After a comprehensive global search, the Western Bulldogs are proud to announce the appointment of David Stevenson as the Club’s new Chief Executive Officer.



Stevenson comes to the Club with a highly credentialed professional background, most recently occupying the position of Vice President of Sales for Nike’s Emerging Markets, based at Nike’s world headquarters in Oregon, USA.



Over the past 17 years, Stevenson has risen steadily through management ranks at Nike, first in Australia, then various Global and Regional leadership roles in Hong Kong, China and most recently at the company’s Portland headquarters where he led the commercial business for over 150 countries.



Stevenson has managed an aggressive growth agenda for some of the fastest growing businesses around the world and has had extensive dealings with many professional sporting organisations, teams and athletes from soccer, basketball, football and Olympic sports.



Four Board members under the leadership of Audit Committee Chair Gary Kent; and assisted by the Club’s executive recruitment specialist, Fiona McGauchie, of the firm Egon Zehnder, pored over dozens of applications before arriving at a distinguished short-list of 12.



Applicants came from more than one professional sporting code or background, from private industry, and across multiple countries.



The Club also invited the AFL to lend its expertise to the selection process; General Manager – Clubs & AFL Operations Travis Auld joined the panel as an observer for the final round of interviews. AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan also met with David before the Club finalised his appointment.



VIDEO: View new Chief Executive Officer David Stevenson's message to members.



Stevenson grew up in Ringwood as a Melbourne Demons supporter and played several years of amateur footy where he won a premiership and two best and fairest awards with Yarra Valley. Stevenson also represented Australia in volleyball and spent time at the Australian Institute of Sport.



Stevenson will begin his relocation to Melbourne in the coming weeks, and will assume the new position in early August. Until then, CEO duties will continue to be shared between Club President Peter Gordon and Acting CEO Michael Quinn.



Stevenson said he was thrilled to be appointed to a Club with the brightest of futures.



“This is an opportunity where my professional passion and personal stage of life intersect perfectly, and I’m thrilled to be honoured with this responsibility to lead the Western Bulldogs.”



“My wife Louise and I want to come home to Melbourne. We grew up here, our families are here and our oldest child starts pre-school next year. We want our three young children growing up with their broader family in our home town of Melbourne.



“I’m proud of what I have achieved at Nike. The company has provided me with great opportunities and learning, and I am thankful for these critical experiences.



“I want to take those learnings and apply them in the second half of my career to make a real difference in the AFL and the community with the Bulldogs, one of the oldest sporting Club’s in the world.



“I have high ambitions for the team and the Club, and with a united Club all working hard for one another towards the same vision, we have a very exciting future ahead of us.



“The Bulldogs have a great history of heroic battles, and now has the prime opportunity to galvanise its position and achieve things in the next ten years that would have been unthinkable not so long ago.



“The concept of a united team with everyone playing their role is critically important to me and I want to leverage all of the great skills and experience of the team both on and off field to help us achieve success. This starts with our devoted members and supporters, but relies on each of our players, coaches, staff and board members to perform at their best.



“When I look at programs as diverse as the Ballarat initiative, the Sons of the West men’s health program and the Bulldogs Friendly Schools program, I know that I will be working with a motivated and dedicated team of people, led by a highly ambitious Board.



"One of the priorities for the Club under my leadership will be to make stronger connections with women and girls, to inspire and enable them to play, support, contribute, volunteer and lead in the community and with our great club"



”I enjoyed meeting Gill McLachlan and seeing first-hand the enthusiasm he has for the future and the importance of the Club. But I also have spent some time with Peter Gordon, Luke Beveridge and Rob Murphy. I am absolutely sure I’m going to love working with these people and I can’t wait to get started.”



Club President Peter Gordon said, “The selection process was pretty arduous and my thanks go to Fiona and to board members Gary Kent, Kylie Watson-Wheeler and Chris Nolan, who are a great team and part of a great board. We learned a lot from the process and truthfully, made some great new contacts with people who might help us out in other ways in the future.



“Indeed the process was also a formal one, having put David through no less than eight formal interviews. He has since received seals of approval in private meetings with Gillon McLachlan, Sue Alberti, Chris Grant, senior coach Luke Beveridge and captain Robert Murphy.



“It’s fair to say there were some more ‘steady-as-she-goes’ candidates than Dave. Dave is definitely not a steady-as-she-goes choice. Instead, we believe he represents a transformational opportunity for the Club. We want to make a permanent move out of the basement of the AFL – size-wise, profit-wise and success-wise. We have opted for the candidate who provides us with the best prospect of achieving that.



“If you look at our key appointments and priorities in recent times; Rob Murphy a captain, Luke as senior coach, the acquisition of Tom Boyd, the re-signing of Roughy, Dahl, Jake and Jackson, the Ballarat initiative, the re-development of the Victoria University Whitten Oval and Dave as CEO… we hope that two things come through — one, we prioritise quality and integrity and two, we are not risk-averse.”



