By Peter Ryan
The timing of Mark LoGiudice’s announcement that he will step down as Carlton president at season’s end and be replaced by businessman Luke Sayers should raise questions among Blues members, according to a recent board challenger.
John Hollingsworth, who has unsuccessfully stood for election in the past two years, says Blues members need to understand their power to effect change at the club after LoGiudice announced on Wednesday that Sayers will succeed him as president when he steps down as Carlton president at the end of 2021. Sayers was unanimously voted president-elect at a board meeting on Monday night.
Carlton are languishing in 13th place with just two wins after six rounds and face arch-enemy Essendon on Sunday.
Hollingsworth, who runs investment firm Hawkstone and previously chaired Softball Australia for six years, said he will continue to hold the board accountable for what he described as poor performance in the past 20 years.
“As boring as some people might find it for the past 20 years, I think the club has grossly underperformed across a range of metrics and nothing is going to change my perspective on that,” Hollingsworth said.
“The members need to understand the power they have to exercise change at that club.”
Businessman and Carlton president-elect Luke Sayers.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Hollingsworth won 38 per cent of the vote in the 2021 election with LoGiudice re-elected after receiving 81 per cent of the vote, while Jeanne Pratt and Craig Mathieson earned 77 per cent each to hold their seats.
“We need to see positive change at multiple levels of the board and there are some pretty good best practice case studies within the AFL of getting it right and at this stage, for whatever reason, we haven’t got it right,” Hollingsworth said.
LoGiudice was expected to stand down at the end of the season when he reached the 12-year-term limit for board members.
Carlton premiership player Mark Maclure said last week supporters had at to put up with “20 years of rubbish” while industry sources raised eyebrows at the club’s decision to announce John Worsfold as a coaching consultant after their loss in round five.
Carlton president Mark LoGiudice.Credit: Darrian Traynor
In a statement to club members on Wednesday morning, LoGiudice said the club had been involved in succession planning for some time. LoGiudice has been Carlton president for eight years.
As reported by The Age in February, under Carlton’s rules, LoGiudice had been slated stand down from the presidency – and the board – in 12 months, because of term limits, unless he sought an endorsement from the members to continue past the 12-year limit (for directors). Sayers was expected to succeed him.
“I am writing to inform you that after 12 years on the board of the Carlton Football Club and eight of those years as president, my tenure will conclude at the end of 2021,” LoGiudice said in the statement.
“For some time, with the guidance of the independent nominations committee, the board has been in the process of succession planning. It is with great pleasure that I can now announce that the board has unanimously elected Luke Sayers as president-elect, which was determined at a board meeting on Monday night.
“Luke Sayers is a well-regarded business leader and has been a director of the club since 2012. He is the executive chairman of Sayers, a Melbourne-based investment and advisory company, and prior to that the CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers for eight years. In 2019, Sayers was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his significant service to business, to people with a disability, and to the community.
“My priority now remains to ensure a smooth transition during this period.”
Sayers, who joined the board in September 2012 under then president Steven Kernahan, just before the club sacked Brett Ratten as coach to appoint Mick Malthouse, is well connected in Melbourne’s business and political community.
Carlton CEO Cain Liddle said LoGiudice’s contribution was significant with the foundations for success in place as a result of his leadership.
“Few would be aware of the enormous amount of time Mark has put into the club during his presidency. He has worked tirelessly to clear the club’s historical debt and has also been instrumental in leading what has been the biggest infrastructure redevelopment ever to occur in the club’s history,” Liddle said.
During recent years, LoGiudice oversaw the Blues being a foundation club in the AFLW and secured funding for the redevelopment of Ikon Park to ensure female footballers have first-class facilities.
He also approved 2019’s strategic plan which set the club targets to win premierships in the AFL and AFLW by 2023. The AFLW team missed finals this season while the men’s team have won just two of their first six matches. Carlton’s men’s team have not played finals since 2013.