Richmond president Peggy O’Neal today announced that John O’Rourke, founder and chairman of international property and infrastructure company, Plenary Group, has been appointed to the Club’s board of directors, effective immediately.
O’Neal also announced that Richmond CEO Brendon Gale will become a member of the Richmond Football Club board, from the Club’s Annual General Meeting on December 9.
O’Rourke, a lifelong Richmond supporter and prominent member of the Jack’s Club coterie, was appointed to fill the casual vacancy created by the resignation of Carl Walsh in September. John’s term will expire at the 2017 AGM.
Richmond Football Club board election notice
Under the Club’s constitution, the board is required to fill casual vacancies. O’Rourke was one of a number of highly-credentialed candidates who went before the Club’s Nominations Committee in the past month. His appointment was then recommended to, and fully endorsed, by the Club’s board.
“John brings a wealth of experience and business acumen to the board, and we are pleased that he wants to play a more significant role at the Club,” O’Neal said.
“He is an enthusiastic supporter of the Richmond Football Club and - like all of us - wants to see the Club achieve the ultimate. John’s skills will be of great benefit around the board table, and we know that he will make a significant, meaningful contribution.
“The Nominations Committee took great care and a substantial amount of time in meeting with and assessing some truly outstanding candidates on the short list for this vacancy. The board had identified the skills it needed and the Committee undertook a thorough process in meeting the board’s brief.”
Richmond Football Club 2015 voting site
O’Neal said the board had taken the decision a few months ago to change Brendon Gale’s role from the December AGM.
“Brendon has clearly played a central role in building this club in recent years, and the board agreed that it was appropriate for him to have a seat at the boardroom table,” O’Neal said.
For several years, there has been power under the Club’s constitution for the CEO to be invited to sit on the board, but Gale will be the first Richmond CEO to have done so.
“Having both John and Brendon join the board is thoughtful, well-managed change, and that approach has been critical to this Club’s progress over the past five years,” O’Neal said.
Stability has been critical: O’Neal
O’Rourke is the nephew of Jack O’Rourke, who played 44 games and kicked 134 goals for Richmond from 1949-53.
O’Rourke established the Plenary Group in 2004. Plenary is an independent developer, owner and manager of public private partnerships. Since its establishment in 2004, Plenary’s portfolio of assets has a project capitalisation of more than $24 billion. The company also secured the tender for the $4 billion North West Rail Link project in Sydney.
O’Rourke has significant board experience. He chairs the project boards representing shareholders in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.
He is also a director of Flagship Property Holdings, and director and honorary treasurer of the Victoria Racing Club.
