COLLINGWOOD inducted premiership coach Mick Malthouse as a life member at its Annual General Meeting on Monday night. 

The AFL's coaching games record holder accepted the honour from club president Eddie McGuire, thanking the Magpies for the opportunity to coach the club he barracked for as a child.

McGuire instigated the famous handover agreement signed in 2009 that saw current coach Nathan Buckley succeed Malthouse as senior coach after Geelong defeated Collingwood in the 2011 Grand Final.

Rather than continue as director of coaching alongside Buckley as per the original agreement, Malthouse decided to finish up at Collingwood at the end of 2011.

However in accepting the life membership at the club's Holden Centre, Malthouse complimented McGuire for his vision in 2000 when Malthouse was appointed coach and the subsequent growth of the football club during his time as president.

"When you look at the success of the football club in the last 17 or 18 years, it's a credit to you and your board," Malthouse said. 

Malthouse coached Collingwood for 286 games in a coaching career that stretched over four clubs and 718 games, yielding three premierships. 

He led the Magpies to the 2010 premiership and coached the club into the 2002, 2003 and 2011 Grand Finals. 

Malthouse told the AGM the players were the people he was most indebted to for any success he had as a coach.

"They're the ones that bleed. They're the ones that break their bones. They're the ones that listen. They're the ones that perhaps at times don't agree with you but they respect what you say and they go out and try to do their best," Malthouse said. 

The club also inducted two members of the Magpies' 2010 premiership team, Alan Toovey, who retired at the end of last season, and Chris Dawes, who played 50 games with Melbourne from 2013-2016 after 71 games for the Magpies.

Long-time sponsor and patron John Laidlaw was also inducted as a life member for his contribution to the club.