PORT ADELAIDE chief executive officer Keith Thomas has doused speculation on the future of the club’s name and says that any efforts to rebrand Port Adelaide runs the risk of losing almost the entirety of the club's membership.

Thomas was responding to questioning of the club’s image at his announcement of the Power’s senior coaching selection panel.

[ Related: Senior coaching panel confirmed ]

He categorically ruled out any discussions at board-level to remove references to Port Adelaide from its name despite recent media speculation.

“I’m wondering how it [name-change discussions] would start to be honest,” said Thomas.

“The way that it would work is that the Port Adelaide board would need to decide that a fundamental change was required.

“If you were to go down that track you would have to be unbelievably well-informed about the impact of that.”

Having joined the club as CEO on the back of the successful ‘One Club’ campaign to reunify the Power and Magpie arms of the Port Adelaide football community, Thomas has pushed the drive towards embracing the club’s traditional values.

He proffered statistics showing that the vast majority of the club’s current membership hailed from the ‘traditional’ base of supporters who support Port Adelaide in the SANFL.

“The cornerstone stats that you want to think about are that we’ve got 37,000 members,” said Thomas.

“Ninety-three of them are Port Adelaide supporters [in the SANFL], and the 50,000 people that are no longer members but have been in the last 5 years or so, of them eighty-six percent are Port Adelaide supporters who have embraced the ‘One Club’ scenario.”

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Thomas likened any move to rebrand the club to effectively commissioning another new franchise along the lines of expansion clubs Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney.

“If you were to do anything to break that down [the club’s supporter base] you run a massive risk - you would be running a start-up scenario and I have no appetite for that.”

“I don’t speak to anyone in important places who has an appetite for that sort of stuff.

“The AFL position is they are absolutely committed to Port Adelaide.

“I can guarantee you this discussion has not been had.”

Amidst a second difficult season on field for the Power, which resulted in its lowest home game crowd against West Coast last Sunday lunchtime, Thomas called on the Port Adelaide ‘community’ to get behind the club.

He said that recent membership campaigns had resonated with Port’s supporter base and will continue to respect and acknowledge the club’s 142-year history.

“For us to be successful we need a united Port Adelaide community which is true to its Port Adelaide values and origins,” he said.

“We don’t have to lean on the old Magpie tradition but it doesn’t, it can’t and should never [mean we] dismiss it either.”

“It is about pushing forward with a brand that is successful, consistent, true to what it stands for and that people are compelled to watch.

“That’s our task.”

Port Adelaide expects to have confirmed its senior coaching position prior to the 2012 AFL Grand Final.