Football Victoria Board of Directors

President - Antonella Care

ACare

Antonella Care joined the Board in March 2016 in a causal vacancy position, before holding an Interim President role from 2020 to May 2021, when she was elected FV’s first female President.

Antonella possesses an impressive education portfolio including a Bachelor of Urban Planning & Design; Bachelor of Architecture; Bachelor of Building Engineering; and a Bachelor of Building Surveying.

Antonella has worked in the corporate sector for more than 20 years and is currently Director of Connect PM P/L.

Antonella prides herself in having a strong understanding of governance and excellent working relationships with many Local Government departments.

Director - Harry Zaitman

Harry

By being elected to the Board in March 2019, Harry realises a long held desire to serve the game in Victoria at the highest level. Harry has been involved in football as a participant, administrator, coach, team manager, club official and volunteer for more than 40 years.

Harry has an outstanding knowledge of the game, particularly in Men’s football, having served as Chairman of the FV’s Men’s Standing Committee for nearly 10 years. He has also successfully owned and operated several businesses, had experience with property development and holds a Bachelor of Business Accounting Degree.

He continues to be a passionate supporter of community based organisations and clubs across Victoria.

Director - Lee Sammartino

Lee

Appointed to the Board in 2019, Lee is currently Head of Business Growth & Acquisition at Hostplus , one of Australia’s leading industry superannuation funds. Previously, Lee held several senior leadership roles including Head of Corporate Growth at Cbus, Principal, Client Relationships at Rice Warner (now Deloitte), Senior Consultant to the CEO and Acting Chief Operating Officer at legalsuper and General Manager of Marketing & Communications at LUCRF Super. Lee was also a member the Industry Super Fund Steering Committee for a number of years.

Lee holds a Master of Business Administration, Graduate Certificate in Education and Training and a Diploma of Financial Services (Financial Planning). Lee also played the beautiful game from the age of 5. He played at numerous clubs including Sunshine Heights Junior SC, Green Gully SC, Altona City, Brimbank Stallions FC and ended his playing days at Brunswick United Juventus. As a junior footballer, he was a Western Region Representative.  Lee brings diverse skills and capability to the FV Board which includes governance, strategy and growth, risk management and marketing.  He also has a strong passion for delivering meaningful and stronger social outcomes for the community and football.

Director - Yianni Zaparas

Yianni Zaparas


Elected to the Board in May 2021, Yianni Zaparas’ name will be familiar to many for his company’s ongoing support of our football community.

Yianni is a partner of Zaparas Lawyers, an organisation which; over the past decade; been a highly visible, significant sponsor of many teams and organisations within Victorian football.

Yianni played extensively as a junior at Clubs including Glen Waverley (now Eastern Lions), Clarinda (now Kingston City), Heidelberg United reserve team, South Melbourne reserve team, and Collingwood Warriors reserve team.

A member and supporter of Football Victoria’s Community in Business since its inception and former FFV Tribunal Member (2006-2009), Yianni has a solid oversight of the football landscape and a passion to support the advancement of football in Victoria.

Director - Steve Forbes

Steve Forbes


Elected to the Board in May 2021, Steve Forbes is a founder of a technology consultancy, leading their product innovation and customer experience practice.

In his 15 year career, Steve has worked with some of Australia's largest organisations, contributing to the development of many well-known products & services. Working with senior leaders on digital strategy, organisational design and culture, Steve helps them manage enterprise technology platforms, portfolios of products and complex stakeholder landscapes.

Steve has a broad knowledge of football, having played since he was 6 years old and growing up in a football family. As a teen, Steve represented Ballarat in the Country Championships as well as Country Victoria at the National Youth Championships. He then played as an adult for Ballarat and Old Melburnians and still plays Futsal weekly. He has also held coaching and committee roles with Clubs.

Steve is passionate about growing the game in Victoria. He is dedicated to improving the support for regional Clubs and Associations, as well as assisting with the adoption of an extensive digital strategy.

 

Director - Nicholas Vamvakas


Nicholas has spent over 40 years in financial markets in investments, banking, and superannuation. He is currently the Chair of SuperFriend, an industry fund mental health initiative, Director and Chair of the Finance and Administration Committee at CAF (Cleaning Accountability Framework) and Chair of the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee at Football Victoria.

As Group Executive Strategy and Growth for Cbus, Nicholas was responsible for developing the corporate plan for the fund with a particular emphasis on medium- and long-term organic and inorganic growth. 

In the last two years the fund successfully negotiated its first merger in the MySuper era with Media Super and most recently EISS Super and was successful in winning several high profile corporate superannuation mandates.

As Chief Executive Officer of Equipsuper, Nicholas, led the fund through one of its most exciting growth periods. Its merger with the former Rio Tinto staff fund evolved Equip into a $15 billion fund with over 75,000 members Australia-wide. Prior to departing Equip a merger with Catholic Super was negotiated which grew the fund to $25 billion and 150,000 members.

Leading teams in businesses focused on achieving positive outcomes for members or customers has been the cornerstone of Nicholas’ 35-year career in financial services. Prior to joining Equip as Chief Risk Officer, he was part of the original ME Bank leadership team that established the Bank and grew the business from $1 billion to over $20 billion in assets. His earlier career included senior roles with National Mutual / AXA and Challenge Bank.

Nicholas holds degrees in Economics and a degree in Marketing from Monash University and is a Senior Fellow of Finsia and an accredited company Director through AICD and Trustee Director through AIST.