So as you've probably seen, I'm one of the seven directors of the new Leagues Club board.
It's truly been a surreal journey since 2003 when I decided to start a little blog about the Eels. Watching this site grow into what it has and the fantastic community that formed around it, has been an amazing experience. The fact that I got to use the site's reach to see something that became really important to me realised - constitutional reform, made the journey even more rewarding. And now to this point, where I get the opportunity to contribute even more directly to the future of the club, is way more than I could have ever imagined. And so many of you have supported me for so many years, through some truly crazy times and I will always be very thankful to you all that lent that support. So many of you I've also had the pleasure to meet in person, too, and please if you ever see me around, do come and introduce yourself.
However, I got to this point, by sticking to my beliefs about what I thought was right for the club. Whether that be refusing to bow to a board that tried to silence our voices. Or constitutional reform being a non-negotiable issue for me, which meant that I was never really a chance of any board wanting to work with me, because it meant they would have lost control of the football club. And what is right for this new board, is that I do everything I can do to remove any questions about myself and conflicts of interest by stepping away from the operation of this site.
As you all probably realise, I've pretty much done that already. Because of my business commitments, Super has effectively been doing most of the admin for the site for the past two years and all of it for the past six months. Super will now operate the site, under an agreement whereby he'll receive modest compensation for his work, and any additional money the site generates will be donated to the Parramatta Foundation. It's not a particularly big deal because it's not a lot of money, but I think it's a nice little legacy to leave behind. So to be clear, I won't have any ownership of the site, will have no admin privileges and receive no financial benefit from the site. I don't expect you'll see any real changes but I'll reach out to a couple of you that have helped or offered help in the past before I turn that over. I'd like to give a very special thank you to all the mods who helped me over the years, this site couldn't have survived without you, and in particular to Patsy who has been the unsung hero of this site.
The other aspect of being on the board is that I'm now bound by the Directors Handbook, which states that no director can comment publicly on the club without the authority of the Chairman. Which is the way it should be, and the way a professional board should be run, so obviously it's not going to be appropriate for me to post blogs or even comment on pretty much anything related to the club or the footy.
This is all obviously really difficult for me to give up. This site has been like a child to me. Often frustrating, sometimes infuriating, but ultimately something you love deeply.
However, I truly am excited about the opportunity for the Club. It really is a well-credentialled board with a really good diverse mix of skills, experience and personalities which is what you should get when you're able to go through a merit-based selection process. All of the directors had to go through two rounds of interviews, provide references, etc and the process was managed by a recruitment expert within the clubs industry, so it was as rigorous a process as you could possibly get in terms of recruiting the directors. And everyone is a passionate Eels fan as well. The Club is going through a transformational period where it has to diversify its revenues, because there is a slowdown in gaming, and I'd like to think my business experience means I can contribute positively to a lot of the big decisions that have to be made.
So I'm excited about the opportunity. But the other thing I'm stoked about is if that within the next 12 months, the democratic process will kick in. And if anyone who has any beef with me or any of the chosen directors, then - assuming they are a member - they'll get that democratic opportunity to put themselves up or vote for their preferred candidate. Except this time, it will be done in a far more orderly and professional fashion, that won't throw the Eels into chaos every two years. Which is all I really wanted to see in the first place.
And yes, feel free to blame me for everything...
Replies
Congrats.
This spells disaster for this site, who owns this site if you dont?
If you dont own it why are you paying super to continue to run it into the ground?
Daz you genius, looks like i was exactly spot on with my earlier comments.
I'm not paying Super. The revenue from the site will go directly to Super, but on the basis that outside of the admin payments we've agreed to, the money will be donated to the Parramatta Foundation. That was one of the ideas I was throwing around back when we were trying to get the coterie set up. As I said, nothing is going to change here, compared to how the site has run for quite a long time. I literally cannot remember the last time I made a moderation or admin decision. As has always been the case, the future of this site lies with the people who come here. I stopped considering it "my site" a long time ago...
Wont be long before super bans most of us for going against his values or for doing something he deems wrong.
I hope you choose some people to help him who have some fairness, smarts, understanding of people and can see the woods through the trees because without that this place is in big trouble and thats sad.
Super needs a few guys to keep him honest and keep descisions fair, even give Patsy a bigger say or a few older guys who arnt religious or cucked to the left.
Anyway, good luck in the new position, im happy you got there.
Does this site make a lot of money? Sorry I'm clueless to the history of the site.
We want our own supporters bay say at the 22. Snake can lead on the Bongos. Fong can chime in on his zylaphone ( no chains of course ) and Slugg can lead the public recruitment of our own cheerleaders.
You can run the drinks Chucky, we will be up the top of the stadium, back row, bring your dancing shoes.
That's fantastic Phil, congrats and good luck. Thanks for everything over the years I remember when the original eels bulletin board shut down, it was like a death in the family there was no Facebook or twitter or instagram so there was nowhere to vent and discuss good and bad things with fellow supporters and then 1 eyed eel came along. I don't spend much time on here these days but it has been a saviour over the years especially over the dark years, so thanks again and good luck
Congratulations mate. I think it's important you channel great leaders of our time and I suggest you model yourself on one of the great alphas of this decade. You know who I mean;
As for the future of this site. I have reservations.
Congratulations Phil.
Ah,
Donald Trump avoided the military draft 5 times
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