THE struggle for power at St Kilda officially ended a little after 2pm yesterday when president Rod Butterss called the man seeking to unseat him, Greg Westaway, and told him of his decision to resign. In a sentence, Butterss gave over the keys.

It was almost 72 hours earlier, though, that the at-times unseemly three-week campaign was really brought to its premature close. In the hours after Geelong's grand final triumph last Saturday, Butterss was struck by the patience and stability that was integral to rebuilding the new premier, which had set out on its long march in 2000 — the same year Butterss came to power.

If it was not an epiphany, it was certainly a moment of clarity for the president, who suddenly knew that even in the event of an increasingly unlikely election victory, there could be no true unity at Moorabbin unless one side or the other gave way.

Butterss and his board knew they had a fourth consecutive million-dollar-plus profit in their corner but that their opponents had two former players, Nathan Burke and Andrew Thompson, and an unusually high number of proxy votes in their keeping. Westaway was claiming as many as 8000.

"I was overcome by the feeling that we didn't have what they (the Cats) do and I should do something about that," Butterss admitted yesterday.

"To see the success of Geelong, to have a sense of how hard it was for them and what went into the campaign, convinced me that a football club needs a full tank of fuel and the support and energy of everyone. And if you don't have all or any of those things, then the job is three, four, five times as hard.

"Even if we had won, the section of our membership wanting change would still want that change. As a member-based club, we had to respect that."

Butterss spoke to Glen Casey, one of his four loyal directors, on Monday night to discuss his grand final day conclusion. Together, they met or spoke with the other three on the ticket — directors Ray King, Mark Kellett and Andrew Bassat — yesterday morning and had a notice of resignation prepared by lunchtime, less than 24 hours before a scheduled appearance in the Federal Court to determine a date for an extraordinary general meeting.

Westaway's rival Footy First group, which included at least one defector from the Butterss-led board, lawyer John Gdanski, had been seeking a October 23 date for the extraordinary meeting. Butterss' team wanted to face its challengers on November 26.

"We don't want to be fighting our battles in courts or amongst ourselves — we want to be fighting them out on the ground. So we got together and agreed to press the go button," Butterss said.

The exit was swift, unconditional and complete. None of the Butterss five will attend the club's best-and-fairest count on Friday night and none of them expect to attend another board meeting at Moorabbin.

Gdanski and Ross Levin, the other director seen to be sympathetic to Footy First, are expected to co-opt the Westaway-led group of five on to the board before the week is out and simply assume control, although there was the suggestion last night of a technical impediment to such a quick changeover.

Nathan Burke, Footy First's football director-elect, said he and others on the ticket were still awaiting gaming licence approval.

"My understanding is that we can't officially be named directors of the club until the gaming licences come through," Burke said. "And we all applied for gaming licences last month."

Burke said Westaway would hold a press conference today and make his inaugural address to the members on Friday night, without his predecessor in the audience.

"No, I won't be going," Butterss said. "There will be a new administration in place and they need to be given a clear run. They don't need any encumbrances …

"The occasion is a look back on the year that has been but I think it is more about looking forward. We don't want to deny them the opportunity to make a strong statement and tell the St Kilda faithful what they are going to do."

Burke said Butterss' decision and that of his four allies had surprised him. An attempt to convene last night was aborted, according to Burke, because several members of the Footy First ticket had prior engagements.

"We're just really excited about the opportunity to lead the club into what we expect will be a bright future," Burke said. "We've spoken to a lot of the supporter groups, and now it's about doing the best thing by all parts of the football club.

"One of the first things will be getting on to the football department and letting them know what we're all about … and finding out if there's any way possible we can assist them to bring football success to this club."

The 11th-hour reprieve from a divisive election also won praise from former captain Danny Frawley, who had received and declined entreaties from both camps.

"It's a good outcome for the Saints, I reckon," Frawley said. "The last thing Ross Lyon and the players needed was a fight to the death and that's what it was shaping up to be.

"Rod's put the St Kilda footy club first here, which I commend him for. He inherited a basket-case and did a wonderful job to eliminate the debt, make money and oversee a few finals campaigns but those things and others are required now. The footy side of things has to be got right and Burkey and Thommo are solid football people."

‘We don’t want to be fighting our battles in courts or amongst ourselves’

FOOTY FIRST’S PROPOSED ST KILDA BOARD

THE NEW FACES

GREG WESTAWAY Chairman, Gregorys Transport.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES President. Corporate governance, sponsorship & revenue, strategy, policy.

NATHAN BURKE Former St Kilda captain, triple club champion. Now a senior consultant with the Mettle Group.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Chairman, football subcommittee. Football, corporate innovation, coteries, sponsorship & revenue.

ANDREW THOMPSON Freshly retired player and investment adviser, ABN AMRO Morgans.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Football, coteries, sponsorship & revenue.

CHRIS BRANT Chief financial officer, Transurban Ltd
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Finance, strategic planning, Saints advisory committee, sponsorship & revenue.

DANA NELSON Managing director, Delaware North Australia Ltd
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Functions, events and stadium matters, coteries, St Kilda and the community, sponsorship & revenue.

EXISTING BOARD MEMBERS

JOHN GDANSKI, ROSS LEVINE,
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Lawyers. Elite training & administration facility, legal matters, Moorabbin reserve lease, sponsorship & revenue.

ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR

SIMON GRANT (to be appointed) Managing director Kingfisher Financial Solutions Pty Ltd
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Membership, sponsorship & revenue.

ST KILDA’S FOOTBALL SUBCOMMITTEE

Will include Burke, Thompson, former St Kilda player now Queen’s counsel Mordy Bromberg and former world and Olympic swimming champion Michael Klim.