Collingwood 2021: Francis Galbally on his fight for change after president Eddie McGuire’s 22-year rein at the Magpies
One man with black and white in his blood has been working in the background to drive a Collingwood coup and move the Magpies into a new post-Eddie McGuire era.
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Francis Galbally can pinpoint the moment he committed to up-ending Australia’s most famous sporting club.
It was a Friday morning last November when Collingwood’s then president, Eddie McGuire, chastised his brother, top silk and former Pies director David Galbally, on breakfast radio for daring to suggest it was time he walked away after 22 years in the club’s top job.
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“It’s a big story — the Herald Sun, I got past the Harvey Norman ad on the back page to get into it,” McGuire quipped.
“They’ve got the photo of me being passionate at the cheer squad (with the headline) ‘Time To Go’.
“There’s not much on today, (they’ve) obviously got the teledex out, rung around and found David Galbally. David’s had his say, good luck to him.”
It was a trademark response from McGuire, a man who had fended off every sniff of a challenge to his authority since seizing control of the club on his 34th birthday in October 1998.
The closest The Boy from Broadie had ever come to being toppled was in 2017 when a group of concerned supporters held a series of secret meetings at The Australian Club in William St.
It fizzled out when McGuire caught wind of it, but the re-emergence of the influential Galbally family in Collingwood boardroom politics late last year would prove the game-changer at the Holden Centre.
In the days after McGuire took aim at his brother, Francis Galbally, 68, a lawyer turned businessman, launched a campaign for governance reform at the Magpies.
He called on McGuire to put in place a succession plan and publicly declare his intention to vacate the presidency (which McGuire did on the eve of Christmas) and became a key backer behind presidential aspirant Jeff Browne after the leaking of the ‘Do Better’ racism report in February forced an even earlier end to the Eddie era.
Through a series of backroom manoeuvres, the assembling of a formidable legal team, a Supreme Court application and some good old-fashioned Galbally family belligerence, Galbally has driven a Collingwood coup and helped put Browne on the brink of claiming the club presidency.
“I am a passionate Collingwood supporter and really had no choice having been brought up that way,” Galbally explains.
“At the age of five I clearly recall the great 1958 grand final victory over Melbourne. My father (the legendary lawyer and former Pies player Frank Galbally) was a board member at the time and my uncle Jack Galbally was vice-president.
“In our family we discussed Collingwood, legal cases and politics in that order. Interestingly, sport and politics always merged. Collingwood for many is just another branch of the Labor Party — internal fights are de rigueur.”
As a rising star lawyer in his own right in the 1970s, Galbally would become the club’s honorary solicitor (a position he would hold for almost 20 years), while brother David became Collingwood’s youngest-ever board member in 1974, serving until 1983.
“I was at the forefront of bringing great interstate players to the club using the then new Trade Practices Act,” Galbally recalls.
“In that period I sparred often with Jeff Browne. He was a Collingwood supporter but also counsel to the AFL. Indeed, the last VFL (pre AFL) CEO was Jack Hamilton, a great Collingwood footballer, who also sparred with me often.”
McGuire is a close friend of Browne’s, but has no time for Galbally.
“There have been too many lunatics running around the fringes in the last six months,” McGuire barked in July of Galbally’s push for the staging of an extraordinary general meeting and a spill of the Mark Korda-led Collingwood board.
Galbally respects what McGuire did for the club but insists the “overwhelming view” of the Collingwood community was that he stayed in the top job too long.
In April, he likened the club’s governance failings to the spectacular downfall of Crown Resorts.
“The club has deserved better in the past few years,” Galbally says.
“I still admire Eddie for what he achieved in effectively modernising the club and putting it on a secure financial footing, but it was clear by 2020 that change needed to occur.
“There had not been an election for a board position for more than 20 years. That worried me.
“We had a group of board members who were in effect self-perpetuating with no outside influence or views. If there were a vacancy, the board, as it is entitled to, replaced that person and then for whatever reason no one stood for election at the next annual general meeting, which in my view affected having a proper diverse group on the board for robust discussion, renewal and governance.
“This view was reflected back to me by many Collingwood supporters and members. Many were members of influential coterie groups. I had no intention at my stage of life and my business interests to join the board, but I realised that change needed to occur and nobody understood how to, nor were prepared to start that process.
“So last year I decided that perhaps I might at least try and be that catalyst.
“I spoke to a number of Collingwood people, including past players, and ascertained that nobody would actually speak up. They were either afraid of being lambasted by Eddie or they had children playing at the club or otherwise did not want to risk a bad relationship with the club.
“The penny dropped. The club had a culture of fear. Many were fearful of the consequences of saying something. I decided then that I would take action if I could get others to also stand up and agree to take a leadership position.”
Galbally spoke to dozens of potential board candidates and recognised Browne as the standout leader.
He said Korda and the existing Collingwood directors had to accept responsibility for the club’s governance failings.
“Being part of the problem meant they couldn’t be the solution,” he says.
“Once I knew Jeffrey was prepared to take on the president role I was comfortable to take the action I did.
“I knew he could get the right team around him and had all the skills to drive the club to victory.”
Attempts to find a peaceful resolution were rebuffed by the club, which flatly refused to hand over a register of Collingwood members needed for a spill of directors.
Galbally engaged leading corporate lawyers James Macdonald and James Hill from Piper Alderman, top silk Chris Blanden QC, commercial barrister Tim Dowling and took the club to court.
“The fight was unnecessary,” Galbally says.
“I offered to the club all I eventually received in mediation but it was rejected. I have had private conversations that resulted in nothing. No courtesy was shown in coming back to me to address my issues.”
When the register of members was finally handed over it emerged that freshly appointed club director Neil Wilson, the chairman of the Victoria Racing Club, was not on it.
As a Melbourne Cricket Club member who nominates the Magpies as his club of choice, Wilson was effectively ineligible to sit on the board — the latest in a long line of embarrassing off-field gaffes to plague the club since last year’s salary cap debacle.
“My intention has always been to ensure a democratic process, so that all eligible Collingwood members can vote for whom they think should lead the club in its next phase,” Galbally says.
“I am very disappointed that the club did not engage meaningfully with me and forced me to take the action I did, but I do not regret it.
“I am now pleased that there will be a proper election for members on December 16 to determine the way forward.
“I will not be part of that process, other than to assist Jeff where he needs it. I just wanted to ensure it happened.”
Originally published as Collingwood 2021: Francis Galbally on his fight for change after president Eddie McGuire’s 22-year rein at the Magpies
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