Blues land Davies as General Manager of Football

The Carlton Football Club is today pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Davies as the Club’s new General Manager of Football.

The Carlton Football Club is today pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Davies as the Club’s new General Manager of Football.

One of the AFL’s most highly-credentialled football GMs, Davies arrives at the Blues with more than a decade of experience, to lead the football department at IKON Park into its next phase.

The widely-respected football administrator will depart Alberton after 11 years in charge as General Manager of Football at Port Adelaide – during which time he established a strong football program that has played in three of the last five AFL Preliminary finals.

“For our club to attract a person of Chris’ calibre, knowledge and expertise, that is widely respected across the entire AFL industry, is a huge show of confidence in the direction we want to take our football department moving forward.” Carlton CEO Graham Wright said.

“Chris’ standing in the industry is as high as any football administrator, with a proven ability to lead football excellence throughout his career. We are confident his guidance will contribute strongly to creating a successful environment at our club.

“Chris is also a Carlton person at heart, growing up with a deep love for the football club, and in all my conversations with him it was clear that he understands the responsibility that comes with representing our monogram and the pride we want to bring to our people.

“We look forward to welcoming Chris, his wife Simone, and kids Chloe and Owen to the Carlton family.”

Prior to joining Port Adelaide at the end of 2014, Davies had been the General Manager of Football at the SANFL, and CEO of the Woodville-West Torrens Football Club in the SANFL. He was also a state cricketer, playing 60 games for South Australia from 1997 to 2003.

The opportunity to move to Victoria to join a football club such as Carlton and be part of building something strong and sustainable, was something Davies conveyed he could not pass up.

“From an external perspective, I’ve had a great deal of respect for the potential of this football club, and from the moment Graham came to me and presented his vision, I was all in,” Davies said.

“The foundations at this football club are incredibly strong, which was important for me when making the decision to come across.

“It starts with the quality of your leaders, and in my conversations with Graham, Rob Priestley and Michael Voss, who I worked with at Port Adelaide, there is genuine alignment about what is needed to take Carlton forward, which was impressive to see.

“I’m incredibly grateful for my time at Port Adelaide and feel fortunate to have worked alongside such quality people who I share strong relationships with. After a significant period, the time felt right to take on a new challenge.

“It is a really special day for me to join Carlton as I was a diehard Blues fan growing up. I feel that I understand this football club, what it means to its people and how hungry it is to get back to being an industry leader.

“This is a club striving for success and is committed to doing so in a sustainable way. I’m eager to begin working with everybody at the Club to collectively create a football program that delivers results and makes every Carlton person proud.”

Davies will officially commence his role as General Manager of Football on November 1 and will be lending support in the meantime to help oversee the Trade and Free Agency period.

Click here to read article