Magpies headed for civil war

A war for control of Collingwood is set to erupt after the current board declared it would take on would-be president Jeff Browne and rejected his offer of a peaceful takeover of the club.

In a stern statement on Wednesday, after Browne, the former boss of Channel 9 unveiled his plans to get no less that four people on the club board, the seven current directors vowed to fight against any attempted “coup”.

The directors – president Mark Korda, vice-presidents Jodie Sizer and Paul Licuria, Neil Wilson, Christine Holgate, Peter Murphy and Bridie O‘Donnell – signed a joint declaration that Browne wouldn’t get any of them to budge.

“The board of the Collingwood Football Club stands for unity, not division, and will therefore stand against coups driven by personal ambition,” the board said in a statement.

“Not one, let alone four, of the current board is prepared to step aside to allow a boardroom coup as proposed by Jeff Browne to proceed.

“A coup is not warranted, it has not been justified and cannot be justified. Nor is it in step with good governance or the will of members to agree to the demands of an individual member wanting only to be president.

“In any case, there is no vision, no ticket, no compelling strategy for you to consider or for us to step aside for. How could any board entertain a request to step aside without first knowing these things?”

The board of the Collingwood Football Club has released a statement to members.

Browne, 66, wants to replace Korda as president and install three allies on the club’s seven-member board.

If that offer is rejected Browne will wait for members to force a spill of the board at an extraordinary general meeting.

Magpies member David Hatley has already collected enough signatures to do so.

Browne told the Herald Sun he had recently approached Korda to seek a position on the board but was knocked back.

He said he is prepared to negotiate with Korda “in good faith” as he chases an immediate four vacancies on the board.

“The four new positions would include myself and three other high-quality candidates chosen specifically to provide the best overall mix and blend of skills and diversity,” Browne said.

“I would seek the endorsement of the new board to become the chairman and president.”

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