- Dec 14, 2008
- 19,844
- 32,324
- AFL Club
- Essendon
First off i want to start by saying im not really in tune with these types of things, i dont take a lot of notice, i dont really know how the structures work ect, so im more asking out of curiosity than making grand statements. Im happy to be corrected/educated. But seeing our structures change since the saga has maybe made me take a little more notice, especially of late there seems to have been a concerted cleanout and/or change of culture direction, but are they changing the right people? Also i feel like we have had the profits v footy tradition balance off lately.. I was in a healthy debate yesterday in my group chat about who is the most powerful person at a footy club. Clearly a perfectly functional footy club probably dosent allow absolute power to a single person (see sheedy) , furthermore, when all the moving parts are working in harmony, thats probably when you hit your sweet spot and magic happens, maybe thats the elusive window everybody is looking for, more so than just players reaching a certain age.. anyhow, the most important role at a footy club, what is it?
My first point of reference is generally European soccer clubs, it would seem that we are generally a few decades behind but somewhat aim to emulate what happens over there..
In a nutshell succeeding on the ground needs to be complimented by efforts off the ground to build a 'brand'. The most popular clubs are big brands and commercial entites looking to make profits so they probably mirror other industries corporate setups to a point
the general structure over there is
chairman (owner?)
/
board of directors
/
CEO
/
Director of football-Finance-HR-Marketing
/
Manager/Coach
/
Backroom staff-Medical dept-scouts
The chairman works with the board in shaping the direction of the club, the CEO is nominally the most important person who oversees the functioning of the organisation, the manager of-course is hugely important, its not often in the business world that a position lower than a CEO can have such influence over a business, but this is a sports club, not a corporate business. Which brings us to the director of football, the conduit between the manager/coach and the CEO/board. Its arguable that the most important person in this tree is the director of football, the glue that binds the business and the sport. This person is usually a former player who club person with a business acumen.
anyway, enough soccer..
how does it compare to a typical AFL set up? or more importantly, ours?
ive tried to find a tree, it dosent seem to have a home anywhere on our website, (tin foil) so im kind of guessing.. am probably wildly off
President tanner
/
Board of directors
/
CEO Xav
/
gm of football richardson-gm list managment dodoro- gm marketing rodski-...various other managers of arms i dont know...
/
head coach worsfold-high performance manager-murphy
/
assistant coaches-medical staff
had a stab at it, who knows how close, but again that crucial conduit between business and footy lies probably with Richardson but hes not going anywhere without the cattle, ie Dodoro. The man, the myth to my mind is probably high on the tree of importance. Maybe highest. Without the players doses anything function? are we winning? is anyone making money? Hes been here decades, but how is he held to account? By what measures? if a player is a star you get the kudos, but if he fails.. it could be any number of other factors at play.. seems like a golden fail free role
My mate is adamant the board is the most important function of a footy club, they set the direction, make key appointments, set culture, works closely with the CEO who inturn works closely with the coach. Clearly harmony between all three is paramount, which dosent seem totally in sync with us. Also if the board becomes a boys club of former players.. then what? see the carltons of the footy world
One might argue media and spin now makes the world go round, where does it rank in importance?
in the end the most stable off field clubs have had the most success of late Gee, Haw, Syd ect. Dosent bode well for us really...
so in your mind, what is the most important role of a footy club?, how do you create harmony between profits and heart and soul on field footy and tradition?
My first point of reference is generally European soccer clubs, it would seem that we are generally a few decades behind but somewhat aim to emulate what happens over there..
In a nutshell succeeding on the ground needs to be complimented by efforts off the ground to build a 'brand'. The most popular clubs are big brands and commercial entites looking to make profits so they probably mirror other industries corporate setups to a point
the general structure over there is
chairman (owner?)
/
board of directors
/
CEO
/
Director of football-Finance-HR-Marketing
/
Manager/Coach
/
Backroom staff-Medical dept-scouts
The chairman works with the board in shaping the direction of the club, the CEO is nominally the most important person who oversees the functioning of the organisation, the manager of-course is hugely important, its not often in the business world that a position lower than a CEO can have such influence over a business, but this is a sports club, not a corporate business. Which brings us to the director of football, the conduit between the manager/coach and the CEO/board. Its arguable that the most important person in this tree is the director of football, the glue that binds the business and the sport. This person is usually a former player who club person with a business acumen.
anyway, enough soccer..
how does it compare to a typical AFL set up? or more importantly, ours?
ive tried to find a tree, it dosent seem to have a home anywhere on our website, (tin foil) so im kind of guessing.. am probably wildly off
President tanner
/
Board of directors
/
CEO Xav
/
gm of football richardson-gm list managment dodoro- gm marketing rodski-...various other managers of arms i dont know...
/
head coach worsfold-high performance manager-murphy
/
assistant coaches-medical staff
had a stab at it, who knows how close, but again that crucial conduit between business and footy lies probably with Richardson but hes not going anywhere without the cattle, ie Dodoro. The man, the myth to my mind is probably high on the tree of importance. Maybe highest. Without the players doses anything function? are we winning? is anyone making money? Hes been here decades, but how is he held to account? By what measures? if a player is a star you get the kudos, but if he fails.. it could be any number of other factors at play.. seems like a golden fail free role
My mate is adamant the board is the most important function of a footy club, they set the direction, make key appointments, set culture, works closely with the CEO who inturn works closely with the coach. Clearly harmony between all three is paramount, which dosent seem totally in sync with us. Also if the board becomes a boys club of former players.. then what? see the carltons of the footy world
One might argue media and spin now makes the world go round, where does it rank in importance?
in the end the most stable off field clubs have had the most success of late Gee, Haw, Syd ect. Dosent bode well for us really...
so in your mind, what is the most important role of a footy club?, how do you create harmony between profits and heart and soul on field footy and tradition?