MELBOURNE chairman Jim Stynes has made his first bold move since assuming the main role at the Demons by announcing “Debt Demolition Month” -- an ambitious plan he hopes will help bring the club out of financial danger.
Speaking at the MCG on Thursday afternoon, Stynes admitted his club would be “on the edge” of collapse in the future should it keep adding to its debt.
“The month of August will now be known as ‘Debt Demolition Month’ for the Melbourne Football Club,” Stynes said.
“Our aim is to demolish the whole $5 million.”
Likening his club’s task to the TAC advertising campaign, Stynes said the Demons needed to “wipe off five” or risk having to re-locate.
“Put simply, we will not survive if we continue on our current path,” he said.
Stynes said the Demons’ fundraising efforts would begin early in the month.
“Today is a call out to the entire red and blue family. I am putting you on notice for August,” he said.
“We will begin the debt demolition with an event on the 5th of August, when 150 influential Melbourne supporters will be asked to make a significant contribution to our club.
“Following this event, all our members will receive a letter advising them how much money we raised on the night and how much we still have to go.”
The letter will also urge members to dig deep, Stynes said.
But Demons supporters won’t have to erase the debt all on their own, with Stynes announcing that for every dollar Melbourne members donate pay television company Foxtel will match the figure dollar for dollar – up to $100,000.
Stynes said members would be kept abreast of how the debt demolition was tracking throughout the month while on August 31 – following the club’s final home match of the season against Richmond at the MCG – the Dees will stage a twilight event to thank all those involved in helping wipe out the debt.
Stynes estimated the interest alone was accumulating by about “half a million” dollars each year.
Despite his massive task to turn around his club’s financial fortunes, Stynes said he hadn’t been perturbed since taking control of the Demons’ board last month.
“Obviously when you come into it you’re not totally sure what’s there but I’ve been really pleased with what I’ve seen,” Stynes said.
“I haven’t been shocked, or there hasn’t been any skeletons hidden in closets.
“I think the thing that’s really impressed with has been the support … from everyone across the board.”
He used Brock McLean’s effort to come back onto the field against the Brisbane Lions last round – a match in which Melbourne won by a point – as an example of the determination and spirit both evident and required at the club if it was to prosper in the coming years.
But the former Brownlow Medallist, while acknowledging his club was “teetering on the edge of its existence”, is confident.
“We have a new board, a new coach and a young, exciting list,” he said.
“We are about to begin a new era that can cement the future viability and sustainability of the Melbourne Football Club.
“Please take seriously that we have one chance to take the club forward … that chance is now.”
