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Melbourne FC considered sacking coach Simon Goodwin ahead of its 2021 AFL premiership winning season over “behavourial issues”, according to a report in the Herald Sun.
The Herald Sun paper said the Melbourne board discussed the possibility as Goodwin was investigated over claims of gambling, bullying, and other issues spanning 2018-2021.
Goodwin survived and the Demons won their first premiership since 1964.
Then-president Glen Bartlett, and head doctor Zeeshan Arain, departed Essendon amid the internal unrest.
The Herald Sun said Arain was dismissed shortly after raising concerns about Goodwin to club chief Gary Pert, and later received a substantial settlement after he launched an unlawful dismissal claim against the club.
The paper said leaked documents obtained by them showed claims that Arain had “encountered unreasonable and repeated behaviour by Mr Goodwin”, and that the coach used “aggressive language and tone” when speaking about managing injuries of senior players.
“He (Dr Arain) informed you (Pert) among other matters that the culture within the club was a risk to the health and safety of everyone involved,” a legal letter seen by the Herald Sun said.
Bartlett resigned as president in April 2021.
The Herald Sun said he interviewed Arain in December 2020, when the board was first made aware of further allegations against Goodwin.
Alan Richardson was reportedly sent on a club trip to Las Vegas in 2019 as a chaperone for Goodwin, because of concerns for what the coach “may get up to” while a board memo claimed multiple staff members believed Goodwin had “serious lifestyle issues”.
The Demons have since released a statement through club President Kate Roffey:
“As previously communicated to Melbourne supporters, the review reaffirmed Simon Goodwin as the right man to lead our club, and ultimately to drive us to premiership success,” Roffey said.
“As expected from any review, the final recommendations outlined areas for improvement for several key staff within the football program, that feedback was given and welcomed by Simon and others as a way of improving our young leaders who are driving the cultural change.
Simon, like many others within the department, was given this feedback and embraced the opportunity it provided to evolve and improve as a coach.
During these feedback discussions, Simon totally rejected any accusations of bullying behaviour and as the Club President, I totally support Simon rejecting those accusations.
Simon is an inclusive leader who is loved by the players, coaches and staff and goes out of his way to build genuine relationships throughout the football department and broader club.
Following the review, Simon, Alan Richardson, Max Gawn and the club’s leadership group led the charge in ensuring all areas for improvement outlined in the review were acted upon.
They embedded the club’s values of trust, respect, unity and excellence within our football department and they continue to do so.
The character and strength of our people saw us achieve great things in season 2021 and we are excited to see what we can do in 2022 and beyond.”
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