever bitten off. Demetriou remains a shareholder and board member. he grew up with a brother named Jim who also pursued a football career. Demetriou appears to have a knack of finding common ground. Former AFL chief Andrew Demetriou is a strong family man. "Of that opening remark, Lindsay recalls: "It was a throwaway line, really. Jennifer husband is now married to news anchor Amy Robach and is co-parenting Robach two daughter together. [citation needed] He claimed that the Swans would not win the premiership with the way they were playing,[10] and this statement was underlined when the team suffered a 43-point defeat to St Kilda in Round 10. He was awarded the University's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009 and a Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) in 2015 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to sport management and to Australian society through his leadership and support of important social issues, and currently serves as an Adjunct Professor. " Red Symons recalls. Andrew Demetriou knows about people yelling abuse at the footy. He looks momentarily uncomfortable, as if he's never thought about it. He should not be content with just doing better than the other children.". "Just the way he's championed the cause of women in general and other initiatives here. In 1996, Bassett was diagnosed with breast cancer. He has an older brother Jim Demetriou who played senior football for Essendon in the mid-1970s. The Demetriou boys regularly drop by and the commitment to family and to one another remains strong. 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