Michael O’Loughlin has been elected to the Sydney Swans Board at this evening’s Annual General Meeting.
O’Loughlin played 303 games with the Swans between 1995-2009.
Chairman Andrew Pridham said O’Loughlin would be a wonderful addition to the Board.
“The Swans community will know Micky O best as a 303-game champion of our club. A premiership player; a member of the Swans and Australian Football Hall of Fame; a member of the AFL Indigenous Team of the Century; and former coach of the QBE Sydney Swans Academy,” Pridham said.
“But Michael will also bring to the Board extensive experience in the not-for-profit sector via the GO Foundation, which he founded with Adam Goodes. The GO Foundation has been an incredible success story and continues to provide extraordinary opportunities for Indigenous students.
“Michael is currently co-founder and Managing Director of ARA Indigenous Services, one Australia’s leading commercial cleaning businesses, with offices in every state and territory.
“With his breadth of experience across the corporate sector, not-for-profit, community and football, we are excited to welcome Michael to the Board,” he said.
Along with the appointment of O’Loughlin as a member-elect director, directors Alex Goodfellow, Andrew Ireland and Brian Tyson were all re-appointed for the further three-year term.
In his address to the AGM, Chairman Andrew Pridham also told members that the Board had resolved to update the beloved Sydney Swans Club song; Cheer Cheer the Red and the White.
The change will see the phrase "while her loyal sons are marching onwards to victory" updated to "while our loyal Swans are marching onwards to victory".
Pridham explained that with the rise of the QBE Sydney Swans Academy Youth Girls program and the Club’s ambitions to gain an AFLW licence, the update was necessary.
“I was delighted to see our first senior female teams play in the under-17 and under-19 competitions recently,” he said.
"Last weekend our under 19 QBE Sydney Swans Academy girls team defeated the previously undefeated Geelong Falcons by 13 points.
“In the decades to come both our male and female teams can equally enjoy belting out this song after a great win, and so too can our members,” Pridham said.
