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ollingwood Football Club president, Eddie McGuire, has announced he will step down as club president at the end of the 2021 AFL season, after 23 years in the role.

Revealing the decision in a five-minute conference before a members’ forum, McGuire’s decision shocked the AFL world, with Collingwood CEO, Mark Anderson, admitting he wasn’t aware of McGuire’s plan to step down until he made the news public.

“He told Carla and his two boys and that was it,” Anderson told SEN Breakfast.

“I was listening to it, like our members, with surprise and shock and just wondering if I was hearing what I was hearing.

“Eddie is as passionate in year 22 as he was in year one, there’s absolutely no diminishing of passion.

“Whenever he wakes up, he’s thinking about Collingwood.

“It was very much a personal decision.

“He felt the time is right, both his boys have now finished school and he’s finished up his morning radio duties as well.

“It’s just a different phase of life for him and a personal decision.

“Eddie is an absolute legend of the club and I think a legend of the game as well.

“His impact across our club in particular is just immense.

“It was 22 years, he started in October 1998.

“It’s a long time ago and he was 34 at that stage, there’d be someone a bit older than 34 now you’d think stepping into that role now.

“He’s rebuilt our club and there’s an amazing amount of success he’s had across his time on-field… he’s determined to leave the club in great shape and he wants to ensure that’s his legacy when he walks out the door at the end of 2021,” he said.

Speaking to the Magpies members’ forum announcing his decision, McGuire said the next 12 months of his role will be to prepare the club for a “new era”, and would not be a “farewell tour”.

“I’ve given everything I have to this position,” McGuire said.

“Now it is time for me to set the platform for the club going forward.

“I will stand down at the end of next year and I will spend the rest of my time as president of this club setting up a new era of Collingwood.

“In conjunction with the change in direction of my media life and the timing of my son’s schooling ending, the time was right, and the future is strong for our club for me to make this call…

“I have much to do before I hand on the baton.

“Together with my board and executive, we are set to announce significant landmark initiatives in the area of equality, the fight against racism, all types, to ensure Collingwood is a safe and welcoming environment for all people,” he said.

During his time as Collingwood president however, McGuire, in 2013, issues a public apology for an on-air radio comment suggesting Sydney Swans Indigenous star, Adam Goodes, should be used to promote the musical King Kong.

His comments came just a few days following a publicly discussed incident at the MCG where a Collingwood fan racially abused Goodes during a match.

McGuire ignored calls at that time to stand down as the club’s president.