2011 was a year of extraordinary achievement in so many ways for the Collingwood Football Club. While we fell short of the ultimate on-field success, we have established a powerful foundation for sustained high performance, and everyone who has contributed to our great club this year can be very proud of the position we are in.
Let me it make it very clear, however, that we exist to win premierships, and we will stop at nothing to ensure that our football program has the best possible opportunity to seriously challenge for what everyone associated with Collingwood deserves and demands: our 16th premiership cup.
In the face of ongoing economic uncertainty and at a time when so many within the Collingwood family are experiencing considerable hardship, our members stood firm and took their support to unprecedented levels in 2011. I thank each and every one of our 72,728 members for standing “Side by Side” with the playing group throughout the season and ensuring Collingwood remains the biggest and most famous sporting club in Australia.
The passion and commitment of our supporters enabled the club to maintain its status as the most watched sporting club on Australian television, and smash a number of attendance records, including attracting seven MCG home-and-away crowds in excess of 80,000 - the most in one season in the history of the game. We also attracted massive online audiences, sponsorship and corporate support, all crucial to the overall success of the club.
I take this opportunity to thank and pay tribute to Michael Malthouse, who leaves Collingwood as a true great of our club. He arrived at Victoria Park with the club in disarray; in 12 seasons Mick transformed the football team into one of the most successful and revered in the competition.
His record of 288 games, eight finals campaigns, five grand finals and of course the famous 2010 premiership triumph speaks for itself. To Mick, his wife Nanette and his entire family, thank you for the incredible contribution you’ve made to Collingwood and also to the game of football across 40 years. We wish you every happiness and success in the future.
Mick, along with our director of football, Geoff Walsh, and the entire football program, must be congratulated on our on-field performance in 2011 and for guiding the playing group. Never before has a Collingwood team won 20 home-and-away matches, and we won the McClelland Trophy for finishing on top of the ladder for the second-straight season with the best percentage ever in the AFL era. It truly was a year of incredible highs.
Click here to purchase the 2011 Yearbook and read the rest of McGuire's message.
