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Find your frequency here“Totally unacceptable”: Legendary coach berates Demons over Goodwin sacking
Jaiden Sciberras • August 12th, 2025 4:00 pm
Four-time premiership coach David Parkin has expressed his immense disappointment in the Melbourne Football Club over their recent sacking of long-term coach Simon Goodwin.
Last Thursday, the Demons board, led by club president Brad Green, opted to rid Goodwin of his duties one year before his contract expiration, with the club’s on-field struggles growing apparent across 2025.
Despite having three games remaining on the season, the board alerted their premiership coach that he would be let go at the conclusion of Round 24, with Goodwin opting to step aside without closing out his final year.
Speaking on the manner of the decision, Parkin – a lifetime Demons supporter – revealed his disappointment regarding the process and the overall call to move on from their only living premiership coach.
“I must admit, I went through the paces a bit,” Parkin told SEN’s Whateley.
“I’ve been a Melbourne supporter since 1949, and I was interested to follow that. I was, I must admit, totally and utterly surprised by the result, and the manner in which it was carried out.
“I was really disappointed with the club, in a time where they are making so many changes off the field themselves – they haven’t got an administration that I would have thought operated in the way it should be at this time.
“I think they’ve got a fair bit on their plate, the Melbourne Football Club.”
Despite not being privy to the internal details regarding Goodwin’s sacking, Parkin feels as though the manner in which the sacking occurred - prior to season’s end – was rather distasteful.
“They can make a decision on the basis that they need to make change in there, and they’re in charge of the facts which I am not,” he continued.
“But to do it at this time, in the way it was done, I thought was totally and utterly unacceptable.
“I do (feel for Goodwin). The time that I’ve had little or nothing to do with (the club) over a period of time, I’ve admired the way he’s gone about his work.
“I don’t know him as a person; I’ve only seen the public view as you and I have seen of him as a coach.
“I just thought it was totally unacceptable, in the manner which it was done.”
Melbourne’s search for their next head coach continues, with both John Longmire and Adam Simpson ruling themselves out of a return to the helm.
