The move for will see Patzwald, who is currently a member of Adelaide United’s Advisory Board, take a more hands-on role as the club aims to continue building on its success of the past 12 months.

Patzwald said: “I’m certainly humbled and sincerely honoured for the faith Nick (Bianco) and the Bianco family have put in me and what better club would you want to be involved in.

“Adelaide United is the best club in Australasia in my opinion. I’m certainly passionate about it and I just hope I can make a contribution in the areas that I have expertise in, and together with the great staff that is already in place, assist in whatever way I can.”

Mr Fontanarosa made the decision to step down in order to concentrate on the Bianco business, which owns the Adelaide United Football Club, stating it is a move that will keep Adelaide United moving in the right direction.

He said: “Bianco Construction Supplies owns the club, which at this stage is owned by Bianco but it’s a family run business, I’ve got two other brother in-laws who are involved and they’ve all got an interest in the business, and on a personal note I’d like to have more involvement in Adelaide United so I’ll still be around the place.

“This is a fantastic step forward, and to me it’s another feather in the cap for Adelaide United to have a new guy with new ideas, trusted within the industry, has got a lot of contacts and is commercially driven, so it’s a good thing that Mel has been appointed.

“If I was still the chairman of the club, all I would really do is slow things down a little bit because I can’t be at both Adelaide United and Bianco. Mel has got some good ideas, he understands our vision of what we want for the club which is to be the best, the leaders and the benchmark.”

While Patzwald will take the reins as the new chairman, it is seen as being in a caretaker capacity, Fontanarosa declaring he will return in the future once his commitments with Bianco’s have eased.

“I will be back. My passion always lies with Adelaide United, it’s in my blood and I’m looking at it that I’m just taking 12 months annual leave,” Fontanarosa said.

“To me the best thing is I’ve stepped down as Chairman and can concentrate 100 per cent on Bianco, and we don’t want to slow Adelaide United down either and we just feel that with the appointment of Mel, we can keep the ball rolling and keep it going forward.”

Patzwald is the Managing Director of travel company Airport Travel Centre, the organisation providing The Reds’ W-League team with a front of shirt sponsor during the inaugural Westfield W-League season.

He has also spent 18 years living overseas and has an extensive interest in international relations, and he hopes to use this experience in creating opportunities for Adelaide United through international partnerships.

“In my working life I’ve always thought you only live once and you spend a great deal of time in the office working, and that you should try to do whatever you can the best that you can and take pride in that,” Patzwald said.

“Over the years you make a lot of business contacts and I hope some of those will assist in making us a better club.”

Mr Fontanarosa has also announced that South Australian celebrity and Channel 7 newsreader Chris Dittmar has joined the club’s Advisory Board. Dittmar, a former champion squash player, is a prominent media personality in South Australia and Fontanarosa believes his input will benefit the club’s continued strive for success.

“We’ve appointed Chris Dittmar to be on the board. Again he’s another driver, fantastic commercially, has got a lot of contacts and great ideas and basically all the things that we talk about, their role is to keep on going and make sure we don’t lose momentum,” Fontanarosa said.

Patzwald’s appointment will take affect immediately, while Dittmar will join the board for the first time in February for its monthly meeting.