Committee Members

Tory Lavalle has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Wollongong Wolves Football Club since early 2017. Tory and his business interests have generously supported multiple sports throughout the Illawarra for many years. Tory’s generosity and business acumen is well regarded and respected throughout the Illawarra and beyond. Since assuming Chairmanship of the Club, Tory has overseen its growth and success.

Chris Sheppard has been a Director of the Wollongong Wolves Football Club since February 2017. Chris’ career as a lawyer commenced in 2000 and he has been a partner of RMB Lawyers since 2008. RMB Lawyers is the largest regional law firm in NSW. That business has been a supporter of Football on the South Coast and beyond for many years. Chris has extensive professional experience in litigation, management, compliance, finance, and mergers and acquisitions. From a football perspective, Chris has been a lifelong football devotee – as a player, supporter and administrator, as well as a player agent.

Mr Chris Halios-Lewis has been a Director of the Wollongong Wolves Football Club since October 2018. Chris is also the Chief Financial Officer and member of the executive team of WIN Television and has extensive experience with strategy and business development. Chris joined the club firstly as coach within the SAP program in October 2017 before joining the Board the following year. Chris is still a keen footballer and plays in the local over 35 competition.

Strebre Delovski was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Wollongong Wolves Football Club in March 2022. Mr Delovski is also the Deputy Executive Director of the Master Builders Association of New South Wales. Mr Delovski joined the club as one of Australia’s most respected football referees and members of the Australian football community, having held a variety of senior leadership positions, including most recently as Director of Referees for Football Australia from 2019-2021. In an illustrious football refereeing career spanning more than 25 years, Strebre’s career included 140 A-League games (including the 2010 A-League Grand Final), FIFA international referee from 2009-2016 and was voted PFA referee of the decade by A-League players.

Susan Gatt joined the Wollongong Wolves in 1995 as an administration trainee when the club was playing in the National Soccer League (NSL).  Her most memorable time was during the clubs back to back championships in the 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 NSL seasons and in particular, the grand final victory in Perth.  Susan is employed on a full time basis and is currently in the process of completing her Diploma in Management and Leadership.  Susan left the club in 2010 however returned in 2014 and accepted the role of Football Operations and Administration Manager.

Neil has been involved with Wollongong Wolves since 2016 when he joined the club as the men’s 1^st grade team assistant coach to Jacob Timpano. The following season saw Neil took on the role of Junior Technical Director at the club, which he continues to hold today, and was responsible for the development of the U13’s to U18’s youth teams. Neil played professional football in the English Football League making over 200 league and cup appearances for Hull City Football Club. Injury cut short his career and at the age of 29 he stepped into a coaching role within the youth system at Hull City and oversaw the development of players who would go onto becoming professional players and representing their country.

Jacob Timpano has been part of the Wollongong Wolves coaching and technical team since retiring from playing in 2015. He was the senior NPL Wolves coach from 2015-2018 and has been SAP Technical Director from 2016 to present. Jacob enjoyed a successful playing career which was cut short by injury. He made his debut for the Wollongong Wolves in the NSL as 16 years old and went on to play for Sydney FC (2005-2008) – which included winning the inaugural A-League Championship. He then spent some time at North Queensland Fury in the A-League before finishing his career with the Wollongong Wolves in the NPL. During his career, Jacob represented and captained Australia at Under 17 and Under 20s World Cups as well as Australia Under 23s through an Olympics qualifying campaign. Jacob also works for the PFA (Professional Footballers Australia) as a Player Development Manager at A-League clubs Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers and Macarthur Bulls.