I don't know if I'm insane or senile (
probably both), but I seem to recall that in the early 80's it used to be a
requisite of membership (possibly social club membership) that if the club got into trouble, each member had to stump up $50 in order to help us out of it. It may well have been as a side-effect of the messy end of the Harris regime, but I can
distinctly remember chatting with my late father about it.
As I've been ill for quite a while I haven't been able to attend a live game for about three years or so, so through my Social Club membership I've basically been making a $400-odd donation to the club in its time of greatest need. Even though it would be a genuine financial strain I wouldn't be adverse to coughing up $100-$200 to escape the chains of our oppressors (both financial institutions
and the AFL!).
As to whether all our rich supporters should stump up the seven figure sums that their bank accounts would suggest that they are capable of: As long as we aren't exchanging
one dictator for
another.
There must be
no strings attached to their contribution. The only return they should expect from their investment is a successful Carlton team,
not some cock-extending display of power. Let them have their superboxes and the like,
but keep their noses out of the everyday running of the club,
unless they are able to attract the votes of the general membership.
By steering ourselves into the hands of '
society's elite' rather than the '
little people' (a.k.a. hoi polloi, plebs, MacDonalds workers or
whomever), we have
not future-proofed our club by actively seeking out new generations of bluebagger-supporting kids during our periods of on-field prominence.
On the
positive side (despite the relentlessly negative PR we have been subjected to over the summer) it is
still not too late to recover from the disasters of recent years.
What we
do know though is that
whoever is elected in March (and I'm
certainly not smart enough to know who that should be), must focus the club so that we don't fall into the same malaise that befell Collingwood and Melbourne after the 50's.
No club
deserves success simply because they
have been successful.
What inspires
me of late is seeing all these young, talented players walking in off Royal Parade. It's
they who make me confident that these Dark Times
will pass.
