Essendon Football Club wishes to advise the Board of Directors met on Monday morning, at which time Paul Brasher tendered his resignation as President.

Following Brasher’s resignation, a vote was held to determine the next President of the Essendon Football Club with Dave Barham assuming the role.

Two weeks ago, the internal review of the football department was tabled at a scheduled Board meeting. Since that date, the Board has met several times and formed the view on the need for additional external inputs, which will now take place under the scope of an external review.

Brasher said it was an honour to serve as President and thanked members and fans for their support.

“The decision to extend the substantial work already done in examining our football program to add additional external aspects into the review will set the tone for our club in the years ahead,” Brasher said.

“Under the constitution, my term as a board member must end next year. Rather than wait until the middle of 2023, I believe it is most important that the person who will act as President in the years ahead should be the person who oversees the review.  

“Therefore, I have decided it makes sense for me to step down now from the position of President. I love this club and will do whatever I can to assist it over the remainder of my term. Dave will have my full support.”

Barham takes over as President after serving on the board for the past seven years.

“First of all, I am delighted that Paul has agreed to stay on.  His experience and knowledge is invaluable,” Barham said.

“This club is one of the greatest sporting institutions in this country. This year, we celebrated our 150-year history. It makes us one of the oldest and most successful clubs in the world.

“However, over the past two decades, on field success has eluded us. We need to change this.

“We need to place a laser-like focus on our football performance above everything else. We need to build a platform, that will bring us sustainable success.

“The view of the Board is that we cannot continue to only review ourselves and hope that things will change. Whilst the review was thorough and well done, the Board has determined that our club needs further external aspects added into our analysis.

“We need to accept where we are, look hard at what best practice in AFL football is, reset, and then begin our fight back to winning premierships.

“No one is underestimating the task at hand, but it must start sometime and today is the day.

“We are confident we can do this. The broader club is in excellent shape, has outstanding facilities and a hardworking and valued administration.

“To all Bomber fans, this is a line in the sand moment.

“We will need your continued support and help to do this, but I know we can count on you, as you have never let us down, ever.

“There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about our future. This work will mean we the board can be in the best position to make what are very important decisions about our future.”