The Australian Football League mourns the passing of Hall of Fame member Max Basheer, who passed away overnight in Adelaide at the age of 98.

AFL Chief Executive Officer Andrew Dillon said Basheer was the primary figure in ensuring the off-field strength and financial stability of the game in South Australia, with more than 60 years of contribution to the SANFL and football in the state.

After a playing career with Adelaide University in the SA Amateur League, Basheer served as a Commissioner of the SANFL from 1962, then becoming Vice-President in 1967 and serving as President of the league from 1978-2003. In later recent years, he continued with roles as part of the SA Football Hall of Fame, having also been a selector for the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Basheer was a central figure in SA footy establishing its own headquarters for the game at Football Park at West Lakes in the 1970s, ensuring the game was profitable off-field for the 10 SANFL clubs, and he was the lead figure for SA football in the conditions for the entry of the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide into the national competition.

Always a fierce defender and proponent of football in SA, Basheer’s tenure saw the establishment of the Player Retention Scheme, to keep many of the best players in the state, when VFL clubs began recruiting heavily from around Australia in the 1980s, and Basheer was a key figure in building the state’s competitiveness at interstate level during the 1980s, resulting in the state’s best-ever period of results at interstate level during this decade.

Mr Dillon said Max Basheer would be remembered as the largest off-field contributor to the game in SA since the Second World War, and his influence covered generations of senior SA football players and coaches.

“Max’s foremost priority was the health and strength of SA football, at all levels of the game, both on-field and off-field,” Mr Dillon said.

“He gave more than six decades to leadership roles in the game and worked relentlessly to ensure SA football could stand on its own two feet, financially, when the game made the brave step more than 50 years ago to set up its own headquarters. He protected the interests of SA football, and all of its clubs in the state, when the national competition was growing to include teams from around the country, and was a key advisor still to the game when football returned to Adelaide Oval just over a decade ago,” Mr Dillon said.

Mr Dillon said the League’s sincere condolences and best wishes were with Max’s family and many friends after his passing overnight. He said the League had been delighted that Max was able to be at Adelaide Oval during Gather Round earlier this year to again see South Australia as the centre of football for that weekend.

Max Basheer was a member of both the Australian and South Australian Football Halls of Fame and was a Life Member of both leagues, while the centre section of the eastern grandstand on the wing at Adelaide Oval is named in his honour.

Max Basheer record (courtesy SANFL)

• South Australian Amateur League Commissioner 1954 – 1960
• SANFL Commissioner 1962 – 1966
• SANFL Senior Vice President 1967 – 1978
• SANFL Management Committee (Chairman 1978/79) 1969 – 1979
• SANFL Commissioner for Country and Junior Football (Chairman 1978 ) 1971 – 1978
• Football Park Finance and Development Committee (Chairman 1978) 1975 – 1989
• SANFL President 1978 – 2003
• SA Football Commission – Chairman 1990 – 2003
• Australian Football Hall of Fame Committee 1996 – 2002
• SA Football Hall of Fame Committee 2001 – 2016