As confirmed by Chairman David Koch at last night’s prestigious John Cahill Medal, the Port Adelaide Football Club is thrilled to appoint Matthew Richardson as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Mr Richardson will replace outgoing CEO Keith Thomas who finishes up today after more than nine years at the helm.

Mr Koch said Mr Richardson was the stand out choice from an outstanding field of candidates assembled through a national search, working with independent senior executive recruiting company BKD Executive Leaders.

“This is arguably the most important appointment of any club. It’s one never to be taken likely. It is a huge responsibility,” Mr Koch said.

“It became very clear throughout the process that Matthew was the most compelling candidate.

“No candidate we spoke to ever seemed to have the all-round package that Matthew brings. I was always sub-consciously benchmarking other candidates against him and Matthew always presented the attributes we were looking for.

“Matthew is an exceptionally talented administrator who is held in the highest regard within the Port Adelaide community and across the AFL industry as a whole.

“Matthew is primed to take our great club forward. He understands our story and our people like no other. He is already closely connected with our members and corporate partners and has an extensive network of contacts.

“As a Board we didn’t ever want to be accused of making the easy decision so we got Andrew Demetriou’s sports executive recruitment firm to scour the market and put Matthew through the wringer.

“The end result was Andrew concluded we had the best person right here already.”

Mr Richardson has been at the club since 2001 starting as Marketing Manager of the Magpies in the SANFL and then progressing to CEO from 2004 to 2009.

In 2009, Mr Richardson joined the Power as General Manager of Marketing and Consumer Business and was promoted in 2017 to Executive General Manager.

In 2010 Mr Richardson headed up the club’s strategic campaign to unite Port Adelaide as One Club, bring the Magpies in the SANFL and Power in the AFL together.

This led to the official reunification of the Port Adelaide Football Club which was a catalyst to the club’s record 60,000 plus members in 2015.

Mr Richardson said it is a great privilege and honour to be appointed as CEO of Port Adelaide.

“We have amazing people at every level of this club and I’m so grateful for the opportunity,” Mr Richardson said.

“I thank David and the Board for entrusting me with the responsibility of leading this club forward into a new era of success.

“Without a doubt, I feel a great responsibility to all our stakeholders – the people who have come before us and importantly the current custodians. Our job is to make you proud and make the Port Adelaide Football Club great.

“At Port Adelaide, you have to embrace the expectations that are ingrained in our club. It is a very special place and I think it is a really exciting time to be a Port Adelaide supporter,  so to be the CEO right now, I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity. You can’t help but feel the history of success here at this club built over 150 years. This club is about winning and we will not shy away from that expectation and responsibility.

“Our future success will be built on a foundation of care and connection. It’s something we’ve heard Kenny talk a lot about this year. The great clubs have it and it is essential to be successful in this competition. And that’s at every level across our club, inside and outside.

“Our 150^th anniversary and the challenges of COVID has reinforced that our people are most important to us. A united Port Adelaide family is a powerful force, and I can’t wait to harness that in pursuit of our mission.

“Football teams don’t win premierships, football clubs wins premierships. I’m looking forward to leading this club forward in the next era of greatness.”