The Adelaide Crows and South Australia’s wider football community are mourning the death of father figure Max Basheer aged 98.
The Australian Football Hall of Famer spent much of his life at the SANFL and served as president for 25 years.
A lawyer by trade, he secured a deal to launch the SANFL-owned Crows into the AFL in 1990 when Port Adelaide initially sought to break into the national league.
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Basheer has been remembered as “a giant of South Australian football and sports administration”.
“The Adelaide Football Club would not exist if not for the determination, resilience and tireless work of Max Basheer,” Crows chairman John Olsen said on Monday.
“He was a visionary, a passionate South Australian and a man of integrity, who always had the best interests of football in this state at heart.
“Our club, and the broader football community, owe a great deal to Max and the service he gave over many decades.”
Basheer helped launch the Crows from the club’s initial interim board and was later made their No.1 ticketholder.
He was named life member in 2003, the same year he retired as SANFL president.
Basheer continued working as a lawyer until he was 92.
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