The Shinboner Spirit was alive and well at Arden Street on Friday as the club declared a landmark eradication of a debt that peaked at $9 million in 2012.
Kangaroos president Ben Buckley and CEO Ben Amarfio were flanked by current players and former coaches, including Dani Laidley, who made her first return to North Melbourne HQ in recent times.
>> DEBT-FREE: ROOS ANNOUNCE HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT
Speaking on her time at the club, which included 99 games as a player and 144 as senior coach, Laidley recalled times when she had to maintain the Arden Street Oval and the adjacent grandstand, and assist other staff to help keep the club afloat.
"What I learned very quickly was North's greatest resource was their people … That's held the footy club in really good stead. We’ve always been really rich in regards to the cultural bank," Laidley told media.
Laidley was met with a financial baptism of fire when she first accepted the head coaching role, needing to wipe $1 million from the salary cap in her first month, helped largely by a senior player taking a $300,000 pay cut.
"That player was playing for minimum wage, that’s just what the footy club did,” Laidley said. “I'm very proud. It's a significant day, it's the first time I've represented my old tribe and my new tribe today.
Kangaroo president Buckley was delighted to welcome Laidley back to Arden Street.
“She played in a premiership, coached the club, played almost 100 games here and has a lot of friends and past teammates,” Buckley said. We reached out to Dani and embraced her and embraced her new chapter in her life.
“It’s fantastic to see her here today and hear her speak about her memories of the footy club. It gives you a very warm feeling. Football clubs are very embracing of their people. We are here for Dani and she is an important part of our history.”
Friday’s announcement marks the first time North Melbourne has been debt free since 1987.
After rebuffing a firm relocation offer from the AFL to move to the Gold Coast in 2007 - despite the lucrative financial incentive - the Kangaroos set about the huge task of maintaining financial independence.
Just 14 years later, the club is in the black with powerbrokers past and present celebrating the collaborative effort that brought the club off-field success.
“I’m very proud to look back now and say the right decision was made [to remain in Melbourne],” Laidley said.
“Every Shinboner supporter should be proud today.”
Former chairman James Brayshaw, who was one of a raft of people returning to the club after a significant time away, paid particular tribute to club benefactor Peter Scanlon's contributions.
Scanlon was approached by then club chief-executive Eugene Arocca for a cash investment of $100,000, only to hand over ten times that amount.
"[We had] the worst funded footy department in the game,” Brayshaw said. “It was a big task. None of this would be here without Pete so we never forget that. Back then, this day seemed a long way away."
Despite COVID interruptions, a bottom-placed finish, and, for the main, crowdless stadiums in 2021, the club has just recorded its 13th profit from the past 14 seasons.
Former players John Blakey, Brent Harvey, Brady Rawlings and Darren Crocker all watched on as panellists beamed about the club’s resurgence, the board making a commitment to improve football department facilities, media facilities and The Huddle, the club's community program.
