Kaz Phonesak Patafta (born 25 October 1988) is an Australian sports administrator and former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. He has been the

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO) of

Brisbane Roar FC Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

since July 2023. Prior to this, he worked as a lawyer specialising in

corporate law Corporate law (also known as company law or enterprise law) is the body of law governing the rights, relations, and conduct of persons, companies, organizations and businesses. The term refers to the legal practice of law relating to corpora ...

. He also founded his own legal firm, McDonald Patafta & Associates Lawyers, with offices in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Patafta previously played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Benfica,

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

and Khon Kaen United F.C. He captained the Australia under-17 national team at the

2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the eleventh edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Lima, Trujillo, Chiclayo, Piura and Iquitos in Peru from 16 September to 2 October 2005. Players born after 1 January 1988 could participate i ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and also the Australia under-20 national team at the

2006 AFC Youth Championship The 2006 AFC Youth Championship was the 34th instance of the AFC Youth Championship. It was held from 29 October to 12 November 2006 in India. It was the first time for India to host this tournament. Sixteen teams from the AFC qualified to the f ...

. Former Australian national team coach,

Ange Postecoglou Angelos "Ange" Postecoglou ( ; ; born 27 August 1965) is a soccer manager and former player who was most recently manager of club Tottenham Hotspur. Born in Greece, Postecoglou grew up in Melbourne from the age of five. As a player, he spen ...

, stated Patafta as "the most technically gifted player I've coached."

Early life and education

Kaz Patafta was born in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, ACT to parents of

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n and Laotian descent. Growing up, Patafta played football at northside-based junior football clubs Belsouth FC and Belnorth FC. He was a student at

Radford College Radford College is an independent school, Anglican, coeducational day school, located in Bruce, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Founded in 1984, the college is named after Bishop Lewis Bostock Radford. It has a non-selective enrolmen ...

. Patafta attended

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

in 2011 to undertake a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

, which he completed in 2014. He subsequently completed his Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

Club career

Patafta attended the

ACTAS is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1998. It is currently a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Filmworks, which in turn is a subsidiary to Bandai Namco Holdings. History Actas was founded on July 6, 1998, by Hiroshi Katō and Jūtarō Ōba, who pr ...

in 2004 and then graduated to the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

. Whilst at the AIS, Patafta was frequently called up to the Australian U-17 national team by

and in 2005 was called up to the Australian U-20 national team. After graduating from the AIS Patafta had been ignored by Australia's

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

clubs before the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

, whose interest was due to the recommendation of then

Australia national football team Australia national soccer team most commonly refers to: * Australia men's national soccer team * Australia women's national soccer team Australia national soccer team may also refer to: * Australia men's national soccer B team * Australia men's nat ...

manager

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

, and Benfica expressed interest in signing him.

Benfica

2006–07 season

Patafta joined

Benfica B Sport Lisboa e Benfica "B" (), commonly known as Benfica B, is a Portuguese professional football team based in Seixal. Founded in 1999, dissolved in 2006, and restarted in 2012, it is the reserve team of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica. They play ...

squad as a 16-year-old having impressed at international youth level, however, initially his transfer was blocked by

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only establ ...

as he was under the age of 18. After receiving a clearance he eventually joined the squad in January 2006. Patafta featured in a pre-season friendly for the club's first-team against CF Estrela da Amadora on 15 August 2006. Patafta was part of the Benfica youth team during the 2006-07 U-19 Championship season where he scored 2 goals in 13 league games. His first goal for the youth-team came in a 2–1 home victory against

Pescadores The Penghu ( , Hokkien POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, about west of the main island of Taiwan across the Penghu Channel, cover ...

on 25 November 2006, where he was substituted onto the field for João Ferreira in the 52nd minute and scored Benfica's second goal in the 88th minute with an open shot after receiving the ball from a cross. Patafta scored his second goal for the youth-team in the 5th minute of a 3–1 away victory against

Caparica Caparica is a former civil parish in the municipality (''concelho'') of Almada, Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged with the civil parish of Trafaria into the new parish Caparica e Trafaria. The population in 2011 was ...

on 31 March 2007.

Loan to Melbourne Victory

Patafta joined Australian A-League champions

on loan for the 2007–08 season. He played his first game for Melbourne Victory in a pre-season match against

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

. On 11 January 2008, Patafta scored his first

goal with a left-foot shot from a tight angle in the 88th minute of a 3–0 home victory against

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 ...

Newcastle United Jets

In May 2008, Patafta secured a release from the remainder of his contract with Benfica with the assistance of the

Australian Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), formerly the Australian Soccer Players' Association, is an Australian trade union affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions and FIFPRO that represents professional male, female and eli ...

. On 2 June 2008, Patafta signed a 1-year contract with the

. On 22 August 2008 he debuted for Newcastle in a 3–3 with Perth Glory when he was substituted on in the 80th minute for Edmundo Zura.

Canberra FC

Patafta returned to playing football in a guest appearance, playing for

Canberra FC Canberra Croatia Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Deakin in the south of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, founded in 1958. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Ca ...

in a friendly game versus

Malaysia national football team The Malaysia national football team () represents Malaysia in international association football, football and is governed by the Football Association of Malaysia. The national team is recognised by FIFA as the successor of the defunct Malaya ...

(3:2). He later played five matches for Canberra FC, he scored four goals including a hat trick against

Cooma Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega, New South Wales, Bega with the Riverina. ...

Lanexang Intra FC

Patafta joined Lao Premier League side Lane Xang Intra F.C. for the 2015/2016 seasons. In March 2016, Patafta announced that he was retiring from the game at the age of 28 to become the general manager of Lanexang. Patafta said that he had earned his law degree from Deakin University in 2014 and felt that he felt he could make a large impact on the business side of football. He remained in that role until the dissolution of the team in January 2017.

International career

Australia U–17 national team

In 2004, Patafta was included in the Australia U-17 national team squad for a tour of the United States in December 2004 but due to injury he was not considered by Ange Postecoglou for the squad the 20-man squad for a five-match tour of Chile against Palestino U–17, Universidad Catolica U–17, Colo-Colo U–17 and Chile U–17. Australia were crowned champions of the

2005 OFC U-17 Championship The 2005 OFC Under-17 Tournament was an association football competition in Oceania. It was the 11th edition of the OFC Under 17 Qualifying Tournament, Nine teams participated in the tournament. The winning side qualified for the 2005 FIFA U-17 ...

and qualified for the

. Patfta was selected for a Four-Nations tournament in Peru against Costa Rica U–17, Ecuador U–17 and Peru U–17 in July 2005 as preparation for the U-17 World Championship. Patafta set up a goal in Australia's 2–2 draw with Peru when his free kick was played in from near the corner and headed in by Jamie Cumming. Patafta was named team captain of the 19-man squad by Ange Postecoglou for the U-17 World Championship in September, wearing the number #10 shirt, he played in all three group-stage matches of the competition and was part of the team's starting–11. Australia finished in third place of their respective group, after losing to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

(1–0) and to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

(3–0) and winning against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

(2–1).

Australia U–20 national team

In 2006, the Australia U-20 national team participated in a five-match South American tour in against

Colo-Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

U–20,

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

U–20, Chile U–20 and Argentina U–20. The South American tour was preparation for the

in October–November, the qualification campaign for the eventual

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the scor ...

, however, Benfica did not release Patafta for the tour. Patafta was selected to play at the 2006 AFC Youth Championship held in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Australia finished in second spot of their respective group after losing to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(1–0) and defeating

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

(3–1) and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

(2–0). Australia advanced to the quarter–finals where they were defeated 2–1 against South Korea and failed to qualify for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Australia

Patafta was included as part of Australia's "train-on" squad before the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, along with fellow promising young Australian players

Kristian Sarkies Kristian Ronald Sarkies (born 25 October 1986 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian footballer who plays for Sandringham SC in the Victorian Metropolitan League 1. He grew up in Dingley Village, a suburb in Melbourne's South-East 10 kilome ...

and

Neil Kilkenny Neil Martin Kilkenny (born 19 December 1985) is a professional footballer who plays for Football West State League Division 1 side Sorrento. A midfielder, he began his career in the youth system at Arsenal, and went on to play league football f ...

. Unlike these players, he was not given a senior cap in the team's three pre-World Cup friendly matches.

Laos

In 2015, Patafta announced his intention to play for the Laos national team (the nation of his mother's birth) after moving to the

Lao Premier League The Lao League 1 (), also known as the Pepsi Lao League 1 for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of men's football in Laos. Teams A total of 10 teams participated in the 2025–26 Lao League 1 season. :''Note: Table lists in alphabetical ...

. However, he was not called up to the side due to a government policy preventing players with

multiple citizenship Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...

from representing the national team.

Honours

;Australia *

OFC U-17 Championship The OFC Men's U-16 Championship is a biennial football tournament for players under the age of 16. The tournament decides the only two qualification spots for the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and its representatives at the FIFA U-17 World ...

: 2005

Football Academy

In early 2013 Patafta and Shaun Ontong set up a football academy in Canberra, ''Ontong Patafta Bernal Football Academy''.

Andy Bernal Andrew Bernal (born 16 May 1966) is a former professional soccer defender and football pioneer who played in Australia, England, and Spain. He was later a football agent and personal manager for David Beckham. In 2021, he wrote and released his ...

later joined the pair as a partner in the football academy. The academy offers youth players in Canberra a professional training environment and pathways to elite level football. In October 2013, the Ontong Patafta Bernal Football Academy was nominated as a finalist and won the 2013 Canberra Business Point Award in the Micro-Enterprise Business category.

References

External links

Ontong Patafta Football Academy

Newcastle Jets profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Patafta, Kaz 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Canberra Soccer players from the Australian Capital Territory Australian people of Laotian descent Australian people of Croatian descent Australian men's soccer players Australian expatriate men's soccer players A-League Men players Melbourne Victory FC players Newcastle Jets FC players Sydney United 58 FC players Australian Institute of Sport soccer players National Premier Leagues players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Men's association football midfielders Brisbane Roar FC chairmen People educated at Radford College Australian sports executives and administrators 21st-century Australian lawyers Deakin University alumni 21st-century Australian sportsmen