Eddie McGuire’s Collingwood farewell bore little resemblance to the career that preceded it

This time around, history really might view it as a proud day for the Collingwood Football Club.

Eight days on from his catastrophic, denial-filled response to a report which identified systemic racism at the club, and 23 years from claiming Collingwood’s top job, Eddie McGuire stood down.

Fighting back tears, McGuire said the words that nobody in the football world thought they’d hear: “Today, effective immediately, I step down from the presidency of the Collingwood Football Club.”

For a large portion of the 15 minutes that followed, McGuire read defensively from a dizzying list of the club’s progressive credentials — foundations, charities, committees, projects, funds.

And fair enough, too. In McGuire’s time, Collingwood has certainly…