Outgoing Carlton president Stephen Kernahan took his final bow on Friday night, thanking everyone at the AFL club for working through some “seriously s****y days”.

Club great Kernahan had served on the club’s board of directors since 1997 and the MCG clash with Hawthorn was the final match-day address of his six-year term as president.

Kernahan hardly went out swinging.

Aside from critiquing a recent article that suggested Stephen Silvagni’s selection in the AFL Team of the Century was controversial, and a quip about scheduling, there was nothing that even resembled a gripe.

Instead, the 50-year-old reflected warmly on the most challenging of the 29 years he spent with the Blues in various capacities.

“I want to thank everyone in the Carlton family,” he said.

“We worked through some really seriously s****y days and we got the club back to where it needed to be.

“…We will get there. We’re not going that flash at the moment, but there’s something coming, I know.”

Kernahan succeeded Richard Pratt when the Visy chief stood down to fight criminal charges laid by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in 2008.

He was a board director in 2002 when the Blues lost draft picks and were fined almost $1 million for salary cap breaches, setting the stage for some stagnant seasons.

Kernahan reserved the most praise for chief executive Greg Swann, who will also officially leave the club on Monday week.

“Swanny’s done a fantastic job of lifting our footy club off the canvas and back into a respected powerhouse,” Kernahan said before calling Swann to the stage.

“He will leave a lasting legacy … we are indebted to Greg for what he has done for our football club.”