Collingwood board: President Mark Korda urged to make changes amid ineligibility row

One of Collingwood’s modern greats says the board dramas at the club have become “embarrassing” and urgent decisions must be made to fix the messy situation.

Mark Korda has suffered another blow. Picture: Getty Images

Collingwood legend Tony Shaw says the club’s bitter boardroom brawl has become “embarrassing” and “needs to be sorted out immediately”.

Responding to revelations a second Magpies director – Victoria Racing Club chairman Neil Wilson – appears to be ineligible to sit on the board, Shaw said the club could not wait until the December 16 annual general meeting to address the Jeff Browne-Mark Korda presidential dispute.

“This needs to be sorted out now — we can’t wait until December,” Shaw said.

“That’s three or four months in which the club’s football department could be better organised.

“And now with this latest stuff up, it just doesn’t make us look professional and raises the question again — is it time for a change?

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“Something has got to happen, it’s becoming ridiculous.

“It’s making our club look embarrassing and we need to bring this to a head right now.

“I don’t care who the president is but my feeling as a Collingwood person is that if an election was held in December this board will get voted out.

“Some egos have got to be put aside to say, ‘OK – maybe some decisions have got to be made now’.

“To have two people who aren’t qualified to be board members on the board is just embarrassing for our club.”

In another hammer blow for Korda, the Herald Sun revealed on Monday that lawyers for Collingwood have conceded that the club is examining “the issue of his (Wilson’s) eligibility to remain on the board”.

Collingwood legend Tony Shaw has called for urgent change.

It was discovered that Wilson was not a qualified voting member of the club but rather a Melbourne Cricket Club member who nominates Collingwood as his AFL club of choice.

Questions over Wilson’s status surfaced late last week after the club reluctantly surrendered its register of voting members to long-time former club solicitor Francis Galbally, who is backing Browne’s push to take control of the Collingwood board.

It is a requirement under Collingwood’s constitution for all directors to be voting members of the club to be eligible to serve on the board.

Wilson was drafted onto the board in April in place of long-time president Eddie McGuire, who was forced out in February.

In a letter sent to the Galbally camp by Magpies lawyer Leon Zwier last Wednesday, Zwier said: “Some Collingwood supporters like Neil Wilson are MCC members who designate Collingwood as their team.

“The club invited Neil Wilson onto the board and we will further examine the issue of his eligibility to remain on the board now that you have raised it as an issue”.

In an update to Pies members last week, Korda noted that directors Peter Murphy, Christine Holgate, Bridie O’Donnell – and now Wilson – would all be up for election at the club’s annual general meeting on December 16.

It emerged in May that O’Donnell, a former professional cyclist, was also ineligible to sit on the Magpies’ board because she had not been a member for the mandatory 24 months prior to her nomination.

Galbally told the Herald Sun the latest revelations regarding Wilson’s ineligibility raised fresh questions about the club’s corporate governance and decision making.

Mark Korda faces a challenge to remain Collingwood president. Picture: David Crosling

“To have one director ineligible is careless, to have two is reckless,” Galbally said.

“And if we are now going to have four directors up for election on December 16, why don’t we just spill the lot and give the members their democratic right to vote on all seven board positions.”

A club spokesman insisted in April that there were no issues regarding Wilson’s eligibility.

Browne’s takeover of the club is now considered inevitable, with several Magpies directors keen on ending the current standoff.

Korda raised eyebrows last week by declaring his intention to retire as Collingwood president at the end of 2022.

A change of presidency will have no bearing on last week’s appointment of new senior coach Craig McRae but Korda’s uninspiring performance at McRae’s unveiling left many key Collingwood figures lamenting his leadership style.

“Mark Korda trumpeted a rigorous and careful process in appointing Nathan Buckley’s successor and it begs the question where was this rigour and care in the selection of ineligible directors?” Galbally said.

Originally published as Collingwood board: President Mark Korda urged to make changes amid ineligibility row