List Mgmt. Ben Amarfio - has resigned as our CEO - Thank you Ben

[Hojuman]

This week I made the difficult decision to resign as the chief executive officer of the North Melbourne Football Club.

Coming to this decision has been tough – I’ve loved serving this magnificent football club for the past three, eventful years and it’s become a special place for me.

When I joined North Melbourne I was struck by the privilege of meeting and building relationships with wonderful North people and partners, and the exciting prospect of assisting in the turnaround of our proud club’s on- and off-field situation.

Off-field we are debt free now, enjoy profits each year, will finish this year with forecasted cash reserves of around $3 million and we will have surpassed a membership tally of 50K - something seen as almost impossible three years ago when we had only 38,000 members.

We have engaged with thousands of young people through The Huddle and we have wonderful sponsor partnerships in MAZDA, Spirit of Tasmania, AIA, PUMA and many others.

Our Arden St facility refurbishment and extension will be completed this November, the Arden Precinct re-zoning has been signed off and our Masterplan vision for the precinct has been presented to government. This will pave the way for a second oval, further facility enhancements and investment opportunities which will cement the club at Arden Street for decades to come.

On-field, we have undergone a major re-build and bold list turnover. Turning around our AFL program has been extremely challenging. Year two of our rebuild has proven harder than we envisaged and we weren’t as competitive as we had expected. As CEO, ultimately that responsibility lays with me and I’m sorry that we let down our members and supporters and fell short of expectations this year.

However, I am excited about the talented young list that we are building and I think the time is right for me to step aside and provide clear air for Alastair Clarkson, Todd Viney and our hard-working and talented football department to begin their important work, which will hopefully see us getting back to finals and winning silverware in the coming years.

There have been many highs and lows during my time at the club, from dealing with the harsh impacts of COVID, to the joyous highs of seeing Majak Daw and Ben Cunnington making their come backs to football after their significant setbacks and leading the club in embracing Dani Laidley.

While I accept that we are in a very scrutinised, high-profile industry, I can’t deny that the disproportionate amount of innuendo, conjecture and scuttlebutt do have an impact on myself, those around me and the club.

I hope that my departure will help quell the negative noise, that everyone gets behind the next CEO and they are afforded the opportunity to get on with the job without constant distractions.
The past few months in particular have taken a toll and I am keen to take a break once we close out some major projects and activities.

In my final few months, among other things, we’d like to progress our Arden Masterplan, secure a national draft assistance package from the AFL, extend some major sponsor partnerships and launch a future fund for the club.

I will leave satisfied that a very solid foundation has been laid and the club is in a wonderful position to grow from an off and on-field perspective for our men’s and women’s programs.

I’d like to thank the Victorian State Government for their belief and support of our Arden vision – their contributions have ensured we deliver our facility upgrade and the Club’s bold plans for the Arden Precinct into the future. I would also like to thank the Tasmanian Government for their support in enabling us to play AFL and AFLW games in front of our Tassie members throughout the COVID period last year.

I wish to thank Ben Buckley, previous directors and Sonja Hood and I wish the current board all the very best and continued success. My heartfelt thanks go to our talented, loyal and hardworking executive team, staff and volunteers who collectively have set our club up for the future.

I’d like to thank our partners, stakeholders and most importantly our supporters and members. Our staunch North Melbourne members are why we come to work each day, we missed them all in 2020 and 2021 and my dream is that we will provide them more on-field success and continued joy in the years to come.

I have been blessed to meet and interact with the most wonderfully loyal North Melbourne members and supporters. Something I hold very dear to me is our Executive team’s purpose which is to create greater connection among the North Melbourne community and bring you joy.

Although our bold re-build has meant that we haven’t seen much on-field success in recent years, we get much solace from the fact that our club and our players bring North fans joy in so many other ways. Whether that’s celebrating our past heroes or our current players making visits or sending personalised video messages to supporters going through tough times.

We are constantly blown away by the generosity and loyalty of our members – whether it’s encouraging messages of support, taking out memberships even though you weren’t permitted to attend games or that wonderful member who sent us an anonymous letter with $5000 cash contained in an envelope!

Our players sometimes touch the hearts of our supporters but often times you all touch our hearts as well, so thank you.

I’ll remain in the role for the next couple of months to finalise some major projects for our club and in the meantime I look forward to seeing you at an AFLW game.

Ben Amarfio
Chief Executive Officer
North Melbourne Football Club

Thanks Ben

 

[Errol Street]

Had been coming. The fact he didn’t go into the hub in QLD to throw support behind Rhyce rang alarm bells.

Ffs give it a spell Caro


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[Le Grille]

The bloke was too incompetent to be involved in selecting a coach. Not sure what else needs to be said.


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Was he, whilst noble didn’t work out I don’t think there was anything wrong with the method. There weren’t a great deal of alternatives and he engaged consultants like every club does in a coaching hunt. Was he on board at Shaws appointment?

 

[JarOfConfidence]

Ffs give it a spell Caro


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Some truth to this. Down at his holiday house on the Bellarine Peninsula when Rhyce was falling apart up in Qld. Benny Gale and several other CEOs were with their teams in the Covid bubble the whole time …..

 

[bennymate]

Thank you for your service BA. May the wind be at your back and all future breakfasts hot.

 

[Nutjob]

Was he, whilst noble didn’t work out I don’t think there was anything wrong with the method. There weren’t a great deal of alternatives and he engaged consultants like every club does in a coaching hunt. Was he on board at Shaws appointment?

I’m talking about his exclusion in recruiting Clarko. It is literally his job to oversee that.


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[Hearts to hearts]

Thanks Ben.

Now for a new CEO. MAKE IT HAPPEN.

 

[Le Grille]

Thanks Ben.

Now for a new CEO. MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Belly?

 

[The acurate one]

Some truth to this. Down at his holiday house on the Bellarine Peninsula when Rhyce was falling apart up in Qld. Benny Gale and several other CEOs were with their teams in the Covid bubble the whole time …..

Yes there is much truth to that, bloody heck that would appear to be a super grudge then. Was a while ago.

He needs to be thanked has set us up very nicely. A few North types were shocked Ben was preferred over Mark B 3 years ago.

Future fund sounds interesting.

Thanks Ben your great/good outweighed any shortcomings.

 

[the big lebowski]

Cash reserves of $3 mill?

Wowsers

Thanks Ben. Seems to me you do an A+ job.

 

[King Corey]

The bloke was too incompetent to be involved in recruiting a coach. Not sure what else needs to be said.


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Respectfully, that's a nonsensical criticism.

 

[giantroo]

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Look at the media trying to spin it as AC having control over the club.

 

[Orange Peanut]

I swear I signed my name on that letter. Oh well at least they got it.

 

[1975]

Personally I find this disappointing.
Hope next person is able to get as many deals done with government as Ben.

Cheers Ben.

 

[giantroo]

Yes there is much truth to that, bloody heck that would appear to be a super grudge then. Was a while ago.

He needs to be thanked has set us up very nicely. A few North types were shocked Ben was preferred over Mark B 3 years ago.

Future fund sounds interesting.

Thanks Ben your great/good outweighed any shortcomings.

Save it in your favourites

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[CURVE]

Very sad to read of Ben’s departure, but he leaves with club in better shape than it has ever been and with a promising future at Arden Street for another 150 years.

Thanks for your service Ben, you did a great job under difficult circumstances. All the best for the future.

 

[Orange Peanut]

role on October 31, a day before the new coach Alastair Clarkson officially starts

so he finishes on the last day of the football contract year, and AC starts on the first day of the subsequent one.

Nice wording to suggest shenanigans Glenn, ya douche.

 

[1975]

Ffs give it a spell Caro


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Here! here!

 

[Samsquanch]

Maybe Clarkson will pick Kennett as Ben's replacement..

Love that joke.

It is a joke isn't it?

It better be a bloody joke!

 

[King Corey]

Genuinely don't understand this. Yes the football operations needed an overhaul but if his commercial, stakeholder and fiscal management were as strong as they appear it makes no sense to me at all.

 

[Sillygit]

Sam Fartrue lol

ok, where's the re-signing?

 

[shimaburnsgrieg]

This week I made the difficult decision to resign as the chief executive officer of the North Melbourne Football Club.

Coming to this decision has been tough – I’ve loved serving this magnificent football club for the past three, eventful years and it’s become a special place for me.

When I joined North Melbourne I was struck by the privilege of meeting and building relationships with wonderful North people and partners, and the exciting prospect of assisting in the turnaround of our proud club’s on- and off-field situation.

Off-field we are debt free now, enjoy profits each year, will finish this year with forecasted cash reserves of around $3 million and we will have surpassed a membership tally of 50K - something seen as almost impossible three years ago when we had only 38,000 members.

We have engaged with thousands of young people through The Huddle and we have wonderful sponsor partnerships in MAZDA, Spirit of Tasmania, AIA, PUMA and many others.

Our Arden St facility refurbishment and extension will be completed this November, the Arden Precinct re-zoning has been signed off and our Masterplan vision for the precinct has been presented to government. This will pave the way for a second oval, further facility enhancements and investment opportunities which will cement the club at Arden Street for decades to come.

On-field, we have undergone a major re-build and bold list turnover. Turning around our AFL program has been extremely challenging. Year two of our rebuild has proven harder than we envisaged and we weren’t as competitive as we had expected. As CEO, ultimately that responsibility lays with me and I’m sorry that we let down our members and supporters and fell short of expectations this year.

However, I am excited about the talented young list that we are building and I think the time is right for me to step aside and provide clear air for Alastair Clarkson, Todd Viney and our hard-working and talented football department to begin their important work, which will hopefully see us getting back to finals and winning silverware in the coming years.

There have been many highs and lows during my time at the club, from dealing with the harsh impacts of COVID, to the joyous highs of seeing Majak Daw and Ben Cunnington making their come backs to football after their significant setbacks and leading the club in embracing Dani Laidley.

While I accept that we are in a very scrutinised, high-profile industry, I can’t deny that the disproportionate amount of innuendo, conjecture and scuttlebutt do have an impact on myself, those around me and the club.

I hope that my departure will help quell the negative noise, that everyone gets behind the next CEO and they are afforded the opportunity to get on with the job without constant distractions.
The past few months in particular have taken a toll and I am keen to take a break once we close out some major projects and activities.

In my final few months, among other things, we’d like to progress our Arden Masterplan, secure a national draft assistance package from the AFL, extend some major sponsor partnerships and launch a future fund for the club.

I will leave satisfied that a very solid foundation has been laid and the club is in a wonderful position to grow from an off and on-field perspective for our men’s and women’s programs.

I’d like to thank the Victorian State Government for their belief and support of our Arden vision – their contributions have ensured we deliver our facility upgrade and the Club’s bold plans for the Arden Precinct into the future. I would also like to thank the Tasmanian Government for their support in enabling us to play AFL and AFLW games in front of our Tassie members throughout the COVID period last year.

I wish to thank Ben Buckley, previous directors and Sonja Hood and I wish the current board all the very best and continued success. My heartfelt thanks go to our talented, loyal and hardworking executive team, staff and volunteers who collectively have set our club up for the future.

I’d like to thank our partners, stakeholders and most importantly our supporters and members. Our staunch North Melbourne members are why we come to work each day, we missed them all in 2020 and 2021 and my dream is that we will provide them more on-field success and continued joy in the years to come.

I have been blessed to meet and interact with the most wonderfully loyal North Melbourne members and supporters. Something I hold very dear to me is our Executive team’s purpose which is to create greater connection among the North Melbourne community and bring you joy.

Although our bold re-build has meant that we haven’t seen much on-field success in recent years, we get much solace from the fact that our club and our players bring North fans joy in so many other ways. Whether that’s celebrating our past heroes or our current players making visits or sending personalised video messages to supporters going through tough times.

We are constantly blown away by the generosity and loyalty of our members – whether it’s encouraging messages of support, taking out memberships even though you weren’t permitted to attend games or that wonderful member who sent us an anonymous letter with $5000 cash contained in an envelope!

Our players sometimes touch the hearts of our supporters but often times you all touch our hearts as well, so thank you.

I’ll remain in the role for the next couple of months to finalise some major projects for our club and in the meantime I look forward to seeing you at an AFLW game.

Ben Amarfio
Chief Executive Officer
North Melbourne Football Club

As CEO, ultimately that (on field) responsibility lays with me......

Good to see Ben acknowledge this.

Ben leaving the CEO position was the only option available to us - just like Nobes leaving the coaching role - it just had to happen given what this club has been through over the past 2-3 years. Unfortunately for the NMFC both these guys were out of their comfort zone and appointed to very significant positions well beyond their capabilities.

And like we have with Clarko we now need to find the best football club CEO out there and get them in ASAP.

The pieces are now coming together very quickly at Arden St and it's all heading the right way.

 

[Colby Cheer Squad]

Thanks Ben. A good North person. Our future success will owe a debt of gratitude to people like Ben (and Carl and Euge before him) who did the hard yards.

 

[Engimal v3]

I think the timing is unfortunate, along with his out-the-door comments about internal/external pressures. I don't think he meant anything by it, but it gives journos an opportunity to rubbish the club.