Dear Members,

We are pleased to communicate to you first as valued members of the Essendon Football Club and provide an update on the EY External Review the Board commissioned seven weeks ago. 

The External Review was a comprehensive analysis of the Essendon Football Club. It engaged all areas of the Club and provided the people of Essendon an opportunity to express views and provide feedback in an open, honest and confidential manner. 

The review engaged football expertise in Brendan McCartney and Jordan Lewis, teaming with Ernst & Young (EY) professionals to assess our practices against industry standards and frameworks. They interviewed more than 80 players, coaches and administration staff and surveyed a further 130 people from across the Club, to provide insights and opportunities for improvement.

The team reviewed a range of EFC documents and confidential data pertaining to football operations, football administration support, membership surveys, EFC governance, culture, and leadership. This included analysing previous internal and expert reviews commissioned by the Club. These were important sources of information to guide decision making and our future roadmap.

This resulting report is excellent, and the Club would like to thank EY for their process, care and professionalism in delivering this to the Club.

I want to reinforce that the review was not about being critical and judgemental of the past. Rather, it was about providing detailed analysis of the Club and making a set of recommendations for the future – and that’s what we received.

This report is about bringing the Club together and the contribution of previous board members, and, in particular, previous President Paul Brasher has been significant and the Board is grateful for their legacy.

The reviews extensive recommendations are focused on the future of our Club and relate to;

• Resetting Essendon’s purpose and strategy for sustained on-field success and exceptional member experiences
• Putting people, players, members and communities back at the centre of the Club
• Unifying our leaders to set the right culture and make EFC a great place to work
• Strong and aligned governance to make the Club a better place.

Pleasingly, the review found that players and staff are engaged, enthusiastic, and committed to change to ensure Essendon becomes a sustainable and successful Club in the long term.

It also highlighted that the Club has a lot to be thankful for. We are gifted to have world class training and administration facilities for our five teams, we have a strong and loyal membership base of more than 86,000, we have enduring relationships with trusted partners, plus young and exciting playing groups.

However, the fact remains that our on-field performance is not where we want it to be, and the External Review provides a roadmap for the Club to deliver sustained success. 

This morning I provided a summary of the EY report to our staff and players, and this was an important step forward for our Club.

While the report is highly confidential to respect all those who have contributed, the Board will continue to provide you with updates, where appropriate, about the changes it drives and delivers for our Club.

The Football program will look different in 2023. With a young and developing playing list we must ensure we have the AFL’s best development program and support mechanism to ensure our players thrive and reach their full potential across both men’s and women’s programs. 

The review recommended that we needed more investment to support our players. To that end, we have started the recruiting process for two newly created positions- General Manager of Performance and Head of Development.  We will make an announcement on these roles in the coming weeks.

Our player development area was further boosted today with the announcement that the VFL coach will become a full-time position, held by an EFC coach. This will mean our player development area has been boosted from 2.5 coaches in 2022 to 5.5 coaches in 2023. This is a significant investment for the Club.  We will also revamp our leadership program in 2023 to focus on growing the leadership capabilities of our players now, and for the long term.

The review also recommended the need to drive higher training standards and to build a better fitness base for our players leading into the season. We have accepted this, and our new AFL Senior Coach Brad Scott has committed to a demanding pre-season designed at improving the consistency of our training standards across the entire playing group.

The review is also clear in its recommendation of the need for stronger alignment of the core functions within the football department.  The areas of coaching, physical performance, player development plus list management and recruitment have lacked unity and a shared vision that is embraced by all. Creating a strong and unified Football Department is a key priority for General Manager of Football Josh Mahoney and Brad Scott during this off-season period.

Furthermore, as we know, COVID stymied and restricted our ability to deliver exceptional experiences for members and supporters over the past three years. We are first and foremost a family Club. In 2023 we will have a whole-of-club commitment to increase the Club’s connection with members and to ensure the Club and our players are accessible to all levels of membership. This will include a return of the Essendon Family Day, improved access to players and coaches during our weekly open training sessions, improved member amenities at the NEC Hangar, the return of our football member forums and enhanced access to the Club through exclusive, members-only, behind-the-scenes experiences.

The Club is committed to restoring our leadership position in the Indigenous community and nurturing Indigenous talent - both players and staff. We all know about the rich history Essendon has in identifying, attracting, and developing Indigenous talent and we need to build on this into the future.

We need to do more to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge and expertise at all levels of the Club, including at Board level. To that end, we will soon be appointing the Club’s inaugural First Nations Board director. This is an important step for Essendon and, quite frankly, long overdue. 

This director will lead the Board’s nationally focused Indigenous sub-committee to provide leadership on cultural safety and oversee our new Indigenous development program. We are looking forward to making this announcement in the coming weeks.

It is also important that we continue to evolve as a Board and progress the Club forward. To do this, we will continue to refresh our Board positions and look forward to announcing additional positions in the coming weeks.

The CEO recruitment process is well underway with a highly regarded external search firm and we anticipate having our new CEO in the coming weeks.

We understand that the Club will be judged on actions, and we look forward to following through in delivering the recommendations and on our promise for sustained success into the future.

Our long and successful history is second to none. Now is the time for our Club to get to work on creating a stronger and more unified Essendon Football Club that we can all be proud of. 

Go Bombers!

Dave Barham - President