James Hird

James Hird
Personal information
Full name	James Albert Hird
Nickname(s)	Hirdy
Date of birth	(1973-02-04) 4 February 1973 (age 44)
Place of birth	Canberra, Australia
Original team(s)	Ainslie (ACTAFL)
Draft	No. 79, 1990 National Draft
Height / weight	188 cm / 89 kg
Position(s)	Midfielder / half-forward
Playing career¹
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1992–2007	Essendon	253 (343)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
1993	NSW/ACT	1 (?)
International team honours
2000–2004	Australia	4 (3)
Coaching career³
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
2011–2013, 2015	Essendon	85 (41–43–1)
¹ Playing statistics correct to the end of 2007. ² State and international statistics correct as of 2004. ³ Coaching statistics correct as of 2015.
Career highlights
2x AFL premierships: 1993, 2000 (captain) Brownlow Medal: 1996 5x All-Australian team: 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003 5x Essendon best and fairest: 1994, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2007 Norm Smith Medal: 2000 2x Essendon leading goalkicker: 1995–96 Essendon captain: 1998–2005 Australian Football Hall of Fame Essendon Team of the Century Champions of Essendon: No. 3 3x AFL pre-season premierships: 1993, 1994, 2000 3x AFL Anzac Medal: 2000, 2003, 2004 Jim Stynes Medal: 2000 Football Achievement Award: 2007 Personal Development Award: 2007 1993 AFL Rising Star nominee
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a retired professional Australian rules football player and the former senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but was often given free rein by then-Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy to play wherever he thought necessary. Hird was a highly decorated footballer, with accolades including the 1996 Brownlow Medal and membership of the Australian Football Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as the 20th greatest player of all time in the AFL-commissioned book, The Australian Game of Football.

Hird was appointed as the coach of the Essendon Football Club in September 2010. In August 2013, he was suspended from coaching for 12 months when he was charged by the AFL with conduct prejudicing the game in relation to his role in the Essendon Football Club supplements controversy. He returned to the club following the 2014 season, but resigned in August 2015.

Hird is the son of Allan and Margaret Hird. He was born in Canberra where his father worked in the public service and his mother was a teacher. Hird has two younger sisters. After first living in the Canberra suburb of Ainslie, his family moved to Latham. When Hird was in high school, the family moved to the suburb of Reid.

Hird participated in rugby league and soccer in his youth. He played for the Ainslie Football Club in the ACTAFL and in June 1990, at the age of 17, he was a member of the league's senior representative team in a match against the Victorian Football Association. He was recruited to the AFL by Essendon from the 1990 AFL Draft; due to a serious hip injury along with other injuries in his junior football career, he was not selected until pick number 79, Essendon's seventh pick and one of the last in the draft.

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