Updated ,first published
Watch live as Melbourne president Steven Smith addresses the media a day after the club sensationally sacked Paul Guerra as its chief executive.
Smith is holding a press conference with Brian Cook, who has been appointed as the interim CEO.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, we reported that Dan Taylor will become the next chief executive of the Melbourne Football Club after the Demons sacked Guerra on Tuesday, just seven months into the role.
The Demons have now confirmed that Taylor will be the CEO after this masthead earlier reported an announcement of his appointment was pending.Taylor, who is a member of the Demons’ board, is the executive director of Stan, which is owned by Nine (the owner of this masthead).
Smith announced the appointment in a statement released just before his press conference on Wednesday morning.
“The board is delighted to appoint Dan as CEO of the Melbourne Football Club,” said Smith.
“Dan has built his career making complex businesses work in competitive environments, and he brings to us the strategic and commercial thinking we need.
“His leadership experience and understanding of what it takes to grow a high-performance organisation will be a great asset for the club.
“Dan has already made a significant contribution to the club as a non-executive director and we look forward to continuing to work with him as CEO to achieve sustained success.”
At his press conference, Smith said it had been a unanimous decision by the board to remove Guerra from the position on Tuesday because of a “lack of confidence” and a “breakdown” in the relationship with the board. He said concerns had come to a head in “the last couple of weeks”.
“There was no one particular thing,” Smith said.
“It was a difficult decision for us to make [on Tuesday] … we had to go through the information that was available to us, and we were unanimous in deciding it was time to move Paul on.
“We think we just got this one wrong and it’s time to move on.”
He said the club had approached Taylor in the last fortnight about the role, and approached long-time veteran administrator Cook last week about serving as interim.
Taylor will take on the role after serving three months’ notice with Stan.
“I am honoured to be appointed as the CEO of the Melbourne Football Club,” said Taylor in the statement.
“The club has a proud history and clear ambition, and I look forward to working with the board, Executive team, staff and players to ensure its ongoing success.
“This is a special opportunity. I can’t wait to get started.”
Guerra was left “puzzled” and blindsided by his axing on Tuesday.
The lack of an explanation from the Demons for Guerra’s departure raised immediate questions about what unfolded behind closed doors at a club that was, until now, one of the AFL’s success stories of season 2026.
Guerra started in the role in September last year, following his appointment in April 2025 while serving as chief executive of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He arrived at Melbourne as an outsider to the AFL club system but with a strong corporate resume and significant ties across Victoria’s sporting and business sectors.
Michael Gleeson is an award-winning senior sports writer specialising in AFL and athletics.Connect via X or email.
