The battle for spots on Hawthorn’s board has escalated as four-time premiership Hawk Chris Langford warned that not voting for the incumbents would allow agitators to take the club back to “dark places”.
Langford is among 50 premiership players and prominent club members to put their name to an open letter to club members asking them to vote for club-backed incumbents Tim Shearer and Ian Silk in the interests of unity and to support the nominations committee and governance structures in place.
Premiership captain Don Scott announced last week that he was a candidate for one of two vacancies but did not apply via the club’s nominations committee.
He is running against Silk, the former head of Australian Super who was elected to a board position at the end of 2021, and Shearer, who headed up fundraising for the Kennedy Centre at Dingley.
Langford’s comments came after Scott, who led the anti-merger push in 1996, spoke on radio accusing the Hawks of intimidating prospective board directors in the past, a claim the club has denied.
Premiership heroes to endorse the incumbents in the letter to members include Michael Tuck, Robert Dipierdomenico, John Platten, Gary Ayres, Peter Knights, Ian Bremner, Bob Keddie, John Hendrie, David Parkin and Robert Day (current midfielder Will Day’s grandfather).
Hawks great Chris Langford is backing board-endorsed candidates in the upcoming election.Credit: Jack Atley
The letter was also backed by former presidents Richard Garvey and Ian Dicker, as well as former board member and financial supporter of the club, businessman Geoff Harris. Media personalities Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann, Nat Edwards, No.1 ticket holder Emma Race and Jim King, who is part of the host family for many recruits, also endorsed the incumbents.
“My frustration is that the club is emerging from a very difficult and sad time and experience in my eyes and the eyes of many past players, but it is moving forward and has the right people leading that move forward and there are people who are agitating to take the club back into those dark places and sad chapter,” Langford told this masthead.
The letter says the current board and administration has Hawthorn “on the edge of something special” after the team’s electrifying run into the finals in 2024.
Scott opted to avoid nominating through the club’s committee, which Langford was on before running for a seat. Shearer and Silk were endorsed by the committee.
In the running: Hawthorn legend Don Scott has raised financial questions ahead of the Hawks’ election.Credit: Scott Barbour
Langford, a former member of the AFL Commission, said he had been outspoken in the past when he felt the board was trying to “shove candidates down members’ throats” and he contacted Scott to discuss his issues before deciding to endorse the incumbents and the nominations process.
“The club needs to make very strong, clear statements about its culture to move forward as a good, safe, inclusive and proactive progressive club, and I don’t think having people who want to take the club back to its sad chapter is a good idea at all,” Langford said.
President Andy Gowers hit back at Scott on Monday after the club great accused the Hawks of not “passing the pub test” on financial and voting governance.
Scott, the two-time premiership captain, took to radio to outline his concerns. Voting opens on Tuesday.
Scott – who raised questions at last year’s annual general meeting about financial disclosure over a $1.5 million provisional payment, which was listed but without specific details – claimed on Monday that the Hawks had not delivered on being open and transparent under Gowers’ leadership.
“Four people were intimidated or persuaded not to stand, so last year they got the incumbents, or the people they wanted on the board. This year, I thought: ‘Hang on.’ This is a culmination of a lot of things, and I have done a lot of talking …” the 76-year-old said on SEN.
“I don’t know who the four were last year who were persuaded not to stand. This year, there are two positions and five people nominated. Two are gone, and I am the only one standing. Consequently, there is an election.”
Gowers, who said he welcomed feedback at any time as part of a democratic process, took umbrage with Scott’s claim that four prospective board directors last year had been intimidated into not running.
“I say it’s the complete opposite. Those nominees, I spoke to all of them after the process, they all felt it was robust. They all felt it was more than fair. They were very happy to put their hand up, and they were also very happy that a decision had been made, although it wasn’t technically in their favour,” Gowers said.
Hawthorn vice-president Kate Hudson and director Owen Wilson, as well as non-board members Meryl Dooley, Lucinda Nolan, Harris and Langford were on the nominations committee before the 2024 election.
On a wet morning at Waverley, Hawthorn president Andy Gowers disputed claims made by club great Don Scott.Credit: Wayne Taylor
He disputed Scott’s claims about the lack of detail over the provisional $1.5 million payment, saying it had been put aside for “unknown” future legal issues. He said this same $1.5 million had flowed on to this year’s accounts, which had been used in the settlement last week of the club’s mediated Federal Court racism case with past players and their families. How much of that $1.5 million had been used was not disclosed.
Scott was pleased on Monday to note that the purpose of the $1.5 million provisional payment had been addressed with detail in this year’s annual financial records.
The Hawks last week announced a football operations surplus of more than $1.1 million for the financial year, coming after a season in which Sam Mitchell’s team vaulted into the finals.
On a day the Hawks officially began pre-season training at Waverley, Gowers said the Hawks were working towards building a bridge with all former players, coaches and staff impacted by the racism case.
“We are talking about Hawthorn people, some of whom have felt not great about their time, or a period of time, of their association here, and we are doing everything we can to repair those relationships and let people heal,” he said.
