Michael Voss resigns as coach of Carlton Blues amid AFL club’s struggles
Updated ,first published
Michael Voss has resigned as senior coach of Carlton Football Club.
Voss was contracted until the end of this season and this imprint confirmed it was a mutual decision for the former Brisbane champion to step down.
Club chairman Rob Priestley, CEO Graham Wright and football boss Chris Davies will hold a press conference at IKON Park at 1.30pm. The Blues said Voss was asked if he wanted to attend the press conference but he declined.
Voss made the decision before last Friday night’s 11-point loss to Brisbane at the Gabba, one of the Blues’ most competitive games this season.
Carlton will play the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night, with Josh Fraser acting as interim coach.
Before the news became public, he telephoned captain Patrick Cripps and explained his resignation.
“He has been a great mentor and a great coach to me,” the double Brownlow medalist said after arriving at the club on Tuesday morning. “Our relationship is really strong and that’s all I can really say right now.”
Teammate Ollie Florent said he was sorry to see Voss leave.
“He’s Michael Voss. He’s been an example to me for so long. I’ve never had so many cameras in my face before. It’s really sad to see him go,” Florent said.
Earlier, director of football and club legend Greg Williams was forced to take a few laps around the car park in his club-issued Hyundai before finally giving up and parking at the back.
Wright and Davies had arrived early, picking up coffee orders and banana bread just before 8 a.m., then disappearing into the bowels of the club’s administrative offices.
The Blues’ only win this season came against Richmond in the first round by four points.
Voss, the former Brisbane Lions champion who led the dynasty in the early 2000s, took over as manager, succeeding Adam Kingsley, at the end of 2021 following the sacking of David Teague.
The Blues narrowly missed out on the 2022 finals series, losing to Collingwood in the last round, and the following season Voss led them to a preliminary final against his former club Brisbane after a huge season recovery when his position was in jeopardy.
The Blues leadership strongly backed him but from the midway point of the 2024 season, when they were in the top four, they fell off and failed to recapture their peak of 24 in early 2023.
Their hot form can be traced back to the first half of the round 17 match against Greater Western Sydney in 2024. At that point in the season they were in second place, one game away from third place. But they gave up the lead that day to lose to the Giants and won just 12 of the next 40 games until an agreement was reached on Friday to end Voss’ tenure.
Voss finished 103 matches as Blues coach with 43 wins, 53 losses and one draw.
He previously coached the Lions from 2009 to 2013.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
Michael Gleeson is an award-winning senior sports writer specializing in AFL and athletics.Connect with: X or email.
Jake Niall is a Walkley-winning sports journalist and The Age’s chief AFL writer.Connect with: X or email.
Sam McClure is an award-winning AFL journalist and broadcaster.Connect with: X or email.
