To our members,

We’d like to firstly take a moment to thank you. 

Thank you for getting on board in what was a record-breaking year for our club’s membership. We reached 52,446 members for the first time in our history; an incredible show of support from our fans. 

Thank you for standing with us, and for sticking by us. We know this season has been bitterly disappointing for us all; it’s hard to write this letter and ignore the fact we finished 17th on the AFL ladder, as it’s obviously nowhere near where we wanted to be.
 
Coming into this season, we knew we would need to improve just to make the finals again. However, this is a brutal competition and we clearly fell short of our own expectations. 

But success is not a straight line. We have had five years of growth and whilst this year has been disappointing, the pain we have all felt will drive us forward into 2020.

We have always said that this is not just about one season. Our focus is to build a team that will consistently feature in September over the next five to seven years, and challenge for a Premiership. 

It has taken a lot of work to get to this point, but there’s a significant amount still to do. In saying that, the belief in the football club is as strong as ever. We have complete faith in our players and football department leaders and know that together, we will find the required improvement. Yes, 2019 has been a major bump in the road, but not one that is going to take us off course.

The most important thing for us now, is what learnings we have taken from 2019 and what actions we are going to take to address our issues. There are some harsh lessons for us all, and we are under no illusion that every area of our club needs to find improvement. 

This process has already begun. We did not wait until the end of the season to start making change, having restructured our coaching and fitness department mid-season. Since then, we have also appointed some key personnel in Darren Burgess and Alan Richardson, who will be incredibly important for us going forward. Further changes will be announced in the near future.

We are a member-based club, and for that reason we will have a Post-Season Member Forum every year. The forum will focus solely on on-field performance and the elements that drive our football program. This year it will allow members to hear from the leaders of the club about the specific dynamics that affected our performance in 2019. Members will hear our learnings and our planned response to ensure continual improvement. The forum will also give you as a member, the opportunity to ask questions about our performance in 2019 and our plans for 2020.

The details of this year's Post-Season Member Forum are:

Date: Tuesday 19th November 2019
Time: 6:00pm arrival and registration, for a 6:30pm start
Location: MCC Members Dining Room, Level 2, Gate 2, MCG.
Entry: Your valid 2019 or 2020 Melbourne Football Club membership card is required for entry.

Please register your attendance via this link.

As a valued Melbourne Football Club member, you are a critical part of the growth of this club. Your support during the good times, and not so good times, means everything to the Club. For this reason, we would like to formally invite you to attend the forum and hope you can make the time.

Thank you for being part of our journey in 2019, and for your ongoing support. Please rest assured, that we will continue to do everything possible to create a club that you feel proud to belong to.

We hope to see you on Tuesday 19th November.

Kind regards,

Gary Pert (CEO)
Glen Bartlett (Chairman)