The Essendon Football Club is pleased to announce the results of their 2024 Director Election following the closure of voting on Tuesday, December 17.

Elections for Directors are conducted in accordance with the club's Constitution and Election Rules.

The candidates elected to the Essendon Board are David Barham and Dean Solomon.

These candidates received the highest number of votes as detailed in the below table.

A lifelong Essendon member, Barham joined the Board in 2015 and was elected by the Board as Club President in August 2022.

Barham holds over 30 years of experience in the AFL industry and is a highly respected Sports Broadcast Executive.

In the early 1990's, Barham founded AFL Films and spent a decade producing Channel Ten's AFL coverage throughout the 2000’s.

From 2010, he served as Head of Sport at Ten Network, where he played a key role in launching the Big Bash League.

Barham has also negotiated major TV rights deals, including for the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival and the Formula One Grand Prix.

With over 24 years of AFL experience as a player and coach, Solomon is a former Essendon Premiership player who played 158 of his 209 career games for the club, including the 2000 Grand Final victory.

After concluding his AFL playing career at Fremantle, Solomon moved straight into coaching, becoming an Assistant Coach for the Dockers in 2010 and joining the Gold Coast SUNS ahead of their inaugural AFL year in 2011.

Solomon served as the SUNS’ caretaker Senior Coach for their final three games in 2017 and eventually continued his tenure as an assistant with the GWS GIANTS for the second half of the 2022 season.

Away from football, Solomon has undertaken successful business ventures including as the Founder and Director of SALT Movement and Recovery, a fitness and wellness facility with two locations in East Melbourne and Kingscliff.

The election of Barham and Solomon will be formally declared at the 2024 Essendon Football Club Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, December 18.

Each director is elected for a three-year term.

The election results mean that Melissa Verner Green will step down from the Board at the AGM after seven years of service.

“I would like to first thank all the candidates for putting their names forward and participating in the process to join the Board. As a member-based Club, your engagement and input is vital,” Barham said.

"I want to personally thank our members for their support and the faith they have shown in re-electing me to the Board for my final three-year term.

“I would also like to specifically acknowledge Melissa Verner Green for her outstanding contribution to the Board over the past seven years. She is a true Essendon person who dedicated significant time and effort to her role.

"We are pleased to welcome Dean Solomon to the Board. Dean brings a broad skill set, not only as an AFL Premiership player and coach but also through his successful business career, having founded and built multiple business ventures.

“Dean’s strong values align perfectly with our vision, and we are excited to have him join the Board as a director.

"This re-election is a clear sign from our members that they want the Club to continue focusing on stability, unity, and alignment, as we strive to deliver on our plan to bring sustained on-field success back to Essendon.”

Additionally, a proposed resolution to amend the Club's Constitution was voted on by members. The proposed resolution was initiated by the No Pokies at Essendon (NoPE) group, independently of the Club.

This vote was required under the Corporations Act as a result of the Club receiving a notice for a proposed member resolution, which was signed by 108 eligible members of the Club.

Under the Corporations Act, any resolution to amend the Club’s Constitution must be passed as a special resolution, meaning a majority of 75 per cent of votes cast must be received for the resolution to be passed.

The resolution was not passed, with 36.2 per cent of members voting in favour of the proposal.

As the Club has previously stated, the Club will continue to operate its hospitality venues to the highest standard and is strictly accountable to the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission, as well as other Government agencies for the safe operation of these venues.

The Essendon Football Club thanks all candidates and members for contributing to the election process. 

CorpVote Pty Ltd ran the independent voting process, with all submitted votes through the system run as a secret ballot process.