Thu 22nd Feb 2007

Angelo Costanzo has been appointed as Adelaide United’s Interim Captain after Ross Aloisi was stood down from the position. The Adelaide United Advisory Board made the decision this morning to appoint Costanzo in the role for the club’s upcoming Asian Champions League games.

Adelaide United CEO Michael Petrillo made the announcement today saying, “The captaincy issue was discussed this morning and the Board has agreed to appoint Angelo Costanzo as the new interim captain of the club. He will take over from Ross (Aloisi) starting today and the position will be reviewed at the end of the Asian Champions League.”

“We had a discussion with Ross this morning. He didn’t really want to step down but the Board had agreed in light of what has transpired in the last few days that we would like to start fresh with the leadership group and Angelo is a fantastic person to have at the helm of the club.”

Aloisi will still be showing the passion and dedication he has been renowned for since he began playing with Adelaide United, and he will remain a valuable senior player in Adelaide United’s squad.

Also revealed today was the news that Greg Owens has cut short his time with Adelaide United and returned to his hometown of Newcastle. Owens and the club settled on the decision amicably, the midfielder citing personal reasons and a lack of passion for the game as major factors in his decision.

Owens had another year to run on his contract but Adelaide United Chairman Dario Fontanarosa had no hesitation in releasing him.

“Greg spoke to me about three weeks ago. He is from interstate, his girlfriend is about to have a baby and he said he had lost hunger to play football at this stage so he asked if he could be released after the finals,” Fontanarosa said.

“He’s left, it’s all good and the door is open for him to come back at any time.”

Owens flew out of Adelaide today.