Open letter from fans to the Adelaide Crows board
It could have backfired — asking angry Crows fans to contribute to an open letter to the board of their club. We were overwhelmed with passionate and intelligent responses, and the result is something that can’t be ignored.
When Advertiser.com.au put out a call for members and fans to make submissions for an open letter to the board of the Adelaide Football Club in response to its season and comments made by football director Mark Ricciuto, we didn’t know what to expect. We could be ignored, or trolled, or open a hornet’s nest of nasty hatred that can often be found spewing from anonymous keyboard warriors.
What we received were 167 submissions for the letter — 146 of which (at the time of writing) were deemed publishable by our team of moderators. That’s 88 per cent of submitted comments published, which is considerably higher than the average across the entire site.
Our guidelines are strict — nothing abusive, defamatory or aggressive gets through. A few of the 21 rejected were simply because they were too long for the system to handle.
The vast majority of the 146 comments published were considered, intelligent and above all passionate. They reflected a fan base that deeply loves its club but also one that is hurting.
There were many common themes. Rightly or wrongly, many of the members felt their board was out of touch with its membership and fan base.
They questioned the culture of the Crows and they saw a club that — in their words — was “fractured and split, without unity and common purpose”.
In their words. That’s critical to highlight. This is not the musings of The Advertiser or one of our columnists.
This letter is real fans, in their words. We have picked the sentences and paragraphs that are most representative of the collective and stitched them together to form a cohesive, themed letter. If you read all of the raw comments, you’ll find the words and sentiment of them shining through in the final product.
This letter crystallises fans’ views and amplifies common themes. It allows many voices to fly as one.
Among the most common themes was that the club does not listen to its members or fan base. This letter is a chance for the Crows to prove otherwise. No one is expecting they adopt everything in it but they should at least acknowledge it and respond to points raised with the same passion and care taken by those making submissions.
The fans have spoken. Will they be heard?
THE LETTER
The following is an open letter to the members of the Adelaide Football Club board, from their fans. It represents the supporters’ real thoughts and feelings, and is in their words, edited together by The Advertiser from almost 150 submissions. The letter crystallises their thoughts and amplifies common themes from all of the contributions.
It is addressed to the members of the Adelaide Football Club board: Rob Chapman, Chairman, Jim Hazel, Deputy Chairman, Jim McDowell, Linda Fellows, Kate Ellis, Richard Fennell, Mark Ricciuto, Rod Jameson and Kym Ryder.
Dear Members of the Board,
This week, Crows football director Mark Ricciuto suggested that if fans didn’t support those making decisions at the club then maybe they should barrack for a different team. He asked us to trust in the club and its management.
Today, we, the fans of the Adelaide Football Club, write to the board to say while we love the Crows, we are embarrassed by its past two seasons and are extremely disappointed by the football director’s comments against the club’s loyal supporter base.
We have therefore collectively contributed to this open letter in the hope our concerns will not fall on deaf ears. This nadir in relations between us and our most beloved club can be used as a catalyst for positive change. The club needs our support and fans support the club through good times and bad — but it is high time our views were listened to.
We expect constructive and informative responses to all of our points.
OUT OF TOUCH
We have been proud of our club over the length of its journey but recently this pride has changed to being ashamed by weak efforts. It is hard to stomach capitulation, game after game. Quite frankly, these past two seasons on and off the field and the events of the past few days have been very embarrassing for our club.
The issues we have extend beyond the footy field. As members, we feel disconnected. As a board, we feel you are out of touch. Communication from the club on some issues hasn’t been good enough. We feel we are not listened to.
You say you love your fans — please tell us how. Requests and suggestions continually fall on deaf ears. Why even do your surveys if nothing comes of them? The bigger problem here of course is not surveys but fans simply not being heard — we feel it’s income first, fans last. You have become such an “ask-ask” club, with no “give give”. You must reassess your member engagement methods.
Mark, your public comments (whether intended or not) regarding fans voicing their opinion is a clear indication of a lack of respect and accountability to the AFC members and supporters. This lack of accountability also clearly extends to all matters football as there has been little to no improvement as is borne out by the performances of the team over the 2018 and now 2019 seasons.
BOARD APPOINTMENTS
We need a board that will listen to its members and supporters because without us there is no club. The board needs to be answerable to its members as a company is to its shareholders. We feel this entire year has been the continuation of a downward spiral — yet the board in our view have been in denial. Indeed, we feel the board has acted with arrogance and this arrogance was exposed by Mark’s comments.
There have to be major changes in board election procedures and at the top levels both on and off the field of the club or the downward spiral will continue. Perhaps the review process outlined on the club’s website could start with the tenure of the board. Is three years too long for non-member board appointments? The two positions elected from members are two years tenure — why the difference? If all positions at the AFC, including the board, were performance-based perhaps complacency and mediocrity would be eliminated. There is absolutely no pressure on members to perform — they know their position is safe, regardless of results.
Autocracies are an outdated and discredited form of governance. The principles of democracy require that all paid members should have the right to vote for those who will govern their club. What is the club going to do about this?
BOYS’ CLUB CULTURE
We are confident that the club’s administration, players and coaches are professional and 100 per cent committed to achieving success. That’s not in question — it’s how they are trying to achieve this success that is an issue. The top-down review announced is welcomed — although it’s probably a year too late.
And many of us still support Don Pyke and Mark Ricciuto and are not calling for their heads. Mark made a Freudian slip with his comment about fans barracking for another club but he is a fighter and will learn from his mistakes. Don needs more experienced support staff that have fresh ideas to produce a team of players that have speed and brute strength.
What must change though is the “boys’ club”. Clearly there needs to be change within the football department. List managers, those in charge of draft picks and player trading, specialist position coaches, high performance coaches, fitness coaches — they all have a lot to answer for.
Is there another club in the AFL with more past players involved in some capacity than the Adelaide Crows? We struggle to think of one. For example, many of us feel the appointment of Brett Burton to Head of Football adds to the perception of the “boys’ club”.
From the fans’ perspective, the AFC appears to be a bubble that often recruits support staff from within a very limited pool. Are we thinking safe, or can’t we get anyone with innovative coaching ideas to come to Adelaide? There are too many ex-Crows people involved and it’s time for a broom to sweep through.
PLAYER LIST
We think it’s time for a Malcolm Blight-style clean out of the playing list — out with the old, in with the new, turn over the list and start the rebuild now. Holding on to the past, as the club appears to be doing, is not going to help it move forward.
Malcolm Blight achieved greatness by making tough calls on playing personnel, taking risks and damning the consequences. Does the club collectively have the courage to repeat this?
We have one of the oldest lists yet our youth have hardly been given an opportunity until the horse had bolted. The non-selections of Darcy Fogarty and Chayce Jones have been staggering and have both shown their immense ability over the past couple of weeks. We are now in a position where the premiership door has been well and truly shut and we need to rebuild our list and promote youth.
Phil Walsh said we needed to get 50 games into our kids with urgency but it seems his philosophy went out the window. Who is responsible for this? Does Don have a problem with playing youth?
And why do players, particularly the interstate players, not want to stay at the club? What is it about the culture that players such as Jake Lever cannot get out quick enough? How many more superstar players are we going to lose because of a culture that obviously needs questioning?
Each and every player, no matter how many games they have played or goals they have kicked, should be under scrutiny for continuity next season onwards. The current playing list are clearly lacking in genuine leg speed in most areas of the ground. This results in a lack of competitiveness when playing the leading contenders. What is being done about this?
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Change must be made.
MEMBERSHIP
Unfortunately Mark your comments about finding another club to barrack for have been heard by many of us. Many of us feel that if there is no discernible change in 2020 — indeed, a total cleanup — we will have to seriously consider our continued membership and support of your organisation. When the football director threatens supporters, it may be time to look elsewhere.
We have labelled you, the board, out of touch earlier in this letter. So please hear this: finding the money for membership each year is getting increasingly difficult and without change to the club, many of us are considering using that money for something else.
An Essential Crows membership costs $465 for an adult each year. Yet on that membership we need to get to the ground when the gates open to fight for a seat, while our cross town colleagues at Port Adelaide have the same membership called Essential Power for about $80 a year cheaper and also a guaranteed grand final ticket if their team makes it. For us, that costs another $150 a year to become a Gold Member. Why the disparity? Many of us feel it’s a joke how Crows members are treated for the cost of our membership and it’s yet another sign of being out of touch with your supporter base.
WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?
As fans, success is quite simply winning games of footy. Cut the gift-wrapping pre-game and during breaks, such as the flashing lights, kiss-cam and competitions where fans dash around the boundary with club legend Matthew Robran inexplicably picking up after them. Have some self respect. Focus on footy, that’s why we’re here. No-one pays an entry fee to see the mascot’s head pasted onto their body on a TV screen, particularly when the team is six goals down and not looking competitive.
Success is also being much more transparent with supporters. We’re tired of the way we are treated. You should tell supporters who the reviewers are, otherwise the culture of secrecy will continue and we will not progress the club in 2020 or beyond.
FINAL WORD
Please listen to your members and your fans. With so many of us having similar observations and feelings, the common issues outlined in this open letter are not imagined. Our beloved club is fractured and split, without unity and common purpose.
You must fix it or risk losing your most important asset — the fans.
Yours faithfully,
The members and fans of the Adelaide Football Club.
* Compiled by The Advertiser using the words and sentiments from 146 submissions by fans to this open letter.