🔥 A New Era Ignites for South Coast Flame FC

The Flame burns brighter than ever! We are thrilled to officially announce the newly constituted, independent, and soon to be community-owned South Coast Flame Football Club.

Following an incredible groundswell of public community support in August 2026, we have successfully secured our standalone future. We are proud to unveil our historic 10-member Board of Directors, led by foundational club champion Eddy De Gabriele as Chair and long-standing local sports executive administrator Ann-Marie Balliana as his Deputy Chair.

As an elite path-maker across the region, South Coast Flame FC will now continue driving excellence across all tiers under direct Football NSW governance. This includes our Football NSW League One Women’s, Football NSW League Two Men’s, Football NSW League Two Youth Boys, our newly promoted Football NSW League One Youth Girls and our Mixed and Girls Junior Development League (JDL) pathways.

🔥 Explaining the Flame’s “New Era”

In August 2026, a sudden decision by Football South Coast to wind up our club triggered a massive, passionate community-led public “Save the Flame” movement across the Illawarra. Thanks to an extraordinary public rally and immediate intervention by the club’s foundational leaders, an agreement was reached to reverse the wind-up & guarantee the continuation of our vital player ecosystem.

Transitioning from an association-managed program into an independent, community-owned entity, this “New Era” gives South Coast Flame FC complete operational autonomy.

Moving forward, the club will focus on absolute operational transparency, strategic commercial growth, and long-term sustainability to protect and enhance regional football talent pathways for generations to come.

 Profiles of the 10 Flame Directors

• Eddy De Gabriele (Chair)

The foundational mastermind behind regional football unification, Eddy is a Fellow of AICD and has stepped in to serve as the Chair of South Coast Flame FC. Eddy brings over 36 years of corporate expertise as the founder of Edmen Group with over 4,000 employees Australia wide and as the current founding Managing Director of EDSIL Pty Ltd an “all abilities” development and construction business. Eddy spent 17 years as the inaugural Chairman of Football South Coast, supported by FNSW & FFA at that time, legally unifying nine feuding entities into one cohesive football association governing this Illawarra Region and previously Eddy chaired again as founder of the Federal Govt’s Regional Development Australia (RDA) Illawarra for over two decades.

• Ann-Marie Balliana (Deputy Chair)

A proven and accomplished Executive and Chartered Accountant, Ann-Marie steps to partner with Eddy as his Deputy Chair. She possesses an exceptional sports administration background, having served as the long-standing CEO of Football South Coast during that unification transition period and then operationally from 2013 to 2026. Her deep expertise in risk management, strategic planning, and commercial sponsorships is backed by prior senior auditing roles at Cuscal Limited and Westpac.

• Maria Zouros (Director)

An electrical engineer with a master’s degree from UNSW, Maria brings massive corporate governance and technical management acumen to the board. Currently an Engineering Manager at BlueScope Steel, she has spent over three decades leading multidisciplinary engineering teams and project portfolios. She has a deep connection to local football, having served as a Figtree Junior Soccer Club executive and on the FSC Match Review Committee, alongside previously chairing South Coast Flame FC for close to 10-years and preserving its success, culture and arriving to where it is today.

• Matt Werasko (Director)

An accomplished financial executive and senior leader, Matt holds an MBA, a Bachelor of Business Administration, and is an AICD graduate. He heads a Private Wealth business for UniSuper—one of Australia’s largest super funds ($185 billion)—and sits on the board of Western Sydney University Early Learning Ltd. Matt brings a brilliant football pedigree to the board, having enjoyed a long playing career locally (including the Wollongong Wolves) and internationally in the USA and Canada, alongside over 25 years of local coaching experience. For the past four years, he has successfully managed the Flame’s finance portfolio as a Director, consistently delivering surplus budgets within sustainable operational strategies.

• Robert Burgess (Director)

Robert is an entrepreneurial business leader and the founder/Director of Fit Futures and Adventure OSHC, building both into successful seven-figure operations across sports and education. He offers nine years of senior sports administration experience as the former Head of Sport at Wetherby School in London, coupled with elite performance insight gained while working with the Australian Institute of Sport at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and a high level of energy and drive to succeed. He has also served as a Flame team manager for three years.

• Raquel Capasso (Director)

Raquel is a strategic operational and people leader with more than 30 years of executive experience across highly regulated sectors including aviation (Qantas Airways), construction, and hospitality. Currently a Business Manager at Metsquare, she specializes in workforce planning, compliance, industrial relations, and digital system transformations. She is deeply committed to building organizational sustainability and holds a strong connection to Flame as a parent of two club players.

• Claudio Curcio (Director)
  Claudio is a dedicated public sector professional with over 24 years of human resources, recruitment, project coordination, and case management experience within the NSW Department of Education. Currently working as a Talent & Performance Lead, he brings extensive skill in navigating complex policy frameworks, stakeholder management, and staff performance structures. Claudio focuses on organizational alignment, change management, and building high-performance culture.

• Lance Barrie (Director)
  Lance is a highly active local government and community development professional who serves as a Board Director and Deputy Chair of Healthy Cities Illawarra. He brings robust experience in securing grants, commercial partnerships, establishing community connections and engagement through designing youth engagement programs. An active community sport enthusiast and junior grassroots football coach, Lance specializes in translating strategic goals into practical, community-focused outcomes.

• Paul Mitchell (Director)
  An Illawarra-based entrepreneur and Chartered Accountant, Paul is the Founder and CEO of MitchCap Pty Ltd, a major commercial finance business funding over $1 billion in equipment annually. His background spans multinational advisory roles with GE and Alcoa, capital markets financing, and a seat on the Business Illawarra Regional Advisory Council. Paul has a rich history in community sports governance, having previously served as Treasurer and Executive Committee member for a 1,200-player sports club.

• Theo Papakosmas (Director)

Theo is a proven highly organized, commercial and sales focused senior executive who is a performance-driven and accomplished business professional who previously managed over 100 staff members across NSW as a Group General Manager for the JB Hi-Fi Corporation.

Theo currently serves as General Manager for the ICE Group. Holding a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Wollongong, Theo brings extensive private sector acumen in P&L management, contract negotiations, workforce restructuring, and social/digital technology trends.

Chair’s Statement

Eddy De Gabriele, Chair of the Board, said:

“The recent course of events that shook South Coast Flame Football Club’s world to its core and empowered and invigorated its members and supporters has presented this exciting and unique opportunity to open a new chapter in this journey for our Club. Our new Board is united by a shared commitment to creating the best possible environment for our players, coaches, volunteers, supporters, partners and sponsors to grow and excel. The Flame Board of Directors are committed to building a sustainable and certain future while continuing to provide elite pathways for both our female and male footballers, coaches, management and administrators.”