Essendon AGM: All the news from the Bombers’ annual general meeting

Essendon president David Barham has told Bombers faithful the club must look to the future instead of being caught up in the glory days of the 80s and 90s and disunity of the past 20 years.

Returned Essendon president David Barham has urged Bombers fans to leave the glory days of the past behind as he called out “drama and disunity” after being reappointed.

Barham was voted back on to the Dons board by the members this week and told the club’s AGM that his successful return preached stability.

On the night that 2000 premiership player Dean Solomon was officially added to the Essendon board after winning more votes than even Barham in an election of five candidates for two spots, Barham declared the voting results meant Dons fans were ready to “look forward”.

Legendary figure Kevin Sheedy coached the Bombers through the 1980s-2000s period Barham referred to, and Sheedy departed the board earlier this year.

The Bombers have famously not won a final since Sheedy’s days in 2004 and Barham attempted to put an end to infighting in his address.

James Hird, Dean Solomon, and Mark McVeigh as coaches at GWS. Solomon has joined the Essendon board. Picture: Phil Hillyard.

“It is clear they (members) have had enough of looking back, they want to look forward,” Barham said on Wednesday night.

“Harking back to the ‘80s, ‘90s or the 2000s and wishing we could return to that just causes drama and disunity. The competition is so far removed from those times, it is almost a completely different game.

“The vote tonight confirms that our members understand this and are united in moving forward together. Anyone or anything that is distracting from that is effectively working against the club and its membership base and fans.

“What we are doing here is generational change. We are resetting this club so we can experience long-term sustainable success by putting in people, program and systems that will enable that.”

The Bombers brass were questioned about the club’s reliance on pokies after a constitution change motion by the No Pokies at Essendon (NOPE) faction to include a note about the harms of gaming failed a member vote.

While the Bombers have said they are working towards finding different ways to cover the cash from pokies before getting out of gaming, nothing concrete has come together.

Essendon president David Barham has defended the club’s reliance on pokies. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images.

“We can’t just rush out and do something because we are trying to solve a problem,” Barham said.

“Anybody who thinks they can give us a $30m revenue business and can turnover a 10 per cent profit and have it done by six months to have it ready by the middle of next year, come and see us.”

Essendon was also forced to defend a price hike for members next year, with some long-time Bombers faithful reporting a jump beyond 10 per cent on their payments to the club.

Dons CEO Craig Vozzo said the jump was an attempt to balance the books following a loss in last year’s financial statements and after membership prize freezes in 2021 and 2023.

“If it wasn’t necessary we wouldn’t have done it … I’m not pleased we have done it but I’m pleased it’s done,” he said.

Vozzo said a second-consecutive fade out to finish the 2024 season was “very disappointing” and Brad Scott’s team will “aspire to play finals” in 2025.

Originally published as Essendon AGM: All the news from the Bombers’ annual general meeting