Hawthorn legend Chris Langford weighs into bitter boardroom fight

Hawthorn’s web and social presences are being used for ‘propaganda’ which is not the purpose intended according to respected club legend, Chris Langford.

Vladimir Putin.

Hawthorn Team of the Century member and former AFL Commissioner Chris Langford has accused the Hawks of using “Putin’s playbook” to suppress debate in the bitter turf war over its contested elections.

Langford’s bombshell intervention into board elections that opened on Friday came as Hawks presidential candidate Andy Gowers was given a powerful endorsement by Hawthorn premiership star Robert DiPierdomenico.

Four-time premiership star and 1994 captain Langford’s iconic intervention into the 1996 merger debate came when he walked off the ground after a dramatic Hawks v Melbourne game holding his beloved Hawthorn jumper.

He told the Herald Sun on Sunday night he was furious the Hawthorn executive and current board had used its official social media and website, as well as the club’s membership database, to communicate their position on the election but deny rivals the same opportunity.

The Herald Sun revealed Gowers would launch a challenge to president elect Peter Nankivell late month but he found out on the same day as board positions were thrown open they would close that night.

It gave him and other potential board members only hours to nominate for the elections.

Langford said the current board, including president Jeff Kennett, has not taken responsibility for explosive First Nations racism allegations and said the club was effectively acting as “state-controlled media” for its controlling of the official messaging.

“I don’t want to tell people how to vote or what to think. That is not my go. But I am particularly concerned where effectively the current board and president have suppressed opposition or any dissent,” he said.

“They are effectively state-controlled media in how they use their own database and messaging. It is a members’ resource. If they want to use that for electioneering they should offer that to all people putting their hat in the ring.

“It is an asset that belongs to the club and therefore the members. It is not for propaganda purposes. It is for marketing, general communication and messaging. It is an asset to be protected and not abused. The fact members have been given the ramblings and musings of the president (Jeff Kennett) from time to time, it has become this plaything.

“The fact the nominations closed the day they came out, they have tried to suppress opposition. It is straight out of Putin’s playbook. Suppress opposition and control the media.”

Hawthorn champion Chris Langford (right) with son Will after the 2014 grand final. Picture: Alex Coppel

Langford is disappointed no one has taken responsibility for the First Nations scandal.

“Their absolute silence on the Indigenous (First Nations) review and report, their lack of preparedness to act on anything, their lack of accountability, their absence of commentary on important issues, was horrifying to me and any Hawthorn person. They have been happy to have people named and shamed but they haven’t wanted to own anything. As an organisation you would want to appear a lot more conciliatory and welcoming to a lot more people than the way they have gone about it, saying, ‘It didn’t happen on my watch so I don’t want to talk about it’.”

On Sunday 1991 premiership player Gowers was backed in by five-time premiership star and Brownlow Medallist DiPierdomenico in a welcome endorsement.

DiPierdomenico told the Herald Sun he was in favour of a change at the presidential level.

“Andy Gowers will be an outstanding president of the footy club that we both love. I’ve known Andy since he was a young fella walking into Glenferrie Oval – he’s a man of integrity and smarts. I’ll be voting for him,” he said.

Club legend Don Scott said over the weekend he was worried about the fallout from the election, fearful that a group of Labor-voting identities were attempting to take over the club.

But Gowers said politics would not be part of his platform and he had voted for the same party that Kennett had represented as Victorian premier.

“Contrary to what has been suggested by Jeff Kennett, the fact of the matter is that I’ve been a Liberal Party volunteer at multiple elections. But party politics has no place in the Hawthorn Football Club and will never inform any decision I make if elected president. All that matters is our commitment to doing what’s right for the brown and gold by putting our membership right back in the middle of the club,” he said.

“When I decided to put up my hand to be president of our club, it was because I could see Hawthorn’s board and leadership were out of touch with members. I jotted down what I would change if elected and the first word was ‘unity’.

“It’s clear to me that the club needs leadership if we are to come together and be united.

That’s why, if elected president, my first priority will be to hold a summit of Hawthorn people; past players, club legends, coaches, coterie leaders, administrators, directors, and members – including interstate. It’s time to unify our club and heal the divisions that have emerged over the past five years.”