Acrimonious end for Collingwood powerbroker McGuire after one controversy too many

Eddie McGuire declares Collingwood is not a racist club as he brings an end to his 22-year reign as Magpies president after a devastating and divisive week for the club.

Collingwood President Eddie McGuire prepares to make his resignation speech. Picture: Alex Coppel

Eddie McGuire’s recognition that the controversy surrounding his presidency would overshadow a critical year for Collingwood hastened his exit from the club he loves.

The 56-year-old was extremely emotional as he ended the third-longest running club presidency in VFL/AFL history on Tuesday following a devastating and divisive week at Collingwood.

His resignation came amid a backdrop of angst from current players and staff members, club sponsors and also division among fans, McGuire’s beloved Magpie Army.

There has been significant rancour since the leaking of the damning Do Better report last Monday found evidence of systemic racism at Collingwood. With his exit, the outgoing president said he hopes it ends.

After the damning report leaked last Monday, McGuire claimed it was a “proud and historic day” for the club.

It was said with a view to moving Collingwood forward and to spin the report in favour of the club.

Instead it caused widespread damage, overshadowed the critical points made in the report and threatened to tarnish an entire year. McGuire apologised a day later at the club’s annual general meeting.

McGuire, who will take an indefinite break from media roles, had hoped to continue at Collingwood until October.

But as pressure built over the past week, he realised it was neither “fair or tenable for the club or the community”.

“People have latched on to my opening line last week and, as a result, I have become a lightning rod for vitriol (and) have placed the club in a position where it is hard to move forward with our plans with clear air,” McGuire said.

“When I came to Collingwood, it was a club riddled with rivalries, enemies and division. It has not been the case in my time. So I do not want any of this to cause rancour or factions.

“It is better to fast-track my leaving of the club from the end of the year to now.”

McGuire has rebuilt Collingwood into arguably the most powerful and best known sporting club in Australia during a presidency that began when he was just 34 in 1998.

The Magpies have moved from Victoria Park to the fringe of the inner-city, with McGuire ensuring Collingwood has a seat at the table of several boards and governments as well as strong government links.

The 56-year-old wanted to lead Collingwood out of the economic peril every club faces in 2021 given the sustained impact the pandemic has had on income streams.

He was also determined to leave Collingwood in a better position than when he found it.

There have been many controversies, including the one that proved the catalyst for his hastened departure, and his many critics will question whether this is the case.

But Tony Shaw, who captained Collingwood to a premiership in 1990 and had his four-year tenure as coach ended by McGuire in 1999, has no doubt McGuire has done that.

“It is a sad day for the footy club. It is a sad day for the AFL. Eddie wasn’t just great for Collingwood. He did a lot of good for other clubs as well,” he told Sportsday.

“I was glad he listed all those achievements because people just forget. They get the anger and hatred involved and then they just close up shop. They probably wore him down by the end.

“He is probably one of the best presidents that history will look back on.”

Finding a new president to lead the Magpies on their new path is clearly vital after McGuire controlled the board and club for decades.

Collingwood’s first game of the AFL season against the Western Bulldogs at the MCG is just over five weeks away and it is an important one with coach Nathan Buckley out of contract at the end of the year.

The presence of Adam Treloar in the red, white and blue of the Bulldogs’ opposition colours is certain to highlight again what was a controversial trade period last October that angered Magpies fans.

The Magpies’ AFLW team, several of whom were watching on as McGuire resigned on Tuesday, is unbeaten after two weeks as they seek to establish themselves as a power.

Clearly important is adopting the 18 recommendations of the Do Better report which found evidence of systemic racism at Collingwood.

But in a retirement address witnessed in person by his family, Collingwood’s coaching cohort including Nathan Buckley and dozens of players and other staff, McGuire denied the Magpies were racist despite the findings of the Do Better report.

“We are not a racist club. Far from it,” he said.

“It is why I’m so proud of our club and the people every day and every week who benefit and who are inspired by the very purpose of the being of Collingwood and that is to be a beacon of hope for all people, particularly those at their lowest ebb or who have been socially isolated and left behind.”