NNSWF director Mark Trenter in the dark on CEO deal

Trenter was the only survivor from the NNSWF board last Friday night at an extraordinary general meeting where chair Helene O'Neill was removed 16 votes to one and five new directors were elected as replacements.

Deputy Bill Moncrieff and directors Mansell Laidler and Peter Dimovski resigned before their positions were put to a vote.

Eland, who started as CEO in April 2009, also exited that night, announcing the mutual termination of his contract effective immediately via an email at 6.31pm before leaving NNSWF headquarters at Speers Point, where the EGM was being held.

The upheaval ended a 15-week battle for control between a bloc of five of the seven members zones and the NNSWF board following the release of endorsed recommendations from an independent review into the game's administration in the region.

Among the recommendations was empowering clubs to choose an aligned administration structure under NNSWF which would effectively dissolve the zones.

Trenter was the only NNSWF director not targeted for removal.

Eland's termination agreement, the details of which are believed to be confidential, were struck with the now former board, which approved a new four-year contract for the CEO before the independent review report was released.

Trenter, however, said he was not part of discussions about the deal and he wanted to defend his credibility after receiving abuse from people via a phone call and text messages about his supposed role in the agreement.

He said he "felt like a leper through the whole process" leading up to the EGM, despite being available for all board meetings except one.

He travelled to Qatar to watch the Socceroos' campaign at the World Cup but said he was not on a leave of absence from the board.

"I did take my Northern NSW Football iPad with me and a lot of the stuff we've done is on Zoom, and I've always made myself available," Trenter said.

"The only meeting I said I couldn't attend was the meeting a couple of days before my flight, and that was just a general meeting. It had nothing to do with anything specific.

"And I've asked for minutes of meetings, begged and demanded, and I've gone through some minutes and there's no mention of that deal.

"I just said I couldn't make one of the meetings and I'd be back for the main event, which was last Friday."

He also said he was the only director to vote against Eland's four-year contract. He believed a short-term deal was more appropriate given the review's final report was in the wings.

"I voted against it because I said how can you pass through a four-year contract when the review could suggest we've got the wrong CEO," he said.

Eland declined the opportunity to respond to Trenter's comments on Thursday.

The new board, which also features chair Mike Parsons, Lisa Evans, Lauren Edwards, Paul Sandilands and David Willoughby, will meet on Sunday for the first time since the overthrow. A CEO has yet to be appointed.

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