Who appoints the Sydney Swans Board and Chairman

[Mug Punter]

A pertinent question given the retirement of Richard Colless. And to preface my comments and questions, I am not for a minute wishing to take away from his great service to the club as he has done a wonderful job albeit in the manner of a benevolent dictator parachuted in by Head Office.

Please excuse me for my ignorance as I am not a ST holder but do Swans members have any input into the election of the board which then dictates the Chairman and direction of the club (e.g. appointing CEO)?

All other clubs seem to have this process as they should as member based organisations, you only have to witness the hullaballo in Melbourne when an existing regime is challenged. If we don't then how is the board elected? If we don't have a voting process for members to elect the board why do we not?

Surely we are grown up enough as a club to be able to elect our board like other AFL Club...

I remember Richard Colless saying how the new Chairman would be elected from within and thought to myself "how presumptuous, surely the members should be making that decision and not you as the outgoing Chairman"

[Cardinal]

If you want to start the revolution I'll join you on the barricades. Members should make the decision & it's only a sustained period of disinterest, apathy & now success that haven't brought things to a head.

[Mug Punter]

If you want to start the revolution I'll join you on the barricades. Members should make the decision & it's only a sustained period of disinterest, apathy & now success that haven't brought things to a head.

So what is our structure re board appointments? Who makes them?

[bondy]

I am not familiar with how other clubs operate, but as a general rule I don't think club members should be involved in the board appointment process.

With business, boards report to shareholders and are able to receive input from shareholders etc when required. The Chairperson is ultimately responsible for appointments.

I think a footy club should be run in the same way. If the performance of the board demands corrective action, we as members can ultimately create enough noise to demand to be heard. Otherwise, the board should be given the authority to do best for the club.

As a side note, you only need to see the farce at board level at Parramatta Eels to work out that their voting system is systemically flawed.

[Mug Punter]

I am not familiar with how other clubs operate, but as a general rule I don't think club members should be involved in the board appointment process.

With business, boards report to shareholders and are able to receive input from shareholders etc when required. The Chairperson is ultimately responsible for appointments.

I think a footy club should be run in the same way. If the performance of the board demands corrective action, we as members can ultimately create enough noise to demand to be heard. Otherwise, the board should be given the authority to do best for the club.

As a side note, you only need to see the farce at board level at Parramatta Eels to work out that their voting system is systemically flawed.

Your argument is intrinsically flawed. The board ARE given the authority to do the best for the club.

What I am asking is HOW is that board appointed? WHO appoint the board? They just don't appear out of thin air...

In organisations the board is appointed by stakeholders. For companies it is shareholders (owners) for non-profits it may be a government department or members. In the case of the Sydney Swans our stakeholders are the members.

In Melbourne clubs (and Brisbane cue the current elections) the members elect the board as they do in all other member based clubs in Australia (including the Eels who are an absolute rabble but that is not due to the model just the fact they are a rabble).

Why is not having members elect the board a bad idea? Are we not to be trusted and only Uncle Andrew can appoint a board on our behalf? We have no board representation so we are basically just consumers as ST holders not members in any meaningful sense.

Yes the board has run well in the past and corrective action is not required but at the moment the members have no power in this club.

Surely we are old enough to be run in a proper manner like all other AFL clubs. Can understand GWS as they are not financially viable and have no supporters....

[liz]

At present, two members of the board are elected by members. The rest are appointed, presumably by the rest of the board (though the AFL may technically appoint them).

Since the first member election, where there were 20 or so candidates, not a single re-election of a 'member' board member has been opposed - ie no-one but the sitting candidate has nominated themselves. So it seems safe to say that the members appear apathetic to getting involved in the board.

[Cardinal]

You can download the Swan's constitution. Sorry I can't attach a link. The only chance of a regular member might have of being elected to the board is if Steve Vizard is going to jail & they are the only alternate candidate.

[stellation]

At present, two members of the board are elected by members. The rest are appointed, presumably by the rest of the board (though the AFL may technically appoint them).

Since the first member election, where there were 20 or so candidates, not a single re-election of a 'member' board member has been opposed - ie no-one but the sitting candidate has nominated themselves. So it seems safe to say that the members appear apathetic to getting involved in the board.

To be fair, the first member election had great fanfare surrounding it from the club but I can't actually recall receiving any more info since then about elections (apart from the urging to reappoint Jason Ball, but I can't recall if that was a member voted position or not).

[liz]

To be fair, the first member election had great fanfare surrounding it from the club but I can't actually recall receiving any more info since then about elections (apart from the urging to reappoint Jason Ball, but I can't recall if that was a member voted position or not).

We get invited every year to nominate someone and/or get nominated ourselves. Generally followed up several months later with a note that 'x' has been re-elected unopposed. I believe there is generally something on the website and we get advised via mail / email.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Board Members - SYDNEYSWANS.com.au

if you look closely at the board it appears like any other big business either a blend of expertise or people who have strong networks or BOTH

Richard Colless AM (Chairman)
Jason Ball
Andrew McMaster
Robert Morgan
Rob Pascoe
Greg Paramor
Andrew Pridham
Lynn Ralph
Brian Tyson

almost half are from the financial services industry

the other half comprise 3 from marketing advertising communications background

and two are experts in their own right ie one chartered accountant and one expert in board efficiencies

I feel our board represents our fans very well......our brand is very well regarded and supported not only in sydney nsw but australia wide

no doubt some of us on this forum are directors of companies or sit on several boards.......if so and you feel you have a lot to give and can add value and innovation to the Sydney Swans, why not through your hat in the ring at the next elections..... late feb each year usually !

Notice of 2013 Annual General Meeting - SYDNEYSWANS.com.au

http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/staticfile/AFL%20Tenant/SydneySwans/Club%20HQ/Swans%20Constitution.pdf

PS our non exec directors do not receive remuneration either

[Mug Punter]

Board Members - SYDNEYSWANS.com.au

if you look closely at the board it appears like any other big business either a blend of expertise or people who have strong networks or BOTH

Richard Colless AM (Chairman)
Jason Ball
Andrew McMaster
Robert Morgan
Rob Pascoe
Greg Paramor
Andrew Pridham
Lynn Ralph
Brian Tyson

almost half are from the financial services industry

the other half comprise 3 from marketing advertising communications background

and two are experts in their own right ie one chartered accountant and one expert in board efficiencies

I feel our board represents our fans very well......our brand is very well regarded and supported not only in sydney nsw but australia wide

no doubt some of us on this forum are directors of companies or sit on several boards.......if so and you feel you have a lot to give and can add value and innovation to the Sydney Swans, why not through your hat in the ring at the next elections..... late feb each year usually !

Notice of 2013 Annual General Meeting - SYDNEYSWANS.com.au

http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/staticfile/AFL%20Tenant/SydneySwans/Club%20HQ/Swans%20Constitution.pdf

PS our non exec directors do not receive remuneration either

Thanks for clarifying that.

Agree our current board serves us well and that our recent success probably engenders a level of "aint broke don't fix it" apathy. If I could be bothered I'd look further into the Swans Constitution

Seems like the Swans board is the classic Old Boys Club - the two member elected board members are mere tokenism as clearly the rest of the Old Boys Club will vote as a block. I suspect that the board is still essentially AFL controlled and appointed. If the board members are reappointed by the board then that is just plain terrible governance.

I suspect our corporate model is flawed on many levels but it has worked because we have had good people on the board. And if good people continue to appoint good people then it probably isn't an issue whilst things are going well.

I think being in a non football state we are basically just being happy being consumers rather than being truly actively involved with our club. Maybe being AFL controlled aint such a bad thing if they keep the quality of people right.....

The post Colless era will be interesting. He has been able to rule the club with an iron fist and it will be interesting to see how the power vacuum is filled, there ios nothing like a football club to bring out the worst in people's egos (usually arrogant middle aged businessmen suffering a mid life crisis). If civil war erupts then things could get very ugly but I think it could take a crisis situation, one similar to what is evolving at the Brisbane Lions as they implode on and off the field, to get real change

[Xie Shan]

I think we'll be okay post Colless, but we will miss him as a spokesman for the club as he gives us a much needed voice in the Victorian centric football media. A lot of misinformation was spread last year around the COLA as many of the commentators simply didn't understand how it worked, and even today there still seems to be a lack of understanding of how difficult a job we face in running an AFL club in Sydney. We have a strong core supporter base but in the biggest city in Australia the battle for people's attention is constant.