Latest news with #GryTømte
ABC News
12 hours ago
- Sport
- ABC News
Friends hold match in honour of slain Sunshine Coast man Zdravko 'Zed' Bilic
Zdravko "Zed" Bilic was mad about soccer, or football as it is better known outside of Australia and among the purists. He played it, coached it and watched it. Without fail he would bring his trademark warmth, enthusiasm and bright smile to every match and lesson. That is what his friends, who became family, wanted to remember on Saturday afternoon. They gathered at Albert Park in Melbourne underneath a stunning blue sky. Many were still in disbelief that a beloved member of the Albert Park Allstars, perhaps the brightest star of them all, had been taken in such horrific circumstances. "We all need to be here to grieve together," friend John Christodulakis said. "We've [Allstars] been going for 30 years and he was a part of this for around 25 years. Mr Bilic died at his Sunshine Coast home last Sunday night. Police have alleged two teenage boys, aged 15 and 17, broke into the Warana home Mr Bilic shared with his wife of nearly 20 years, Gry Tømte. She was interstate at the time of the incident but has since returned to their home. Before the match was played on Saturday, friend George Josevski read out a letter from Ms Tømte, who also sent down her late husband's jersey so he could be there "in spirit". "I'm pretty confident when I say that Zed loved his Albert Park Allstars almost as much as he loved our pups and I," she wrote. "In fact when I told Zed I wanted to move up north, his response was, 'No way, I've got Saturday soccer.' "It was a point of contention for more than a year, with me telling him he could fly down every weekend and besides, 'You'll find a team up there'. "To which he replied, 'But never one like this, we're family.'" The couple eventually moved to the Sunshine Coast three years ago, but remained in regular contact with their Melbourne friends. Mr Bilic did indeed find a new team, and new friends are now also mourning his loss. But every Saturday, he would send a message to the Allstars Snapchat group and last Saturday was no different, as he jokingly bragged about having to endure another picture-perfect day by the beach. "He made you the centre of the universe, and you knew you were important in his life," Mr Christodulakis said. "He didn't have a bad bone in his body, he was just a beautiful, happy person." Mr Josevski said Mr Bilic had always been welcoming of new players. "He just took everyone under his wing, the energy, the positivity and just the love. That's all he gave, love and care," Mr Josevski said. "And to be taken away tragically, unnecessarily, it's just hard to take." He said family and friends had been buoyed by the messages of support they had received from around the country and the world.
ABC News
3 days ago
- ABC News
Wife of Sunshine Coast man Zdravko 'Zed' Bilic pays tribute to her 'entire world'
The wife of slain Sunshine Coast man Zradvko "Zed" Bilic has paid tribute to her husband, who she said was her "entire world". Two teenagers have been arrested and charged over the 57-year-old's death on Sunday night. Mr Bilic was alone at his Warana home, while his wife Gry Tømte was interstate. Police will allege Mr Bilic was fatally stabbed during a break and enter. His body was discovered on Monday night, after his wife asked a neighbour to check the home when she had not heard from her husband. On Thursday afternoon, Ms Tømte released a statement through police. In the statement, she said the void Mr Bilic, or Zed as he was affectionately known, had left behind was "unbearable". "Zed was my entire world for 28 years," she wrote. "From the moment we met, both of us living away from family in the new country we had fallen in love with, we knew instantly we were each other's person. "We were complete opposites — and together we made a whole." Ms Tømte runs a successful beauty business, with clinics in St Kilda and Northcote in Melbourne. The couple moved to the Sunshine Coast three years ago, but regularly travelled back for work and to see family and friends. "People say I'm the strong one — but I could only be strong because he allowed me to be, and because he wrapped his arms around me daily to make sure I could," she wrote. Ms Tømte described Mr Bilic's love of soccer and how he rarely missed a Melbourne Victory game. "He was the MLP [most loved person] in his soccer teams — both in Melbourne and on the Sunshine Coast," she wrote. "And he loved them right back. He was the kind of friend who would drop everything to help anyone. "And even if you weren't his friend, if he saw you on the street, he'd smile and have a chat." Ms Tømte said Mr Bilic's biggest legacy was the one he left behind with his work at Ginger Sport. "He was an exceptional male role model for the kids he worked with at the early childhood centres up here on the coast," she wrote. "Whether we were walking on the beach, going to the mall, or visiting the zoo, there would always be a little, enthusiastic, excited voice yelling 'Coach Zed, Coach Zed!' "It was so clear to me and everyone who saw this that he was a superhero to the little kids he worked with." Ms Tømte has now returned to the Sunshine Coast, and has thanked the community for its support, but has asked for privacy while she grieves. "If you've had the privilege of being in Zed's presence, you'll know that he was literal sunshine," she wrote.
