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Decades before the Sydney Swans were engulfed in a police investigation into an alleged sexual assault at a Melbourne hotel, the club was rocked by a different hotel scandal.
One of Australian football's most powerful administrators, Alan Schwab, was found dead inside a room at Sydney's Boulevard Hotel on June 18, 1993.
The 52-year-old AFL executive commissioner had spent his final months trying to rescue the struggling Swans, having played a central role in relocating South Melbourne to Sydney little more than a decade earlier.
Following his death, television reports said police believed Schwab had died from natural causes but, almost two years later, an inquest heard a more confronting account.
Methadone and alcohol had killed the respected football administrator, a forensic pathologist told Glebe Coroner's Court.
At least one sex worker had been inside his Kings Cross hotel room, while uneaten desserts, cups of white coffee, cigarette butts and unidentified fingerprints suggested other people had also been present.
Alan Schwab was found dead inside his room at Sydney's Boulevard Hotel on June 18, 1993, aged 52
Schwab spent his final months helping rescue the financially troubled Swans while serving as AFL executive commissioner
The revelations transformed what had initially been reported as the sudden death of a football pioneer into one of the most extraordinary scandals to affect the Swans.
The case has regained attention as the club deals with a new alleged hotel controversy involving five of its highest-profile players.
Victoria Police are investigating a reported sexual assault following Sydney's victory over Essendon at the MCG on Sunday, August 16.
Two women reportedly arrived at the Pullman Hotel in East Melbourne after 2am and joined a group of players who had continued drinking inside a room.
A disturbance later unfolded in the foyer before police were called.
Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice temporarily remained in Melbourne to assist authorities while the rest of the team returned to Sydney.
No charges have been laid against any player, and assisting police does not establish wrongdoing.
The Swans subsequently stood down all five men for the remainder of the season over separate alcohol, curfew and club standards breaches.
Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice stayed in Melbourne to assist police inquiries
Schwab, pictured right, played for Camberwell High School's First XVIII in 1956 and 1957 before pursuing a career in administration
The club's disciplinary action was not a finding concerning the alleged assault, which remains the subject of an active police investigation.
The fallout has also prompted a cultural review and affected sponsorship arrangements involving some of the players.
In 1993, the Swans were confronting a different crisis when Schwab failed to attend an early meeting with club chairman Peter Weinert.
Schwab had been staying at the Boulevard Hotel in William Street while performing dual roles with the AFL and the Swans.
He was meant to meet Weinert at 8am on the Friday morning but did not arrive, prompting officials to search for him.
His hotel room was not immediately checked, but he was eventually discovered about 5pm, naked in bed inside suite 2401.
Schwab's sudden death stunned Australian football, with flags lowered to half-mast and players and spectators observing a minute's silence at AFL matches that weekend.
Ron Barassi, who was then coaching Sydney, struggled to comprehend the loss.
Ron Barassi (pictured) said football had lost one of its best men after the administrator's sudden death shocked Australia
'I've lost a great friend and football's lost one of its best men,' Barassi said.
Almost two years later, NSW coroner Derrick Hand opened an inquest.
Forensic pathologist Dr Grace Higgins told the court Schwab died from cardiorespiratory failure caused by the combined depressive effects of alcohol and methadone.
The court heard Schwab had encountered 29-year-old Sydney sex worker Nicki Michelle Stimpson in William Street.
Stimpson told police they drank at a Kings Cross bar and brothel, where Schwab paid her for planned sex, before they returned to his hotel suite.
According to Ms Stimpson's account tendered to the court, she had a small, single-dose bottle of methadone inside her handbag.
Ms Stimpson claimed Schwab took the bottle from her and asked what it contained.
She said she told him it was pure alcohol before he swallowed its contents 'of his own volition'.
Sex worker Nicki Stimpson told police she spent time with Schwab before leaving him alive in his suite
Ms Stimpson maintained that Schwab was alive when she later left the room.
Detective Sergeant Mark Murdoch told the inquest that Stimpson had provided police with three different accounts of her movements with Schwab.
Her fingerprints matched some of the 14 prints discovered inside the suite. Two prints remained unidentified.
Investigators also found two uneaten servings of strawberries and cream, two cups of white coffee and cigarette butts carrying DNA from other people.
Murdoch said investigators knew Schwab drank his coffee black and rarely, if ever, ate desserts such as strawberries and cream.
The scene therefore suggested that more than one person had accompanied him during his final hours.
The evidence was particularly shocking because of Schwab's standing within Australian football.
Seven days after his death, more than 1,500 mourners packed St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne for Schwab's funeral where his coffin was draped in Richmond's 1973 premiership flag.
More than 1,500 mourners packed St Paul's Cathedral, where Schwab's coffin was draped in Richmond's 1973 premiership flag
Players and officials from all 15 AFL clubs attended alongside current and former state premiers and some of Australian sport's most recognisable figures.
Schwab began his career as an office boy with the VFL in 1958 before he worked as St Kilda's assistant secretary during the club's historic 1966 premiership season and later joined Richmond.
He served as the Tigers' secretary from 1968 until 1976 and was also treasurer between 1972 and 1976.
Richmond won the 1969, 1973 and 1974 premierships during his time in charge of its administration and his record wins as secretary and general manager remains unsurpassed.
It was later equalled by Brendon Gale following the Tigers' 2017, 2019 and 2020 flags.
Schwab became a Richmond life member in 1977 and was later awarded AFL life membership.
After returning to the VFL as administration manager in 1976, he became deeply involved in the league's controversial effort to move South Melbourne interstate.
The relocation created fierce opposition among the club's traditional supporters, and Schwab absorbed much of the criticism as South Melbourne became the Sydney Swans in 1982.
He later held senior positions across Victorian country, metropolitan and junior football before becoming the VFL and AFL's executive commissioner.
When the Swans again faced an uncertain future in 1993, Schwab returned to Sydney to help.
