Merv
29 Mar 2008, 10:47
KEVIN SHEEDY's symbolic return to Essendon will be made mid-season, when the legendary coach will be honoured with the unveiling of a bust and induction into the club's hall of fame.
The subject of when and how the Dons and their longest serving, four-time premiership coach might reunite has been considered for months but is tentatively pencilled in for early June.
Essendon chief executive Peter Jackson put a date in April to Sheedy, but because of the former coach's travel schedule - he is in South Africa on behalf of the AFL and, among other duties, is a roving ambassador for the code in the league's 150th year - it was not possible to organise.
Sheedy has kept his distance from Windy Hill in the seven months since he cleaned out his office, not wanting to draw attention away from his successor Matthew Knights.
He has refrained from passing comment on Essendon matters since his departure. Because of his development commitments in South Africa, he was not present to see the Dons open their 2008 campaign last Monday with a big win over North Melbourne.
To this end, Sheedy has requested his return be kept low key and the occasion will be a relatively small-scale affair.
Essendon decided late last year to waive the usual minimum five-year waiting period for induction into its hall of fame for Sheedy, whose exit led to months of controversy and an ultimately unsuccessful grass-roots campaign to oust chairman Ray Horsburgh and Jackson.
"He is no longer coach of Essendon but he will always be a part of the club," Essendon spokesman Simon Matthews said.
"No-one contests the special place he holds here and no-one would suggest he isn't welcome or anything less than revered. It will be an intimate function but an important one. That's how he wants it."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23448154-5012432,00.html
The subject of when and how the Dons and their longest serving, four-time premiership coach might reunite has been considered for months but is tentatively pencilled in for early June.
Essendon chief executive Peter Jackson put a date in April to Sheedy, but because of the former coach's travel schedule - he is in South Africa on behalf of the AFL and, among other duties, is a roving ambassador for the code in the league's 150th year - it was not possible to organise.
Sheedy has kept his distance from Windy Hill in the seven months since he cleaned out his office, not wanting to draw attention away from his successor Matthew Knights.
He has refrained from passing comment on Essendon matters since his departure. Because of his development commitments in South Africa, he was not present to see the Dons open their 2008 campaign last Monday with a big win over North Melbourne.
To this end, Sheedy has requested his return be kept low key and the occasion will be a relatively small-scale affair.
Essendon decided late last year to waive the usual minimum five-year waiting period for induction into its hall of fame for Sheedy, whose exit led to months of controversy and an ultimately unsuccessful grass-roots campaign to oust chairman Ray Horsburgh and Jackson.
"He is no longer coach of Essendon but he will always be a part of the club," Essendon spokesman Simon Matthews said.
"No-one contests the special place he holds here and no-one would suggest he isn't welcome or anything less than revered. It will be an intimate function but an important one. That's how he wants it."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23448154-5012432,00.html