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ABC News
6 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.
Leader Live
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Leader Live
Wrexham face Sydney FC in second friendly Down Under
Wrexham's first game in Australia ended in a 3-0 victory over Melbourne Victory on Friday with Tom O'Connor, Ryan Hardie and George Evans getting the goals at Marvel Stadium. Sydney, like New Zealand side Wellington Phoenix who the Reds face at Sky Stadium on Saturday in the final match of the trip, play in the A-League and Parkinson says his side are braced for another good work-out. He told the official club website: 'I think that all the teams are very athletic. We saw that on Friday night against Melbourne Victory. 'There are players who are making that transition into the European leagues and it's great that it's flourishing. 'I know that their season's quite a way off, but they've got the cup competition coming up and they've been back more or less the same time as us, having had a few weeks in pre-season. 'There's a lot of very technical players, but I think the good thing about the Australian teams, particularly is the athleticism of players. 'It was a standout for us against Melbourne Victory, as they have the pace and running power in the team. It was good for us to come up against that.' Parkinson, who named a different team for each half against Melbourne, has completed two new signings so far this summer with striker Hardie and goalkeeper Danny Ward both lining up in the second period. Hardie converted Ryan Barnett's low cross before being taken off as a precaution late in the game after taking a bang to the head while Ward had a relatively quiet evening, and the Reds boss says the duo have fitted in well since arriving at The Racecourse. "Ryan has trained really well since he has been here and settled in well," he added. "The goal is typical of goals he can score. "Movement in the opposition penalty box, timing of his run and like all good goalscorers, getting those tap-ins in and around the six-yard box. "Danny was cool and calm which you'd expect from a goalkeeper of his experience."
The Age
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Wrexham dominate Melbourne Victory, but the full story is beyond the Marvel Stadium pitch
It's an odd time to be alive. Donald Trump is US president, again. Australia's media has become obsessed with mushrooms in Gippsland. And, perhaps most perplexingly, Welsh minnows Wrexham – a once obscure and hapless soccer club – just played Melbourne Victory in a marquee match at a 53,000-seat stadium in the self-proclaimed sporting capital of the world. All professional sport is a form of entertainment, but when Wrexham AFC are involved the dial is turned up to 11. Celebrity ownership and a documentary series on Disney+ (four seasons and counting) has turned a down-at-heel soccer team from north Wales into one of the hottest sporting brands on the planet in just under four years. From near bankruptcy to a sponsorship and revenue dream, the revival of the club has been an object lesson in what can happen when Hollywood gets involved. When Ryan Reynolds and the artist formerly known as Rob McElhenney (he officially changed his name to Rob Mac recently) bought the club in November 2020, they paid just £2 million (worth roughly $3.6 million then, and $4.1 million now). In May, Soccernet's resident stats guru Ryan O'Hanlon wrote it is now 'estimated to be worth upward of £150 million'. The club's shirt used to be sponsored by local firm Ifor Williams Trailers. Since the takeover, it's been graced by Tik-Tok, Expedia and United Airlines. More than half of the club's revenues – $55 million last year – now come from territories other than the UK, with Australia its third-biggest market. And that's why Wrexham AFC are on a pre-season tour here, playing three games against A-League teams. The Red Dragons' revival under the ownership of Reynolds and Mac has both been spurred by and charted in Welcome to Wrexham. And its rise has been truly phenomenal – three promotions in three seasons, a first in the English game, have seen the club rise from the fifth-tier National League to the second-tier Championship.
Hindustan Times
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Wrexham opens its Down Under tour without its Hollywood owners but with a 3-0 win
MELBOURNE, Australia — Welsh soccer side Wrexham opened a three-match tour of Australia and New Zealand on Friday without their high-profile co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney making the trip Down Under. Wrexham opens its Down Under tour without its Hollywood owners but with a 3-0 win The result was a good one, though — 3-0 over A-League side Melbourne Victory — despite missing the Hollywood actors' star power off the field. Midfielder Tom O'Connor scored for Wrexham in the 42nd minute, with Ryan Hardie and George Evans adding goals in the second half. Scottish striker Hardie, signed from Plymouth Argyle for the Red Dragons' long-awaited return to English football's second tier, was in place to poke home from close range after being introduced as a substitute at halftime. Evans ended the scoring when his long-range shot squeezed under Victory substitute goalkeeper Daniel Graskoski. The official attendance Friday was listed as 37,020 in the 53,000-seat Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. For comparison, Wrexham's Racecourse ground has a capacity of 12,600. The Wrexham squad is using the visit to prepare for a first season in 43 years in English soccer's Championship, having just secured a third straight promotion. Playing in Australia and New Zealand — after recent preseason tours to the United States — is part of an effort to spread Wrexham's global footprint which has been enhanced by the popular 'Welcome to Wrexham' fly-on-the-wall TV documentary. The major reason for making the 16,000-kilometer trip to Australia? McElhenney, who recently changed his name to Rob Mac, previously said that Australia is the third-biggest audience for the 'Welcome to Wrexham' series after the United States and Britain. 'We're not here on a holiday,' Wrexham captain James McClean, who played 103 times for Ireland, said after the team arrived. 'It's great to come and see new things, new experiences but we're here to work, we're here to prepare for the new season. It's going to be the toughest challenge yet, by far.' Wrexham plays again next Tuesday against Sydney FC in Sydney and on July 19 against the Wellington Phoenix in the New Zealand capital. soccer: /hub/soccer This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Sydney Morning Herald
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Wrexham dominate Melbourne Victory, but the full story is beyond the Marvel Stadium pitch
It's an odd time to be alive. Donald Trump is US president, again. Australia's media has become obsessed with mushrooms in Gippsland. And, perhaps most perplexingly, Welsh minnows Wrexham – a once obscure and hapless soccer club – just played Melbourne Victory in a marquee match at a 53,000-seat stadium in the self-proclaimed sporting capital of the world. All professional sport is a form of entertainment, but when Wrexham AFC are involved the dial is turned up to 11. Celebrity ownership and a documentary series on Disney+ (four seasons and counting) has turned a down-at-heel soccer team from north Wales into one of the hottest sporting brands on the planet in just under four years. From near bankruptcy to a sponsorship and revenue dream, the revival of the club has been an object lesson in what can happen when Hollywood gets involved. When Ryan Reynolds and the artist formerly known as Rob McElhenney (he officially changed his name to Rob Mac recently) bought the club in November 2020, they paid just £2 million (worth roughly $3.6 million then, and $4.1 million now). In May, Soccernet's resident stats guru Ryan O'Hanlon wrote it is now 'estimated to be worth upward of £150 million'. The club's shirt used to be sponsored by local firm Ifor Williams Trailers. Since the takeover, it's been graced by Tik-Tok, Expedia and United Airlines. More than half of the club's revenues – $55 million last year – now come from territories other than the UK, with Australia its third-biggest market. And that's why Wrexham AFC are on a pre-season tour here, playing three games against A-League teams. The Red Dragons' revival under the ownership of Reynolds and Mac has both been spurred by and charted in Welcome to Wrexham. And its rise has been truly phenomenal – three promotions in three seasons, a first in the English game, have seen the club rise from the fifth-tier National League to the second-tier Championship.
