Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire makes return to TV for first time since standing down

Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has made his first TV appearance since he stepped down amid a racism controversy.

Eddie McGuire says ‘for the first time since the Grand Final Footy Show in 1998 I’m an uncompromised football commentator’. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has made his first TV appearance since he stepped down amid a racism controversy.

The 56-year-old host of Nine Entertainment’s Footy Classified program said resigning in front of the cameras was “the hardest day of my life outside of personal tragedies”. 

“I was really, really sad, it affected me greatly, But I’m OK now because you get up, you dust yourself off and you go again,” he said. 

“I’m great, because I was sad. It was a tough couple of weeks.”

He said his resignation was also followed soon after by the death of two close friends, including music legend Michael Gudinski. 

But McGuire was upbeat, appearing happy to be back in front of the camera.

“It’s good to be here, I can tell you for sure. It’s an interesting time for me,” he said at the start of the program.

“For the first time since the Grand Final Footy Show in 1998 I’m an uncompromised football commentator and I am looking forward to getting stuck into it and discussing some big issues.”

Journalist and on-air colleague Caroline Wilson welcomed McGuire saying: “And you’re back too, Ed. It’s good to see you.”

McGuire held the Collingwood presidency for 22 years while also working as a TV host and AFL commentator.

Much mystery has surrounded how McGuire has fared since the leaking of the “Do Better” review, which found systematic racism at the club.

The report — by academics Larissa Behrendt and Lindon Coombes from the University of Technology Sydney — was sparked after complaints were by former Collingwood player Heritier Lumumba about his experiences when he was playing at the club.

The Brazilian-born footballer, formerly known as Harry O’Brien, played 199 games for Collingwood from 2005 through to 2014.

McGuire sparked outrage when he described the release of the report as a “proud day” for the club.

McGuire said the “proud” comments were his own words and not the clubs.

“I accept what I said, I’m not handing off any blame to anybody else,” he said.

“We were proud of what we were trying to achieve.”

McGuire said he resigned on his own accord because the fallout was “too much of a lightning rod”. 

“I made that decision,” he said. “I am now a reporter. I’ve said all I had to say. The last thing I’m ever going to be is a rat on the Collingwood Football Club.” 

McGuire also said he was “now finished at the Collingwood Football Club”.

“I’m going to barrack for the Pies. I’m a Pie till I die. I love the club, I love AFL football,” he said.

“I love what I did. I did my best. I made mistakes. This is a critical issue in our life, our whole world — equality, racism, women’s rights. We want to be at the forefront of it.”