Kevin Sheedy (Australian footballer)

Kevin Sheedy
Sheedy in March 2013
Personal information
Full name	Kevin John Sheedy
Date of birth	(1947-12-24) 24 December 1947 (age 69)
Place of birth	Melbourne, Australia
Original team(s)	Prahran (VFA)
Height / weight	180cm / 81kg
Position(s)	Defender
Playing career¹
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1967–1979	Richmond	251 (91)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
	Victoria	8 (1)
International team honours
2005–2006	Australia (coach)	4
Coaching career³
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
1981–2007 2012–2013 1985–1986	Essendon Greater Western Sydney Representative Victoria	634 (386–242–6) 44 (3–41–0)
Total		678 (389–283–6) 4 (2–2)
¹ Playing statistics correct to the end of 1979. ³ Coaching statistics correct as of 2013.
Career highlights
Club 3x VFL Premiership: 1969, 1973, 1974, 3x Championship of Australia Championship: 1969, 1973, 1974 Richmond Best & Fairest: 1976 Media Association Player of the Year: 1974 Richmond Captain: 1978 Richmond Team of the Century: (back pocket) Richmond Hall of Fame Representative National Football Carnival Championship: 1972 Coaching 4x VFL/AFL Premiership: 1984, 1985, 1993, 2000 3x All-Australian team: 1985, 1993, 2000 2x VFL Team of the Year: 1984-1985 Australian Football Hall of Fame Essendon Team of the Century First coach of Greater Western Sydney
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Club

Representative

Coaching

Kevin John Sheedy AM (born 24 December 1947) is a former Australian rules football coach and player in the Australian Football League. He played and coached in a combined total of 929 games over 47 years from 1967 until 2013, which is a VFL/AFL record. Sheedy was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2008.

On the field, Sheedy represented Richmond in the Victorian Football League during the 1960s and 1970s, captaining the side in 1978 and winning three premierships. He then coached Essendon in the VFL/AFL for nearly three decades from 1981 until 2007, winning four premierships and earning acclaim for his unusual and creative approaches to promoting the club and the game. Sheedy conceived the first Anzac Day game in 1995 involving Collingwood and the club he coached at the time, Essendon. In 2009, Sheedy joined the newly formed Greater Western Sydney as its inaugural AFL coach, and coached there from 2012 until 2013.

Sheedy was born in Melbourne to devout Catholic parents. He played junior football with the local Try Boys society team whilst attending De La Salle College, Malvern, where future teammate Kevin Bartlett also spent a brief time. In 1963, he joined Prahran in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) and spent a year with the Under 19s. The next year, at the age of 16, he played senior football with the Two Blues and was soon a regular with the team. His home was in Melbourne's zone, so he took up an invitation to try out with the Demons, playing a few practice matches. But he did not feel comfortable there and returned to Prahran, playing in the club's Second Division premiership team in 1966.

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