How Eddie McGuire went from being the king to a wannabe kingmaker
CEO, TV host, powerbroker, president, ideas man – Eddie McGuire was the king. But his rise and fall might soon be complete.
When Eddie McGuire stepped down as Collingwood president in the wake of the Pies racism scandal, he had a problem.
He still loved going to the football, but no longer ruled the room at the $500-a head President’s Lunch function at the MCG.
Eddie needed a football lifeline, so he phoned a friend – Peter Gordon.
The prominent lawyer had stepped down from the Bulldogs presidency a year before McGuire was forced out of Collingwood.
FROM KING TO A WANNABE KINGMAKER: READ THE FULL STORY HERE
McGuire offered to go “thirds” in a box at the MCG, which costs up to $10,000 a game, with Gordon and former Essendon chairman David Evans.
It was a good deal for McGuire – Collingwood plays at least a dozen games at the MCG, while the Bulldogs are lucky to get on the main stage a couple of times a year.
They don’t share the box anymore, but now Gordon could be McGuire’s ticket back to AFL officialdom if he becomes the AFL chair.
The race for the top job in the AFL, which is likely to be one of the biggest decisions in football in a generation, has become hotly contested, with Jeff Browne furious that McGuire had supported Gordon’s bid.
Browne this month visited McGuire at his Toorak home – a long way from where he grew up in Melbourne’s working class Broadmeadows – to have it out with him about what he saw as a betrayal.
The race is a fork in the road for McGuire, AFL insiders claim.
If Gordon, his friend and business partner, takes over, it’s the return of “Eddie everywhere”.
However, if that bid fails, it could be that McGuire, industry sources say, might become yesterday’s man.
WHY? READ THE FULL INSIDE STORY AT CODE SPORTS TO FIND OUT
Originally published as How Eddie McGuire went from being the king to a wannabe kingmaker
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