Essendon has confirmed president Paul Brasher has resigned, with board member Dave Barham to assume the role going forward.
Reports broke on Monday morning that Brasher had confirmed he would stand down the previous day in a board meeting, with the Bombers announcing the news following a secondary board meeting on Monday afternoon.
Brasher will stay on the board which Barham will now lead.
The club released a statement just before 5pm on Monday afternoon but did not address the future of Ben Rutten.
The Essendon Football Club has released the following statement.
— Essendon FC (@essendonfc) August 15, 2022
Rutten is contracted for 2023 but his future has been subject to heavy speculation which only increased after the club’s 84-point Round 22 loss.
CEO Xavier Campbell said earlier on Monday that Rutten is the club's man, however the Bombers have now announced an external review.
Essendon’s statement reads: “Essendon Football Club wishes to advise the Board of Directors met on Monday morning, at which time Paul Brasher tendered his resignation as President.
“Following Brasher’s resignation, a vote was held to determine the next President of the Essendon Football Club with Dave Barham assuming the role.
“Two weeks ago, the internal review of the football department was tabled at a scheduled Board meeting. Since that date, the Board has met several times and formed the view on the need for additional external inputs, which will now take place under the scope of an external review.”
Barham has served on the board for the past seven years, and on becoming president said: “First of all, I am delighted that Paul has agreed to stay on. His experience and knowledge is invaluable.
“This club is one of the greatest sporting institutions in this country. This year, we celebrated our 150-year history. It makes us one of the oldest and most successful clubs in the world.
“However, over the past two decades, on field success has eluded us. We need to change this.
“We need to place a laser-like focus on our football performance above everything else. We need to build a platform, that will bring us sustainable success.
“The view of the Board is that we cannot continue to only review ourselves and hope that things will change. Whilst the review was thorough and well done, the Board has determined that our club needs further external aspects added into our analysis.
“We need to accept where we are, look hard at what best practice in AFL football is, reset, and then begin our fight back to winning premierships.
“No one is underestimating the task at hand, but it must start sometime and today is the day.
“We are confident we can do this. The broader club is in excellent shape, has outstanding facilities and a hardworking and valued administration.
“To all Bomber fans, this is a line in the sand moment.
“We will need your continued support and help to do this, but I know we can count on you, as you have never let us down, ever.
“There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about our future. This work will mean we the board can be in the best position to make what are very important decisions about our future.”
The Bombers have endured a different season and sit with a 7-14 record in Rutten's second season at the helm.
Reports suggest some at the club have pushed for an approach to Alastair Clarkson as he weights up an offer from North Melbourne and interest at GWS.
Campbell added he had not spoken with the four-time premiership coach.
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