A season of great disappointment - and controversy - at the Adelaide Football Club could bring forward interesting candidates for the Crows board

WHO is running the Adelaide Football Club? A year of disappointment and controversty off the field might lead to some fascinating nominations for the Crows board in the summer.

HOW well do you know the Adelaide Football Club board?

It would be surprising - most surprising - if the 97,675 Crows members could name ALL eight directors at the Adelaide Football Club. More so when the members have “elected” just two of them - former players, Brownlow Medallist Mark Ricciuto and Rod Jameson.

But the status of the Crows board might be more relevant this summer as fans evaluate the fall-out of a year of missed (and lost) opportunities on the field and high-profile members of Adelaide society consider their options in chasing a seat on the AFL club’s board.

Former Federal senator Chris Schacht’s long-standing questions on the “governance” of the SA-based AFL clubs - that have their licences now held by the AFL Commission rather than the SANFL equivalent - has never had more gravitas.

Not since the politics of football derailed Norwood champion Ross Dillon’s move to succeed inaugural Crows chairman Bob Hammond in the big chair at West Lakes at the end of Season 2000 has there been greater intrigue as to who will sit in the Adelaide board room next year.

Adelaide Crows Football Club board in 2000 - (Back l-r) David Marshall with Stephen Young, Paul Rofe, Ross Dillon and Alan Sheppard, (front l-r) Bill Sanders, Bob Hammond, Bob Campbell and Wally Miller.

And much of the meaningful discussions in the lead-up to any election in January could focus on what is expected of the “members elect” candidate on the Adelaide board.

This year, Jameson - the premiership defender - survived a challenge from local lawyer Kym Ryder. This was not surprising, considering former club players inevitably have their profile swamp the thoughts of those few members who are prepared to cast their vote on a ballot paper.

But did the members expect more of Jameson as their so-called “representative” this season?

Did the members - as Jameson was advised by one of his savvy team-mates from the 1990s with a good read of the fans’ mood - want Jameson to be open to their questions and suggestions this year? Should it be more difficult to consult a member of an AFL club board - one put there on the members’ recommendation - that the local member of State and Federal parliaments?

As SA sporting great Ken “KG” Cunningham often says, the old rule book for Australian football did once remind all that the game is “of the people for the people”.

Jameson is open to public exposure with his comments on the AFL and the Crows by his place on the Adelaide ABC radio commentary team. But he is in a bubble in the Crows board room at a time when many Adelaide fans have taken issue with the communication from their club.

Crows board members at the members meeting at Adelaide Oval in 2016. Picture: Mark Brake

The notion of a “members’ elect” candidate does seem to fall short of the image that title creates.

The Adelaide board - that is ratified by the AFL Commission rather than the Crows membership base - is:

Chairman ROB CHAPMAN. His term expires in March. If the South Australian businessman wishes to continue, he need only seek the nod of the AFL Commission. He has never been elected by the membership. He was first placed on the Adelaide board in 2007 with SA Football Commission endorsement - and the understanding he would replace inaugural club chief executive Bill Sanders as chairman in 2009.

Deputy chairman JIM HAZEL. His term expires in March 2021. A long-serving board member (since 2010), Hazel agreed in the summer to extend his term after the death of would-be chairman Bob Foord. He too was “co-opted” to the board rather than elected by the membership.

Crows board member Kate Ellis MP tosses the coin at a Crows AFLW game. Picture Sarah Reed

KATE ELLIS. The soon-to-retire Federal politician was ushered onto the Crows board last year (as the AFL Commission noted there should be at least two women on club boards rather than one who might be “isolated” by strong male opinions). Her term expires in March 2021.

LINDA FELLOWS. The SA Police assistant commissioner joined the board in 2015 before the club’s challenging hours with the death of coach Phil Walsh - and was outstanding in her leadership. Also “co-opted” as a director, her term expires in March 2021.

RICHARD FENNELL. The chief financial officer from the Bendigo Bank will have his term expire in March after being “co-opted” to the board last year.

JIM McDOWELL. As Uni SA chancellor, McDowell joined the board last year - and has his term expire in March 2020. He also was called to the board room rather than elected. But now that he is the state’s top public servant as the head of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, there are some who argue McDowell should resign from the Crows board to avoid a conflict-of-interest question.

MARK RICCIUTO. Adelaide’s former captain won the members’ vote in 2014 - and is now to be kept on the board without working through the ballot box. Once seen as a future chairman, the Brownlow Medallist has his term expire in March.

ROD JAMESON. Adelaide’s premiership defender gained the members’ nod in January and is to stay on the board until March 2020. He was first elected in 2015.

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