Former coach Danielle Laidley has stepped out to celebrate the end of North Melbourne’s debt
Ex-North Melbourne coach Danielle Laidley has been welcomed back by former teammates as they gathered to celebrate the club putting an end to its financial woes.
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Danielle Laidley has returned to the North Melbourne Football Club to help celebrate the Kangaroos becoming debt-free after more than a generation of financial pain.
The 1996 premiership player and former senior coach arrived at Arden Street Oval on Friday, accompanied by her partner, Donna.
Laidley, 54, appeared alongside some of her former teammates at a media conference where the Kangaroos formally announced they had paid off the longstanding debt, which they have carried since 1987.
She said she was delighted to be back at Arden Street, the place she called home for 99 games across five seasons as a player and 149 games in seven seasons as the coach.
“(I’m) very happy to be here, very proud of the efforts and what has been achieved by everyone to look back now and say the right decision was made (to stay in Melbourne),” Laidley said.
North Melbourne famously rejected a massive financial offer from the AFL in late 2007 to turn its back on Melbourne and relocate to the Gold Coast when Laidley was coach.
“The club impacted my life in more ways than one,” she said. “Every Shinboner supporter should be proud today.”
“It’s great being back at the North Melbourne Football Club for this important announcement of being debt-free, also on the back of Transgender awareness week, as I am proud of both of my tribes.”
She said the club’s decision to turn its back on the AFL inducement and remain a Melbourne-based club had proven a successful one, given the club managed to get itself out of a bleak financial hole and keep its identity.
“It will go down in history as being the right call to stay in Melbourne where the club is based, here at Arden Street,” she said.
“It was a particularly tough period of time for the club, certainly as senior coach, making sure our performances on-field were at a standard that helped the board under (then president) James Brayshaw to make the right decision to stay in Melbourne.”
Laidley said she would always be grateful for the support she received from the passionate North Melbourne supporters.
“Personally, and on behalf of the club, I would like to acknowledge the playing group, our coaches, football support staff, the club administration, our sponsors and, most importantly, our supporters, who came along to watch us week-in, week-out,” she said.
“We may not have quite made the last day in September during my time as the senior coach, but we can be very proud of the part every person played in keeping our football here at Arden Street.
“Whenever I drive past, I’m personally over the moon at where our football club is today and the very bright long-term future ahead; I’m exceptionally proud as Shinboner #826.”
Soon after that, the Kangaroos’ debt stretched out to about $9m, with the crippling interest payments putting extra pressure on the club.
But after working exceptionally hard to pay down the debt over the decade, the club was able to use this year’s profit of $453,189 to pay down the last of it and get the club back in the black again.
Laidley praised the club for the positive impact it had made on her life since her move from West Coast for the 1993 season.
Laidley, sitting on a panel with former coach Brad Scott and current coach David Noble, said she still loved North Melbourne almost 30 years after her arrival.
“We can now start at the line with everyone else, not 40m behind,” she said.
Laidley recalled how she and her young son were involved in a minor accident on first day he arrived at the club back in 1993.
She came to love the old dilapidated facilities back then, but marvelled at the Kangaroos’ incredible facilities of today.
But she said it was the people who made it so special.
“What I found was North Melbourne’s greatest asset is its people.”
Laidley and her partner Donna have been lifelong friends since meeting in Grade 1 at a primary school in Perth.
The pair reconnected in 2017 and have been a couple for the past five months.
Former president James Brayshaw paid great credit to Laidley for her work in keeping North Melbourne competitive during her coaching years, despite having the “worst-funded football department.”
“We need to pay special tribute to Danielle Laidley and the team around her back then,” Brayshaw said.
“We were fighting City Hall (the AFL) abs we had the worst funded football department” in the AFL.
“Danielle and the team kept us competitive.”
North Melbourne president Ben Buckley, who played one season with Laidley in 1993, said this was a momentous day for the footy club.
“This is a great day for the club,” Buckley said.
“We are so proud of where we are and the way we’ve gone about eradicating this debt. It’s a ‘whole of club’ achievement and we are very grateful for everyone who played a role in getting us to this position.
“This result gives the North Melbourne Kangaroos an opportunity to look forward to a future of growth and unity and proving ourselves to be a destination club for players, members and fans.”
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