Regrets are few and far between for McMahon. One Premiership between 1999 and 2001 is one disappointment while off-field he was disappointed the number of board members wasn’t reduced to seven. McMahon believes a board of 10 is too big and that it needs to be reduced to seven sooner rather than later.
“Big boards were there when you ran it as a board of management because you had all these sub-committees. We don’t have those sub-committees and you end up with 10 directors who understandably get a little frustrated from time-to-time that they are not more involved. They come to board meetings but they are not involved in the cut and thrust,” he said.
“When you have too many of them around I think it can breed discontent, particularly when the side isn’t performing well. A smaller board would eliminate some of that problem. I tried to do that once but the night the vote was taken I couldn’t attend the board meeting and it got defeated. Given we run a democratic organisation, if the majority of the board say they don’t want to change then that is it – I haven’t tried again.
“It must be reduced to seven for the good of the club. The board at the moment is fine but it will change and in five years time you could have a totally different group of people. I encourage the new Chairman and the members to think carefully about the structure of this club.”
McMahon walks away from a club he believes is in very good shape on and off the field. On the playing side, he says the list requires only cosmetic changes to again challenge for a Premiership. Off the field he says the club is in equally good shape.
“We have got cash reserves and great facilities for the players. On top of that we have a couple of businesses that are doing well (Melton Country Club / Windy Hill Social Club) – they are good contributors to this football club,” he said.
Equally he says Essendon supporters must not take their club for granted.
“The warning is that Essendon people should not be complacent about their football club. Essendon members have been spoiled in many ways with success and for the membership to drop of like it did this year because the media didn’t rate us and we lost the pre-season opener was very disappointing,” he said.
“If you want to be the best club we need people who stick by us when we are going well or struggling and those years will come around. I would encourage everyone who supports this club to buy a membership – it is the only way to truly be a part of the club.”
So McMahon will now go into detox as it were. The Bombers have been a huge part of his life. “I’ll miss it but I intend to still go to the football. No doubt for the first few months I will read everything Essendon in the paper but you slowly work it out of the system,” he said.
“I think seven years is as many years as you want in this job - at least from my point of view and my personality and style. It is also hugely time consuming. I’ve done my bit, I’ve enjoyed every minute of it and hopefully I leave the club in better shape than what I found it.”
