The news that the Brisbane Lions Board dispute has been resolved is welcome.

From the beginning, The Lion’s Roar have argued that the disunity within the Club was too damaging to let linger. We consistently told the main players “sort it out or let the members vote at an EGM”. 

That the parties have finally reached a resolution allows our club to rebuild, under a new leadership and with renewed energy. No matter which side of the dispute you supported, boardroom battles were causing devastating damage to the club. The best outcome was always going to be a resolution that both parties agreed to. That appears to have been achieved. 

We understand that many of you wanted to go to the EGM and exercise your rights as a member. We also understand that the negotiated outcome might feel like you’ve been denied that opportunity. 

While we are also disappointed that the EGM probably won’t proceed, the fact is that the Annual General Meeting will be held in less than 2 months and is a good opportunity to raise any issues on which you wish to seek answers from the club. We urge all members to get to the AGM, scheduled for Dec 16. Keeping the club’s leadership accountable and transparent has to remain our primary focus, now and into the future.

W

e, The Lion’s Roar organisers, are willing to give the new Board the chance to turn things around. We want the club, under the Chairmanship of Mr Bob Sharpless, to usher in a new era which is marked by proper and meaningful supporter engagement. As we’ve always said, the members own this club and the Board is answerable to you. 

We’ve had assurances from within the new Board that they will be starting afresh. There will be no factions and no alliances – just 5 people who have the good of the Brisbane Lions as their driving focus. We trust that this is the case.

We would like to give our thanks to all of the outgoing directors – Angus Johnson, Linda Nash and Paul Williams. We recognise that their selfless actions in stepping aside are, in part, a reason why our club now has the opportunity to rebuild. Each of those people contributed significantly to the club and each deserves to be acknowledged for their work. Thank you Angus, Linda and Paul.

The Lion’s Roar won’t be going away. We’ll be demanding better and more productive supporter engagement from the new Board. We’ll be there to ensure that the vote on the jumper goes ahead. We’ll keep fighting for our Victorian supporters’ right to see their club play in Melbourne as per the Fitzroy merger agreement. And we’ll continue to provide you with a voice on all issues which affect members and supporters. We urge you to continue to join us in standing up for our rights as supporters. We hope the silver lining out of this situation is a more engaged and vigilant membership.

But we also feel that it is time to unite. The last few months have been marked by a nastiness and division which is not the Brisbane Lions way. It is time to put that behind us. We feel that The Lion’s Roar can contribute to a building a strong and unified Brisbane Lions. We look forward to working with the Board, the Club and all supporters in achieving that.

Go Lions!