“It’s no secret how much the Sydney Roosters means to me, and I am genuinely humbled to see my name at the entrance to our wonderful new Centre of Excellence,” Nick Politis, chairman of the Roosters for the last 30 years, said during the club’s new home unveiling.
The Nick Politis Centre for Excellence, which will be the rugby league football club’s heart for the next 25 years, was unveiled on Tuesday, January 24 – a day that also marked the 115th anniversary of the Roosters’ forming at Paddington Town Hall. More than 160 people were present, including the NSW Minister of Sport, Alister Henskens.
“I was elected Chairman of the Club in May 1993, and it makes me incredibly proud to see where we are today, 30 years later,” Mr Politis said.
“I take so much pleasure from my involvement with the Club, and would once again like to thank my board for this wonderful honour.”
Politis is one of the most powerful and influential figures in rugby league. He was born in Kythira, Greece, before moving with his family to Ipswich, Queensland, Australia in the late 1940s.
Mr Politis ran and expanded WFM Motors Pty Ltd from March 1974, rebranding the company and transforming it into the dealership Colossus.
Politis became the first ever sponsor of rugby league when his business appeared on the Roosters’ jersey in 1976. He is famous for getting a premiership logo tattoo on his arm, together with Roosters players after the team won the 2002 NRL Grand Final.
During the unveiling, members of the Roosters Board of Directors gifted Politis a bust statue of himself, which will be placed in the main entrance of the centre.
The Nick Politis Centre of Excellence covers the entire eastern grandstand of Allianz Stadium and includes a state-of-the-art gym, a lecture theatre, a sauna, recovery pools and ‘The Foundation Room,’ a club museum with artefacts dating from the club’s first season of 1908 to today.
