Saints News St Kilda FC: Governance Thread - Board and Committee

[Saints Governance]

This thread is intended to keep Club Members updated with details of the Club's Board, who are either democratically elected (publicly) or appointed (by existing Members of the Board).

This list is by no means accurate or complete and has been compiled through the work of several Members. Some of the dates and roles (especially committees) may need clarifying and we would encourage corrections via email or Private Message.

The Club does not make all the relevant information below publicly available but we believe it is the Members’ interest for it to be so.

If you have any feedback or corrections, please submit to SaintsGovernance@gmail.com. We will update this post periodically in an effort to ensure that Members are widely informed regarding the roles and responsibilities of those who lead our Member-constituted club.

NB: The ‘Board Status’ below represents our best attempt to accurately assess the candidate’s eligibility to stand at the next election. The club does not provide a platform where this information is accessible.

ST KILDA SAINTS FOOTBALL CLUB BOARD - link here.

CLUB CONSTITUTION: available here.

Past Financial Reports
2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.

Notices of AGM (inc. Details of which Candidates are Standing for Board Positions)
2010, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021.

Key notes:

• The number of Directors shall be between 5 and 10.
• All Directors shall be elected for a term ending at the conclusion of the third Annual General Meeting (three years) since their last appointment at an Annual General Meeting and must retire at the end of that term. They may seek re-election.

Term limits:
- If a Director is elected or re-elected for consecutive terms totalling 9 years or more, then, unless they have the prior unanimous approval of the Board: (a) they must retire at the Annual General Meeting immediately following the ninth anniversary of their election or re-election; and (b) they are not eligible for re-election for a further consecutive term, and they may not nominate for election or be appointed or elected as a Director at any time during the 3 years immediately following the end of that final consecutive term.

Election to the Board
- A prospective Director must be nominated in writing by at least three other Voting Members. Upon valid written nomination and a written consent by the nominee to act as a Director being delivered to the registered office of the Company, the nominee shall be deemed to have been nominated for election as a Director. A nomination shall be considered valid if it states the name of the nominee and the three Voting Members nominating the person, is signed by the three Voting Members and is delivered to the registered office not more than 14 days after the date of the following notice: in each year the Board shall cause a notice to appear in the Public Notices section of a major daily Victorian newspaper. The Notice shall specify the date of the AGM and the number of vacancies on the Board, if any, to be filled by election at the upcoming AGM.

Presidency
- The roles of President and Vice-President are not voted on by the members. They are voted on by the board. These roles are formally ratified at the year-ending Annual General Meeting.

CURRENT BOARD (December 2022) - 9 Directors
Member Elected: 0
Board Appointed: 9

1x Entrepreneur (Bassat)
1x Corporate Administration (Caplan)
1x Advertising (Hilton)
1x Property (Blake)
1x Banking (Anderson)
1x Accountant (Lowe)
3x Lawyers (Douglas, Rush, Lethlean)

ANDREW BASSAT - PRESIDENT (Board 2016-, President 2018- )
Professional specialty: Management consulting, Entrepreneur.
Sporting experience: Amateur junior footballer.
St Kilda supporter: Yes
Joined Board: 2016
Current Terms: Third (Dec 2021-Dec 2024 - final term)
Appointed/Elected: Appointed. (Announcement).
Campaign platform: “I have been a passionate Saints supporter from my early childhood and am highly motivated by the opportunity to play a role to help the club achieve both short and long-term success.”
Re-elected: 2018 (Appointed as President in board re-structure in mid-2018, confirmed at December 2018 AGM) and in 2021.
BOARD STATUS: Third and final term as president expires at December 2024 AGM (unless it is unanimously endorsed by all board members that he continues). Announced that he will retire (on rotation) and then stand for re-election for a fourth term at the December 2023 AGM. This will extend his presidency to December 2026.

RUSSELL CAPLAN - VICE PRESIDENT (2013-)
Professional specialty: Energy (oil) administrator.
Sporting experience: Chairman of the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust.
St Kilda supporter: Yes
Joined Board: 2013
Current Term: Third (Dec 2020-Dec 2023 - final term)
Appointed/Elected on joining: Appointed.
Campaign message: Did not campaign.
NB: Automatically retired on rotation in 2020; automatically re-elected in 2020 (no other candidates stood)
BOARD STATUS: Ineligible for re-election at December 2023 AGM (unless it is unanimously endorsed by all board members that he continues). Announced that he will retire (on rotation) and then stand for re-election for a fourth term at the December 2023 AGM. This will extend his board tenure to December 2026.

SIMON LETHLEAN - DIRECTOR AND CEO (2022-)
Professional specialty: Sports Administrator.
Sporting experience: VAFA Player and Coach (Old Xavierians).
St Kilda Supporter: No (Team - Richmond).
Appointed/Elected on joining: Appointed.
Campaign message: Did not campaign.
Current Term: First (Dec 2022-Dec 2025 - first term)
BOARD STATUS: The Chief Executive Officer will not, while holding the office, be subject to re-election or to retirement by rotation in accordance with Article 10.2A.
Governance Note (1): Finnis is the only AFL Club CEO to also be on the club's Board, a highly unusual position in a sporting club - but not for St Kilda. Under Art 11.1 of St Kilda’s Constitution, “The Chief Executive Officer is eligible to be appointed or elected to the position of Director.” It is understood Matt Finnis, Jim Watts and Michael Nettlefold are previous examples.

DEAN ANDERSON (2015-)
Professional Specialty: Finance (banking).
Professional experience: AFL Footballer (Hawthorn and St Kilda)
St Kilda supporter: Split loyalty to both clubs. Son plays for GC Suns (Noah grew up a Richmond fan, like Dean).
Appointed/Elected on joining: Appointed. (Announcement).
Campaign message: “I have a great passion for the Saints and believe I bring a broad range of skills and expertise to this role.”
Current Term: Third (Dec 2021-Dec 2024 - final term)
NB: Automatically retired on rotation in 2015, 2018 & 2021; automatically re-elected in 2015, 2018 & 2021 (no other candidates stood)
BOARD STATUS: Ineligible to stand at the December 2024 AGM (unless it is unanimously endorsed by all board members that he continues)..

JENNIFER DOUGLAS (2019-)
Professional specialty: Lawyer, customer service.
Sporting experience: N/A
St Kilda supporter: Yes
Appointed/Elected on joining: Appointed.
Campaign message: “It is a privilege to have the opportunity to play a role in moving our club forward, especially by utilising my experience in leading teams to achieve success through uncompromising focus on outcomes and actively engaging with community and customers.”
Current Term: Second (Dec 2022-Dec 2025)
Appointed/Elected: Appointed. (Announcement).
BOARD STATUS: Eligible to stand for re-election at December 2025 AGM.

SARAH LOWE (2022-)
Professional specialty: Accounting.
Sporting experience: None.
St Kilda supporter: Father is a St Kilda fan; unclear if she is.
Campaign message: "I’ve been on the Saints’ Audit & Risk Committee now for two years working with Paul Kirk, and I will continue to work closely with him to ‘understudy’ the Chair aspect and get closer to the finer points of that role. Through my experience, I hope to bring skills that are helpful to the Board, particularly through the risk, finance and compliance aspect."
Current Term: First (Feb 2022-Dec 2025)
Appointed/Elected on joining: Appointed (Announcement).
BOARD STATUS: Eligible to stand for re-election at 2025 AGM.

JACK RUSH (2012-)
Professional specialty: Lawyer, judge.
Sporting experience: ex-Chair of the AFL Grievance Tribunal; ex-VAFA administrator.
St Kilda supporter: Yes
Appointed/Elected on joining: Appointed.
Campaign message: Did not campaign.
Current Term: Fourth* (Dec 2018-Dec 2021)
Appointed/Elected on joining: Appointed.
NB: Automatically retired after three terms 2021; re-elected via unanimous special motion in 2021.
BOARD STATUS: Ineligible to stand for re-election at 2026 AGM (unless it is unanimously endorsed by all board members that he continues - Jack will be endorsed for a fifth term by this method at the Dec 2023 AGM). Announced that he will retire (on rotation) and then stand for re-election for a fifth term at the December 2023 AGM. This will extend his board tenure to December 2026.

ADAM HILTON (2019-)
Professional specialty: Advertising.
Sporting experience: Hawthorn (Reserves), Old Haileybury (VAFA).
St Kilda supporter: Yes
Appointed/Elected on joining: Appointed.
Campaign platform: "After a long career at Network Ten and successfully managing two creative agencies over the past decade, I believe I’ll be able to assist the club’s commercial and marketing focus."
Current Term: Second (Dec 2022-Dec 2025)
Appointed/Elected: Appointed (Announcement).
BOARD STATUS: Eligible to stand for re-election to the board at December 2025 AGM.

JASON BLAKE (2022-)
Professional specialty: Construction and property development.
Sporting experience: 219 games for St Kilda.
St Kilda supporter: Yes
Appointed/Elected on joining: Appointed.
Campaign platform: "My pledge to St Kilda members is do whatever I can to help support and set up this club for the next premiership." (link)
Current Term: First (Dec 2021-Dec 2024)
Appointed/Elected: Appointed (Announcement).
NB: Replaced Danni Roche (2012-21)
BOARD STATUS: Eligible to stand for re-election to the board at December 2024 AGM.

SIMON LETHLEAN (2022-)
Professional specialty: Lawyer (ex-AFL Football Operations Manager)
Sporting experience: Played in VAFA for Old Xavier.
St Kilda supporter: No (Richmond)
Appointed/Elected on joining: Appointed.
Campaign platform: "I'm incredibly optimistic about the journey that we’re on here at St Kilda, and our supporters should know that I’ll be leaving no stone unturned in our mission to deliver the success they are rightly impatient to enjoy."
Current Term: First (Dec 2022-Dec 2025)
Appointed/Elected: Appointed (Announcement)
NB: Replaced Matt Finnis (2022)
BOARD STATUS: Is part of board as long as he is CEO. This has been the case with every CEO dating back to Jim Watts. St Kilda is the only Club known to have amended its constitution to allow for this.

BOARD COMMITTEES:
Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee - Lowe (chair).
Integrity - Bassat, Rush.
Remuneration - Caplan (chair), Bassat.

COMPANY SECRETARY: Ben Daley (Since 2022). Currently works as the Head of Legal, Compliance and Venue Operations.

 

[StCicatriz]

nice username

 

[Oztralian]

I applaud the material you have collated and collected. What an exhaustive process, and I might say it should be information that is regularly available to the member. But alas the member is really just a nominal label that gives you no real status, except in extraordinary times.

At my club St Kilda, I am sadly, poorly informed being, I suspect not much more than the proverbial cash-cow. My belly is rubbed and my back is scratched and I am regularly told how important I am. But my opinion is never sort, and my status vague and murky. I once thought I had voting rights, maybe (if I so desired) even a claim to a Board position.

Clearly I got ahead of myself. The club’s communication of 'matters revenue' cannot be faulted. Memberships, seats and memorabilia get the gold standard treatment. All duly dealt with, both speedily and efficiently. And as a member and supporter I applaud the club for being proactive. But I lament that is all I am – the piggy bank.

Members may also have multiple services to offer. And what a boast, in these times when the soft cap limits professional expertise, to call on volunteers to fill some of the gaps - but I know no one who has been asked!

I was aghast to read that Collingwood had not bothered with elections for 20+ years. And they were proud of this. It smacks of elitism, and of a time when only the rich got the vote.

So why raise this issue now? Aren’t the Saints in good hands? I’m not so sure, and more so I am in a hurry to get success. We are failing on the field, once again. And without a shadow of a doubt we are the worst performing AFL club. One premiership in 125 years is beyond failure. Add to this we are in debt to the tune of $14 million.

Is it not time for our club to stop being so precious? Want the best, demand the best. No one should be afraid of a challenger. After all we should all be wanting the same thing – a Saints premiership.

So no more hiding agendas and elections. Be up front, Saints Board and demonstrate that you really care.

 

[StCicatriz]

why the aliases?

 

[Mowman]

LOL

 

[gringo2011]

LOL

Who is it?

 

[George]

Who is it?

I have an idea but he hasn't been long enough to match with any IP yet. I have him on the watchlist LOL.

 

[Mowman]

Who is it?

Not sure, but obviously the same person

 

[sunny3193]

LOL

Closest to the pin?
I‘m going these two characters are the same guy.
Edit: that’s what you’re saying.
Damn.

 

[Oztralian]

I am not the writer of the original post, which I think was more informational.
That was my first contribution on any topic.

 

[kernelT]

Campaign message: Did not campaign.

All I have to say is that a few of these cats need to work on their campaigning.

 

[StCicatriz]

Juicey!

 

[Longmembrey]

Can go any governance

 

[Verdun]

Useful information



thanks

 

[Saints Governance]

I am not the writer of the original post, which I think was more informational.
That was my first contribution on any topic.

Indeed, you are most definitely not the writer of the original post (as the IP addresses will surely confirm). But thank you for your kind words.

None of the contributors to Saints Governance are regular posters to this forum but we recognise the value that it serves - a kind of digital democracy.

We are simply trying to provide a window of transparency to St Kilda supporters by compiling all the available information into a solitary thread. Using this information, we hope Members will feel empowered to make their own decisions about the future of the Club. It is your Club: you do hold the power, even if you don't realise it.

There's no ulterior motive here; we just don't feel Members are very well informed at St Kilda. We are also unsure why it should be this way in a Member-constituted organisation.

Remember, we are not season ticket holders. We are Members. Season ticket holders (to privately owned sporting clubs) have no voting rights. Members do.

Many Members have spoken about the desire to have a deeper connection with the Club, and a disconnection to the Board and the decision-making process. We hope that compiling all the above information makes it clearer to everyone about who is on our Board, why they're on our Board, how long they'll be on our Board and information about how you can also stand for the Board (should you choose to do so).

And yes, compiling all the information was a laborious process. Thanks to all who appreciate it; we will try to keep it updated as best we can going forward.

 

[pluggeranddoc]

Who is it?

clearly a bloke who doesn't NO the difference between sort and sought!

 

[Saints43]

Just on the issue of members having a vote.
Didn't the Butterss regime reorganise the club so that the pty ltd company was converted to a few shares? Who holds those shares I don't know. The board? Anyway, I believe the upshot is that we don't have a vote anymore.
*The above may all be totally incorrect. Just a vague recollection.

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

Just on the issue of members having a vote.
Didn't the Butterss regime reorganise the club so that the pty ltd company was converted to a few shares? Who holds those shares I don't know. The board? Anyway, I believe the upshot is that we don't have a vote anymore.
*The above may all be totally incorrect. Just a vague recollection.

The constution still says we have a vote.

 

[StFly]

Just on the issue of members having a vote.
Didn't the Butterss regime reorganise the club so that the pty ltd company was converted to a few shares? Who holds those shares I don't know. The board? Anyway, I believe the upshot is that we don't have a vote anymore.
*The above may all be totally incorrect. Just a vague recollection.

There's members and then there's members, there's also multiple "clubs".

Basically look at pages 1-4 of the doc for definitions. Member, ordinary member, voting member, life member, these are all defined terms, so they all hold meaning where stated in said doc. Same with how the club is stated

The St Kilda Limited PTY LTYD club you have mentioned is not the club.
This is different to St Kilda Football Club, which is the club.
This is different to St Kilda Saints limited which is not the club.



Note the ACN differences "oh, this is not the club but a consolidated entity of the club", but then also note;


You then have things like transferring from theother two ACN's to the primary ACN and how a consolidated entity uses these to supplement the AFL license and repalce components of, but then you can't do certain things like as above, divide capital into shares and other nifty things.

We do have a vote, just not quite where you believe it was held originally. Butterss also had no authority to do anything you mentioned, a vote and ratification by multiple sitting members would need to occur, and sicne the man was off his face half the time, I doubt he even had the agency to do anything in that space.

 

[StCicatriz]

Indeed, you are most definitely not the writer of the original post (as the IP addresses will surely confirm). But thank you for your kind words.

None of the contributors to Saints Governance are regular posters to this forum but we recognise the value that it serves - a kind of digital democracy.

We are simply trying to provide a window of transparency to St Kilda supporters by compiling all the available information into a solitary thread. Using this information, we hope Members will feel empowered to make their own decisions about the future of the Club. It is your Club: you do hold the power, even if you don't realise it.

There's no ulterior motive here; we just don't feel Members are very well informed at St Kilda. We are also unsure why it should be this way in a Member-constituted organisation.

Remember, we are not season ticket holders. We are Members. Season ticket holders (to privately owned sporting clubs) have no voting rights. Members do.

Many Members have spoken about the desire to have a deeper connection with the Club, and a disconnection to the Board and the decision-making process. We hope that compiling all the above information makes it clearer to everyone about who is on our Board, why they're on our Board, how long they'll be on our Board and information about how you can also stand for the Board (should you choose to do so).

And yes, compiling all the information was a laborious process. Thanks to all who appreciate it; we will try to keep it updated as best we can going forward.

Sports bet odds that this is an alias and you are already a member $1.01.

 

[Saints Governance]

Sports bet odds that this is an alias and you are already a member $1.01.

Hi StCicatriz,

Happy to re-assure you this is definitely NOT an alias (surely our IP addresses put paid to that) and that none of us are posters here. We'll also be putting the information up on Saintsational as well when the moderators approve it. We simply think it's important Members have the information in their hands. For the record, everyone is welcome to fire over any other enquiries or feedback to saintsgovernance@gmail.com.

No vested interests here, just trying to do the right thing by the Members. We're also not looking for a smoking gun.

Our aim is to keep the opening post is as neutral and fact-based as possible going forward, so everyone knows who is representing our Club.

================

Further - thanks for their support on here and the PMs. We are very appreciative.

However, whilst we haven't received any corrections (please send them if you see them), but we are still looking to establish the following information:

- The most recent Terms of Appointment for Danni Roche and Jack Rush. We suspect they did the retirement and re-election switch in 2019. Can anyone help us with that?

- None of us have the Notices of AGM for 2019 and 2016. If you have a copy, please email us, we'll upload them so everyone can see, and update the links above (please do a search of your Membership emails). We would also appreciate any Notices of AGM for the years 2012-2015. These are really important as they specify who is standing for election.

- Thanks to StFly for the post above. Good clarification on our legal structure.

- Any other issues, let us know.

Go Saints.

 

[jwikked]

Hi StCicatriz,

Happy to re-assure you this is definitely NOT an alias (surely our IP addresses put paid to that) and that none of us are posters here. We'll also be putting the information up on Saintsational as well when the moderators approve it. We simply think it's important Members have the information in their hands. For the record, everyone is welcome to fire over any other enquiries or feedback to saintsgovernance@gmail.com.

No vested interests here, just trying to do the right thing by the Members. We're also not looking for a smoking gun.

Our aim is to keep the opening post is as neutral and fact-based as possible going forward, so everyone knows who is representing our Club.

================

Further - thanks for their support on here and the PMs. We are very appreciative.

However, whilst we haven't received any corrections (please send them if you see them), but we are still looking to establish the following information:

- The most recent Terms of Appointment for Danni Roche and Jack Rush. We suspect they did the retirement and re-election switch in 2019. Can anyone help us with that?

- None of us have the Notices of AGM for 2019 and 2016. If you have a copy, please email us, we'll upload them so everyone can see, and update the links above (please do a search of your Membership emails). We would also appreciate any Notices of AGM for the years 2012-2015. These are really important as they specify who is standing for election.

- Thanks to StFly for the post above. Good clarification on our legal structure.

- Any other issues, let us know.

Go Saints.

Who is “us”?

 

[Saints Governance]

Who is “us”?

As stated in the introduction - just a collection of St Kilda Members interested in Club Governance. It was something that bothered a few of us that we couldn't find all the information in one place. It wasn't here, it wasn't on the Club website. It wasn't...anywhere.

We figured there must be a stack of other Members with similar concerns. If nothing else, we hope the Membership finds it informative.

 

[Parkysp]

Thanks for all the time and the info provided. I feel I'm just a credit card for the AFL nowadays and doesn't help that the Saints board goes along with that thinking. As a 30 year member it is very disheartening.

Being a Liverpool supporter I've being wondering how we could organise something similar to the 'Spirit of Shankly' supporter group. https://spiritofshankly.com/

They've forced the Liverpool FC owners into a number of backflips on poor decisions they've made over the past decade. I wonder if some collective organisation could get better answers on governance and how that feeds into the being a club that can consistently perform better on the field. Something is awry at the club. We all see it played out on field but we can only take guesses about why that is.

 

[Joffaboy]

If there is no agenda or smoking gun, why post it at all.

Anonymous posters on a forum makes thread about governance with no agenda or smoking gun.

I smell a rat. This is suss AF.