Collingwood news: Francis Galbally sets deadline for board changes
Collingwood’s board has been given a strict deadline to negotiate a peaceful handover and told a ‘total spill’ will be caused if it ignores the directive.
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The Collingwood board has been given until midday on Wednesday to strike a deal with would-be president Jeff Browne to avoid a full spill of directors at December’s annual general meeting.
Former Magpies solicitor Francis Galbally said he had imposed the deadline because he had “run out of patience”.
Negotiations between Browne and president Mark Korda for the ex-Channel boss and two of his backers to join the board at the December 16 AGM are dragging on.
“I have given Jeff plenty of time to negotiate a deal with the existing board,” Galbally said.
“I have total confidence in Jeff but believe he is being strung along by the board and therefore, given the instructions I have from the members I speak to, I will be lodging my request for a total spill of the board on Wednesday.
“I was of the belief that negotiations were ongoing between Jeff and the board but have heard nothing to suggest that those talks are close to reaching a resolution.
“Mark Korda is clearly holding out and the board is playing games.
“And from my discussions with Collingwood members I cannot see any current directors other than Paul Licuria and Christine Holgate being re-elected if there is a full board spill.”
A Collingwood election would give about 12,000 Magpies members the right to vote on all seven board positions.
RESIGNATION CALLS FOR ENTIRE PIES BOARD
Collingwood’s deepening boardroom crisis has been likened to the lunacy of a Monty Python skit.
It was revealed on Tuesday multiple members of the Magpies board had called on president Mark Korda to step down to enable a peaceful transition to challenger Jeff Browne.
Korda is said to have rejected the request and wants to cling onto the Pies’ top job until April next year, having then served 12 months in the role.
Long-time Collingwood solicitor Francis Galbally, who is backing Browne’s push for the presidency, said the conduct of the club’s board had “descended into farce”.
“It all reminds me of Monty Python’s ‘Dead Parrot Sketch’,” Galbally said.
“Korda is the dead parrot and the board is the shop keeper saying, ‘No, he’s not dead. He’s just asleep’.
“If it is true that members of the Collingwood board called on Mark Korda to step down in order to allow a peaceful transition to Jeffrey Browne – and Korda rejected that – then the board must now do it themselves.
“The whole lot of them should hang their heads in shame. They should all resign.
“Can you imagine any public company – and Collingwood is a public company – whose board gives a direction to the chairman and then takes no action when the chairman fails to carry out that directive?
“They either replace the chairman or they all resign. No other alternative is available. But here they act as if they are in a Monty Python skit – pretend nothing has happened. What a schomozzle.
“It’s pathetic – the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in my life and trust me I have seen a lot of ridiculous things.
“It seems to be all about ‘me’ here – but what about the club? Nobody is thinking about the good of the Collingwood Football Club.”
Browne, 66, has been negotiating a peaceful plan to refresh the board and assume the club presidency.
Talks are ongoing but Galbally said he was only prepared to wait another few days before pulling the trigger on a full-blown club election at the annual general meeting on December 16.
The move would give about 12,000 Collingwood members the right to vote on all seven board positions.
Former professional cyclist Bridie O’Donnell quit the board two weeks ago, while Victoria Racing Club chairman Neil Wilson remains ineligible to be a director because he has not been a voting club member for the required two years.
The chairman of investment bank MA Financial Group, Browne was the AFL’s external lawyer for almost two decades and is a close friend of former Pies president Eddie McGuire.
He was managing director of the Nine network from 2006-2013 and is well connected at AFL House.
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