Gordon welcomed back to fold
Good News!
Gordon welcomed back to fold
Herald Sun
Mark Stevens | March 06, 2008
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THE Western Bulldogs have officially re-embraced former president Peter Gordon, naming him as No. 1 ticket holder. Gordon, who last month made his first official appearance at Whitten Oval in 11 years, replaces golfer Craig Parry.
The announcement, made at the Dogs' jumper presentation last night, is the final piece in a major case of bridge-building work.
Gordon and his board were replaced by current president David Smorgon's group at the end of the 1996 season.
Although it was a bloodless coup, it did not come without any personal pain.
The much-heralded senior partner of law firm Slater and Gordon is famous for leading the fundraising fight that killed off the looming Fitzroy-Bulldogs merger in 1989.
Asked last month why he had been away from the club so long, Gordon said: "To be honest, I'm not sure we were particularly welcome after '96.
"I think there was a fair tide of opinion that we'd let the club down . . . I take great pride in what I did at Footscray," Gordon said in a Herald Sun interview.
Gordon has been welcomed back into the fold by Bulldogs chief executive Campbell Rose.
Re: Gordon welcomed back to fold
I got this from the club
The LeasePlan Western Bulldogs are pleased to announce that Peter Gordon is the new No. 1 Male Ticket Holder for the Club. President David Smorgon made the announcement at tonight’s Jumper Presentation in front of more than 600 attendees.
Born and raised in West Footscray, Mr Gordon has played an important role in the history of the organisation, President David Smorgon said.
“Peter worked tirelessly for the Footscray Football Club as both a supporter and President and has always been a strong advocate for the Club at all times. Back in 1989 Peter, along with other certain supporters effectively saved the club at a time when it needed help. On behalf of the Board, management and the Club I am proud to have Peter as our number one male ticket holder,” he said.
Peter Gordon said receiving the badge of number one male ticket holder was an honour he was proud to receive.
“It is a great honour to be here tonight and be able to say hello to some old friends and take a walk down memory lane. Recently I returned to Whitten Oval and it was am amazing feeling to stand on the same spot I stood back in 1989 but this time to look around and see what Campbell (Rose) and David have achieved with the $26M redevelopment. It was a very special moment for me,” he said.
“The best advice I can give the players is to seize the moment and take every opportunity to be part of something special.”
BIOGRAPHY
Peter Gordon has been a supporter of the Club since he was four years old. Concerned about Footscray’s probable relocation in 1988, he decided to do something practical to keep the Bulldogs at Western Oval and formed the “Save the Dogs” Committee. With Doug Hawkins, Gordon rigged up “four-by-two” placards, and printed stickers for a half-time demonstration. A policeman confronted him on the oval looking stern with the comment “Is that going to have a sufficient impact on the VFL?”
Peter then continued his fight in 1989 when he led the supporters against the imposed merger with the Fitzroy Football Club. This fight was mostly conducted from the Footscray office of Slater & Gordon (where Peter had worked since 1980), and raised $1.6 million to stave off the Club's insolvency. He became President of Footscray Football Club in November 1989. Then aged, 32, he remains the youngest person ever to hold the position of President of an AFL/VFL club.
Mr Gordon started the Western Suburbs Legal Service in Newport as a law student in 1978, and has worked at Slater & Gordon since 1980. He started the Footscray office of Slater & Gordon in 1984. From that office, he conducted the first successful asbestos-cancer common law case in Australia in 1984. He was responsible for the opening of the first interstate Slater & Gordon offices (in Sydney and Perth,) in 1986, spending much of the late 1980s in Perth working on the Wittenoom asbestos cases against CSR.
He became a partner of Slater & Gordon in November 1989. He became senior partner of Slater & Gordon in 1995.
He remained President of FFC for seven years until late 1996, during which time he also worked on major class actions involving asbestos, medically acquired HIV, defective breast implants; institutional sexual abuse; environmental contamination of the Ok Tedi River, and numerous other class actions.
Since 1996, he has continued to work on numerous class actions most notably against the tobacco industry. In 2000, he was awarded the Australian Lawyers' Association's Civil Justice Award. Since 2006, he has been a member of the Board of Governance of VicHealth.
In 2007, he oversaw the public float of Slater & Gordon; the first public listing of a law firm anywhere in the world. He serves as Deputy Chair on the Board of Slater & Gordon which now has 25 offices throughout every Mainland State of Australia.
Re: Gordon welcomed back to fold
Re: Gordon welcomed back to fold
Anyone got his quote from a couple of weeks back in regard to a response to Elliot's 'tragic' comment?
Re: Gordon welcomed back to fold
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ErnieSigley
Anyone got his quote from a couple of weeks back in regard to a response to Elliot's 'tragic' comment?
Where was that ES? Did you read it in the paper?
Re: Gordon welcomed back to fold
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bornadog
Where was that ES? Did you read it in the paper?
Think it might be in the local Western Suburbs paper?
Re: Gordon welcomed back to fold
Found it
"We may not have won 15 premierships, but there's so much more to be proud of in this club's heroic struggle for survival than the sort of chicanery that he was involved in which he managed to win a premiership or two.
"Footscray is an enduring tragedy the way that Hamlet is, whereas Elliott is more your Much Ado About Nothing-type play."
Re: Gordon welcomed back to fold
Good stuff, nice to formally get Gordon back to the club and allow the supporters to acknowledge his enormous contribution
Re: Gordon welcomed back to fold
He said at last night's Jumper Presentation function that he was glad that Campbell Rose had invited him back as it gave him another chance to defame John Elliot.
Re: Gordon welcomed back to fold
A great move by the club to embrace Peter Gordon the way it has. It's good that they still recognise the work that he did to keep this club going when all seemed lost.
Re: Gordon welcomed back to fold
Quote:
Originally Posted by
aker39
He said at last night's Jumper Presentation function that he was glad that Campbell Rose had invited him back as it gave him another chance to defame John Elliot.
It's not defamation if it's true.
Re: Gordon welcomed back to fold
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bulldog Revolution
Good stuff, nice to formally get Gordon back to the club and allow the supporters to acknowledge his enormous contribution
I agree and you know he is such a nice bloke - great decision to get him back onboard, he would be rapt. He once said to me that his two greatest achievements whilst at the Bulldogs was a/ Trying to save the club and b/ was getting Chris Grant to re-sign with the Dogs when all that Pt Adelaide hoopla was going on about him leaving the Dogs to go there. He even showed me a framed copy of the contract. He is one passionate supporter!
