Yes of course that’s how he sold it to us. He would do anything to sell it. Even as young as I was there, I thought we gave too much too Hawthorn. The logo, letting it cover most of our jumper. Seriously, you can’t believe everything he says in “Urge to merge”. I know there are two sides of the story, but after reading it, you’d think he was a flawless saint and Gutnik was the devil incarnate.

Again, you want a takeover, this is a takeover, we were clearly merging. Hawthorn actually got a pretty good deal:

 

On 6/21/2013 at 5:18 PM, Redleg said:

"The MFC members voted for the merger".

I am sick to death of this statement being made in the media. It is used to denigrate the club and members.

The truth is that many MFC members were denied a vote on the issue, many were refused entry to the meeting and the vote, if one can call it that, was carried by proxy votes, kept in a safe, for a time they were needed to stack a vote.

The people who provided thoses proxies, had absolutely no idea they would be used in a merger vote. They were obtained from people who were given free memberships and told to sign over proxies.

To call that a proper vote, on the most contentious issue in the club's history, is nothing short of a disgrace and an insult to the members of the club at the time.

I wish someone would make this perfectly clear to the media and get this stopped once and for all. We should not allow this denigration to continue.

Agree Red.

Unfortunately, it just another example of the creation of a myth that then becomes perpetuated by others.  Myth and fact becomes blurred and often the myth becomes accepted by others as fact.  Or as the old adage goes, perception becomes accepted as fact. 

That is the lesson learnt from history. So much of what we accept as fact emanates from myth.

The MFC vote was a Tammany Hall exercise pure and simple with a number of MFC power brokers organizing the proxies.  The rank and file MFC were completely outplayed on the issue a little like the losers in trades hall battles and the politics of the labour movement. 

For me what came out of that exercise was the emergence of the MFC as a footy club that was distinct and separate, with its own identity based on its unique history and heritage.  Thanks to Joe Gutnick and Brian Dixon, and to the thousands of Demon supporters that would rather see their club die than become something other than what it was. The loss of identity and soul.  

As individuals, we are what we are. No amount of cosmetic surgery will change what we are. We all have a soul and for many of us, the MFC is part of that soul. 

Bill Guest carried the proxies by providing his staff with free memberships.  As a result of this farce, the MFC constitution was changed which would require a 75% majority vote for any future proposed merger to go through.  The media abide by the old axiom of never letting the facts get in the way of a good story.

That's enough. Stay on topic please. Last warning to everyone.

WTF brought this topic back from the dead? It's been gone over again and again and again and again and ............

 

It's more productive to argue about whether we should have drafted Ollie Wines.

 

It's more productive to propose that with a good pre-season, Sylvia might finally fulfill his potential.

 

We have a gun list who are on the cusp of kicking major backside. We should concentrate on that. Look forward, not back.

Agreed. Thread closed.