A Message from PMFC President Michael Shulman & Football Director Adrian Bonaddio
Since 1874 the Port Melbourne Football Club has been a leader in the VFA/VFL competition and in our community. We have maintained an enviable commitment to success both on and off the field and a reputation for overcoming all challenges that confront us.
Our success has taken courage, sacrifice and at times difficult decisions, made in the best interests of the whole club.
As we approach the end of season 2021, we face a number of challenges. These include
COVID19, the new Men’s competition which is very competitive, ongoing success in the Women’s competition and a complex commercial landscape which currently includes ground redevelopment to enable us to remain an elite community club with “state of the art” facilities.
The Board of Directors have a responsibility to secure the future of our Club, regardless of the challenges facing it.
Given the above, we are developing a 5 year strategic plan to invigorate and renew our operation from top to bottom, and ensure we remain the benchmark performer in the current Men’s and Women’s competitions and an ongoing significant community association. A key component of this process is to ensure we have the right people in the right roles to implement this strategy.
The club has been completing a thorough review of its football operations, the outcome is that we shall be accepting applications for the position of VFL Men’s Head Coach for season 2022 and beyond.
Gary Ayres, our current Senior Men’s Coach has been informed of this review and is currently assessing future options. Gary’s succession has been discussed with him over a number of years. We acknowledge the extremely valuable contribution he has made to our Club over a long period of time and look forward to everyone supporting him and our Men’s team as he coaches the remainder of the season.
More details in relation to this Coaching position will be provided in due course. The Board is establishing a sub-committee that will be charged with the “Head Coach” selection process and overseeing the development of the 3-5 year football department strategy in conjunction with the Head Coach. The committee will be led by our CEO Paul Malcolm and include past players.
We shall provide further information as the process occurs. We look forward to a strong end to the 2021 Men’s season, and to finalising this important initiative in the coming 3-4 weeks.
Michael Shulman Adrian Bonaddio
President Football Director
