Eddie McGuire responds to call for him to end reign as Collingwood president

Eddie McGuire has responded to calls for him to end his long rule of the Collingwood Football Club as fans vent their fury online.

Eddie McGuire has responded to calls for him to step away from his role as president of the Collingwood Football Club.

Responding to the call by lawyer David Galbally (see below) on Triple M on Friday morning, McGuire said that the moment he was not wanted at the Pies, he wouldn’t need to be pushed.

“If the day comes where I’m not wanted at Collingwood, don’t worry, I’m not going to be the one being dragged out the door. I am there as a servant of a club that I love and a servant to football. And that’s what I’m there for,” McGuire said.

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“Anyone who thinks that this is all about ego or anything else or staying too long, no – we challenge ourselves. Our board regenerates consistently.

“I have no worries whatsoever for anyone asking questions, as long as they’re detailed questions and understanding – not hysterical … people who are actually open to getting the answer.

“It doesn’t mean we’re going to get it right all the time, but if people understand what the strategy is and that there is a strategy, then fair enough.

“But people are just being a bit hysterical at times. We don’t want that. But at the same time, you have to be questioned. That’s what keeps you fresh. I don’t think I’ve missed out on being questioned along the journey.”

Of the almost 6,000 readers who responded to a Herald Sun poll asking if McGuire should step down as president, 87 per cent said yes.

McGuire said he would host a fan forum “in due course” and welcomed questioning of his role.

McGuire says he won’t shy away from fans’ criticism.

“I understand and I listen to everything that Collingwood people say. I’m the chief supporter. But I also do other things,” he said.

“And I sometimes think that people don’t quite understand the role of the president of a football club, particularly during a pandemic.

“There’s a lot of things going on, and we’ll have our fan forum in due course and I’ll stand up there as I have done every time for 22 years and we’ll answer every question.

McGuire maintained that despite recent criticism of the club’s trade period strategy, “things are going very well at Collingwood”.

“We’d love to have everyone on the list, but we don’t cheat on the salary cap,” he said.

Eddie McGuire is facing pressure to hold onto his position.

“We had to get things going and we’ve done it and I think we’ve prepared our list and our season for next year. Certainly the finances of the club are in very good order and we’ve got some fantastic announcements, which aren’t just being rolled out as an emergency. These have been planned announcements and things that I did earlier in the year with (CEO) Mark Anderson and our whole team there.”

Eddie McGuire was presiding over “the worst administration in the history of the Collingwood Football Club” and “needs to step down” to give someone else a go, Galbally said.

EDDIE MUST GO: THERE IS NO GOVERNANCE AT COLLINGWOOD

Leading lawyer David Galbally, AM QC, said he was appalled by the club’s latest calamity – the purging of four players to make room in a bulging salary cap – and has called for a major “clean out” at the top.

“The Collingwood administration has lost the plot,” Galbally said.

“They seem to be lurching from one crisis to another. There is no governance to speak of at Collingwood.”

On the 22-year reign of McGuire, Galbally declared: “You can be in charge of a club for far too long. It happened with Tommy Sherrin. It happened with John Elliott. There are plenty of other examples, and they all lose sight of what is going on and get consumed with the belief that the club is theirs.”

McGuire has been president of Collingwood since October 1998 and is easily the game’s longest serving current club boss.

“They really need a new administration at Collingwood. Full stop,” Galbally said.

“Eddie needs to step down. He can’t stay there forever. He’s not there for life. And it’s not healthy for the club to have the same person serve in that role for as long as he has.

David Galbally says the Collingwood administration needs a clean out.

“The presidency of the Collingwood Football Club carries with it enormous imprimatur, right across the community – and it’s very hard to let go and give it away. But it’s time. The club has got to look to the future. It needs new ideas and a fresh approach.

“And that is not to say that Eddie hasn’t been a tremendous asset as president to the club.”

Galbally, who served on the Magpies board from 1974-83, said the treatment of star midfielder Adam Treloar was the latest sign of a club in disarray.

The recruitment of Dayne Beams, the Heritier Lumumba racism inquiry and a string of player misconduct issues also pointed to a longstanding culture and governance problem, he said.

“You start to really question the wisdom about the way in which the players are being communicated to and being treated,” Galbally said.

“How do you let the salary cap blow out to what it is with good governance? How do you let the Treloar situation arise? And how do you expect to have a strong fabric and a strong playing unit that will take you into a finals series, and by hook or by crook stand side-by-side each other and win you a premiership, if you treat people like that?”

Galbally also took aim at McGuire’s long-serving board ally, Magpies vice-president Mark Korda.

“They’ve got Mark Korda from KordaMentha on the board – and they are one of the biggest accounting firms in Australia. So how can they stuff up the salary cap like that?” Galbally said.

“I am very concerned and very upset about what I am seeing.

“There seems to be a problem with the culture of the club. Culture is an easy word to throw around, but there is no real strength or backbone associated with Collingwood.

“This is turning out to be the worst administration in the history of the Collingwood Football Club – and one of the worst in the history of the AFL – it is absolutely appalling.”

The other Magpies board members are billionaire Alex Waislitz, ex-Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate, club CEO Mark Anderson, Jodie Sizer, Paul Licuria and Peter Murphy, the businessman who conducted an independent review into the club’s operations in 2017.

MORE COLLINGWOOD NEWS:

Collingwood fans revolt as fallout grows over club’s behaviour during AFL trade period

Collingwood‘s wish for Dayne Beams to be given medical payout fails

Kim Ravaillion slams Collingwood for poor treatment of her partner Adam Treloar after Pies traded him to Western Bulldogs

Originally published as Eddie McGuire responds to call for him to end reign as Collingwood president