Steven Smith’s lasting impact on the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) has been recognised by his peers following his induction as an Honorary Life member of the Club at the 184th Annual General Meeting.
President of the Melbourne Cricket Club for a four-year term from 2015-2019, Smith has served numerous roles within the Club since becoming an MCC member in 1981 and now sits amongst elite company as an Honorary Life member.“Thank you to the members and the Committee for proposing my nomination and the members of the Club for supporting it. I am genuinely humbled by the granting of the life membership,” said Mr Smith.
“I’ve been very lucky to have both the Melbourne Football Club and the Melbourne Cricket Club play such an important role in my life. Over my 21 years on the Committee I was lucky to serve with some incredibly talented and incredibly hard-working fellow Committee members and I would like to thank them for all they have done for the Club and also to those who provided me with important guidance and support in my early days as President.
“It’s a great honour to me, and a privilege to be granted life membership of the best sporting club in the world and I thank you all for bestowing it on me.”
Smith’s connection to the Melbourne Cricket Club and in turn the MCG draws back to his years as a key position player with the Melbourne Football Club (MFC) for which he played 203 games between 1974 and 1985.
His tenure with the MFC included kicking an impressive 114 goals during his First XVIII (18) career for the Demons in addition to being awarded the Keith ‘Bluey’ Truscott Memorial Trophy for the MFC’s Best and Fairest player in 1981.
Smith was only the third elite-level Australian rules footballer to hold the role of MCC President after Sir Albert Chadwick and Dr Donald Cordner.
Prior to joining the MCC Committee in 1998, Smith served as a director of the MFC from 1990 to 1992. After commencing with the MCC, Smith served on the MCC Operations, later Club, Sub-committee from 2002 to 2015 (Chair from 2011-2015), the Finance and Audit Sub-committee from 2002 to 2007, the Development Sub-committee from 2007 to 2009 and the MCC Executive Committee from 2011-2019 (Chair 2015-2019). He was also the Committee’s representative for the Croquet section from 2009 to 2015.
“Steven was elected as the 27th MCC President in March 2015, stepping down after his four-year term in 2019 and his contribution to the Melbourne Cricket Club across his years on the Committee is inimitable,” said Michael Happell, President of the Melbourne Cricket Club.
“His tireless work in enhancing all aspects of the member and fan experience across the MCC and MCG will be felt for years to come.
“Steven is a thoroughly deserving recipient of Honorary Life Membership and now sits alongside many of our Club’s most recognisable names as a Life member.”
Notably, Mr Smith’s Presidency was highlighted by a vision to take the Club into the future with achievements including securing hosting rights of the AFL Grand Final until 2057, introducing new categories of membership as well as inspiring the wider MCC staff and Club to strive for awards in multiple areas of business.
Customer service was a primary focus for Mr Smith who championed the Club’s innovative CARE program after his election. The project went on to win the Australian award for customer service in 2018 and in 2019 was announced as the winner of the prestigious International Service Excellence Award.
During Mr Smith’s four years as President, the Club actively pursued its commitment to environmental responsibility to make the MCG one of the ‘greenest’ stadiums in the world. Now, the Club recycles around 80 per cent of waste, energy consumption has significantly reduced over recent years and the Club’s dedicated organics dehydrator, which converts food waste into mulch for Yarra Park.
Former President Paul Sheahan was the last Honorary Life Member inducted in 2017. View the full list of MCC Honorary Life Members here.