Collingwood president responds to challenge from Jeff Browne

The battle for Collingwood’s presidency looks set to get messy.

The club’s board has just released a statement, saying it will not step aside to allow Jeff Browne to become president.

He has publicly flagged his intent to take over from Mark Korda, who recently replaced Eddie McGuire in the role.

Korda told 3AW he was going nowhere.

“I’d just remind everybody that the president is appointed by the board,” Korda said.

“The members elect the board and the board appoints the president.

“So I’m only there because of the board.

“If you want to become the president of the Collingwood Football Club, then there’s a process to through.

“I think Jeff said that four of the members should stand down so he can become president.

“The board is very strong on this.

“Not one board member will be standing down, let alone four.”

Press PLAY below to hear the explosive interview on 3AW

THE STATEMENT

The board of the Collingwood Football Club stands as one. It stands united and strong.

It stands in support of our athletes and staff, our members and all who believe in the idea that Collingwood has an important role to play in Australian life.

The board of the Collingwood Football Club stands for unity, not division, and will therefore stand against coups driven by personal ambition.

Not one, let alone four, of the current board is prepared to step aside to allow a boardroom coup as proposed by Jeff Browne to proceed.

A coup is not warranted, it has not been justified and cannot be justified. Nor is it in step with good governance or the will of members to agree to the demands of an individual member wanting only to be president.

In any case, there is no vision, no ticket, no compelling strategy for you to consider or for us to step aside for. How could any board entertain a request to step aside without first knowing these things?

Notwithstanding this position we are available to meet Jeff to establish whether, in the best interests of the club, a divisive and distracting campaign can be avoided.

We have heard the call for change and yet it was only months ago that Eddie McGuire resigned and even more recently that Alex Waislitz retired from the board. Two new directors have been appointed to fill those vacancies and six of the seven current directors have been seated at the board table for less than five years.

The appointed board represents the outcome of a rigorous selection process, conducted with independent advisors, to secure the skills and diversity required of a modern sports organization; this includes technical football expertise, knowledge of women’s sport, business acumen, values based leadership, infrastructure development, fundraising, government relations, social impact and diversity.  

Three directors are up for re-election at the next annual general meeting, making orderly change possible and the need for an extraordinary general meeting effectively redundant.

Collingwood is financially independent. It is at the forefront of female sport in Australia and playing a significant role as a community partner. The work being put into the Do Better report is necessary and enriching.

The AFL program is working through a difficult time but steps have already been taken to address this. The tough football decisions taken in the last 12 months would not have been taken if we were not prepared to ask questions, learn and act. The work on our on-field return has already begun.

As such, your board today gives you an undertaking to stand firm.

Signed,

Mark Korda – President
Jodie Sizer – Vice President
Paul Licuria – Vice President
Neil Wilson – Director
Bridie O’Donnell – Director
Christine Holgate – Director
Peter Murphy – Director