Dear Members,
Happy New Year to you all. I hope you have had relaxing break over the Christmas period, allowing plenty of time to continue to celebrate the outstanding year that was 2021 for Melbourne Football Club, and are refreshed and ready to go for the 2022 AFLW and AFL seasons.
I wanted to take a moment to update you on an upcoming election required for Directors of the Melbourne Football Club.
The club’s Constitution requires nominations for Directors of the Board to be called each year. This year, in addition to the three current Directors of the Board who are due for election and who I have asked to re-nominate (David Robb, John Trotter and Sally Freeman), we have two additional candidates (John Condon and Peter Lawrence) and therefore require an election.
Having come off a very successful year which sees our club in one of the strongest positions it has ever been in both on and off the field, our key priority is to maintain that stability and full alignment right throughout the club to ensure a long period of sustained success. A unified board that encompasses the skills and attributes necessary to fill all our Directors duties and responsibilities, and that lives the values of Trust, Respect, Unity and Excellence is a critical part of this success.
To make sure we have the best possible Board for the Melbourne Football Club, we have committed to an ongoing process of determining what skills, experience and other attributes we feel are collectively required in Directors to continue to be a successful club both on and off the field. The skills, experience and attributes that we look for are matched against what we see as the needs of the club over the next five years and beyond and are regularly updated according to those needs. All nominees, including current Directors, are invited to participate in an interview and review process chaired by an independent person external to the club, to assess candidates against the full set of skills and attributes we feel are necessary to best represent the club.
As your President, I am very confident that the current Directors of the Board collectively have the skills and attributes required to lead the club forward and build on the outstanding success of 2021, and as such I have asked David Robb, John Trotter and Sally Freeman to re-nominate.
It is members right to vote for Directors of the Board when there is an election required and I would encourage you to take the time to vote on this important issue. As such, you will soon receive in the mail a ballot paper with election information. We are aware that a postal ballot is far from ideal, both logistically and cost wise with each election costing the club around $150,000, however until our current Constitution is updated, we require a ballot by post.
I thank each and every one of you as a member of Melbourne Football Club for your support and commitment to our wonderful club. I trust that you feel your club is a place where you are Proud to Belong.
I look forward to seeing you all at a game in 2022. Here’s to an even bigger and better season for the Mighty Demons.
Let’s go Dees!
Kate Roffey
President
