Adelaide Football Club confirm chairman Rob Chapman will exit by end of year

The struggling Adelaide Crows have confirmed they are hunting for a new chairman to replace Rob Chapman.

Adelaide Football Club CEO Andrew Fagan and Crows Chairman Rob Chapman in 2018. Picture: AAP Image/Kelly Barnes

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The beleaguered Adelaide Football Club is hunting for a new chairman to replace Rob Chapman by the end of the year, with a process including “reaching out” to people who have expressed interest.

Confirming Mr Chapman’s impending departure for the first time, the Crows yesterday issued a statement after Adelaide 36ers’ owner Grant Kelley reignited his bid for the chairman’s job.

“As part of the thorough process, we are currently reaching out to those who have expressed interest in the role, as well as those who we feel have the necessary skills, qualities and experience,” a club spokesman said.

“We intend to announce a new chairman by the end of the year.”

In an interview with The Advertiser in August last year, Mr Chapman signalled he would stand down within a year and declared his successor likely would be from the-then current board, whose members still include past captain Mark Ricciuto, former MP Kate Ellis and assistant police commissioner Linda Fellows.

Mr Chapman in July confirmed to The Advertiser he would resign as chairman this year, his 12th as chairman, although it was understood at the time he was resisting calls from fellow board members to convince him to stay on.

At a 36ers media conference yesterday, Mr Kelley said he was interested in the Crows’ chairman role and had been approached.

He is the chief executive officer and managing director of Vicinity Centres, which has a shopping centre portfolio including Chadstone, in Melbourne, and Chatswood Chase, in Sydney.

Originally published as Adelaide Football Club confirm chairman Rob Chapman will exit by end of year