The Adelaide Football Club is saddened by the passing of founding Crows Board member and Life Member Adrian Sutter.

The former North Adelaide player and administrator passed away on January 28.

He was 83.

Sutter was one of the seven directors appointed by the SANFL to Adelaide’s Interim Board in October 1990, tasked with establishing South Australia’s first AFL club for the 1991 season.

In these first four months he was also chairman of the Board’s administration sub-committee and secretary for the football committee.

Sutter, who was the Operations Service Manager at Santos Limited, took annual leave from his job to focus on the urgent needs of the new Club including staffing, accommodation for football and administration, budgets and key agreements including lobbying for changes to Workcover legislation for the players.

He was then elected to Adelaide’s inaugural board in February 1991 and served until the end of the 1996 season.

Sutter was later instrumental in the formation of Adelaide’s heritage committee in 2014 and was its chairman for four years. He also led the inaugural Crows Hall of Fame selection committee in 2015, was recognised with Crows Life Membership in 2016 and was chairman of the Crows Forever Foundation.

He is also a Life Member at North Adelaide, where he played 102 SANFL games for North Adelaide from 1962-68 and was a selector, committee member and vice-president, from 1985-90.

Adelaide Chairman John Olsen paid tribute to Sutter’s lasting impact and the passion he brought.

“As an inaugural Board Director, Adrian played a crucial role in ensuring our Club had a strong foundation on which to grow and prosper. He absolutely loved our Club and his passion knew no bounds, and he was always upbeat, positive and willing to help,” Olsen said.

“Adrian was highly-respected by all who knew him and the collective thoughts of the Board, management, staff, coaches and players, are with his wife Jill and family, as well as his many friends within the football community and beyond.”