Cats, club greats pay tribute to Geelong giant Frank Costa, who has died age 83
Geelong Cats chief executive Brian Cook says the club may no longer exist if it wasn’t for Frank Costa, who has died age 83. Club greats have also joined the chorus of tributes, celebrating the ‘titan’ of the AFL industry and of the city.
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The Geelong Football Club is in mourning following the passing of former president and
patron Frank Costa.
Costa joined the board in the late 1990s and became president in 1998, overseeing a period of sustained success at his beloved Cats.
In a statement released on Sunday, the club revealed Costa had recently been inducted as the 26th legend of Geelong – the first non-player to be awarded that honour.
Cats chief executive Brian Cook said Costa would be remembered as a saviour of the club.
“Frank took on one of the toughest roles in football as our president at a time when the very future of the Geelong Football Club was in the balance,” Cook said.
“The club was on a financial precipice, playing in a crumbling venue and had not tasted premiership success in 36 years.
“When Frank departed as president at the end of 2010 he left the club with state-of-the-art facilities, a record breaking team that had broken a premiership drought in 2007 and added another flag in 2009, and on a financial footing that set the club up for long term stability.
“Frank undertook his role with much enthusiasm and generated huge goodwill for the club through his love of the club and the game. Without Frank, there must be a genuine question as to whether or not the Geelong Football Club would exist today. It is highly doubtful it would exist in its current form without having had Frank at the helm.
“When the history of the club is written, it will be impossible to do so without having Frank at the forefront of the past 20-25 years. He took a divided club and willed it into the club we know today.”
Cook said Costa would be missed by everyone associated with Geelong.
“Frank was a legend as a person, and a legend of the club,” he said.
“He forged so many strong and lasting relationships through his warmth and authenticity. He will be missed by all that have been fortunate enough to know and love him.
“Our thoughts are with (wife) Shirley, and the entire Costa family.”
Geelong champion Joel Selwood has praised former club president Frank Costa for his generosity of spirit, giving particular thanks for his help when he became captain of the Cats as a 23-year-old.
Costa was at the helm when Selwood was drafted to the club in 2006, but had left the board by the time he took over from Cameron Ling as skipper at the start of 2012.
In a heartfelt tribute to the legendary administrator and businessman, Selwood said Costa was always there for advice and guidance as he forged his own path in football.
“He was great with me from the word go, but especially when I became a young captain,” Selwood said.
“Just looking out for me, helping me along the journey. I used to go to his offices in Moorabool Street once a month and it was all about me.
“As much as I would try to make it about Frank, he would just be all about helping me. He had an interest in me before then, and he was just a good man who kept finding time in what was a busy schedule.
“He just wanted the footy club to do well and for Geelong the city to do well. He knew how much the footy club could do for the rest of the town and he had an extraordinary vision, and we just can’t do that justice.
“For someone that never registered a statistic on the field, his impact on the whole football club and community was enormous.”
Costa made an emotional visit to GMHBA Stadium earlier this year to visit the Geelong playing group, which Selwood said was a sad but special day for the Cats.
“Cooky (chief executive Brian Cook) brought him down to training for the day and it was quite sad, to be honest, that day,” Selwood said.
“Frank was battling away but he wanted to get down to the footy club and he was in Cooky’s hands that day and I think they were supposed to hang around for 20 minutes but Geelong put on a 35-degree day and Frank stayed for about an hour.
“He just loved being at the footy club and I remember thinking when he left it might be his last time at the footy club. In what was already an emotional time it got a bit teary again for a number of people and I am sure that was a tough day for Cooky, too.”
Former Geelong captain Tom Harley had caught up with Costa for a coffee in recent weeks to say thank you to the former Cats president, who he described as a great man.
“He was obviously very driven and self-motivated and his life centred around his family, his footy and his faith,” Harley said.
“Obviously his business was a pretty significant part of his life as well and he very much walked the talk when it came to character first and talent second.
“He was a great man who transcend the footy club and one of the things I feel most fortunate about in my life is spending over a decade under the leadership of Frank and I was fortunate to be very close to him as a player.
“He was very much a values-based person in the way he led his family, the way he led his business and the way he led the footy club.
“Any of us who passed through the halls of Geelong under Frank can be extremely grateful for the experience and the lessons we learnt along the way, and it is not too far of a stretch to say any successes or opportunities post our time at Geelong can have a pretty straight line drawn back to the leadership of the club at the time and Frank sat at the top of all of that.
“He was just a titan of the industry, a titan of the club and a titan of the town, and someone I am forever grateful that I was able to form a relationship with.”
The AFL also paid tribute to Costa on Sunday.
AFL Commission chair Richard Goyder said Costa made an enormous contribution to wider Australian life as a renowned businessman, and that his contribution to Australian football had ensured the long-term future of his beloved Cats.
“Frank Costa had the strongest of values around service, loyalty, hard work and dedication, which he applied to every part of his life,” Goyder said.
“He was a wonderful role model in business who worked to support the wider Geelong community through a range of philanthropic interests, while his fabulous passion for the Geelong Cats saw him commit thousands of hours of his time over many years to ensure the club was a respected and strong part of our national competition.
“He was a strong family man, with his devotion to his wife Shirley and eight daughters, and he will be terribly missed by our football community and all who knew him.”
Originally published as Cats, club greats pay tribute to Geelong giant Frank Costa, who has died age 83
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