Morphett Vale has dumped its coach after one season, three months out from the start of its 2019 campaign

A Southern Football League club has dumped its coach after one season – and three months before the new campaign begins – saying it “wasn’t potentially in the best interests” to keep him in the role.

Morphett Vale’s Connor Lock (front) battles Flagstaff Hill’s Jarrad Lobasso in a game last year. The Emus are without a coach after the board dumped ex-mentor David Murdock. Picture: AAP/ Keryn Stevens)

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A SOUTHERN Football League club has dumped its coach after one season – three months before the new campaign begins.

Morphett Vale, which finished second-bottom last year with a 1-15 record, parted ways with David Murdock on Sunday night.

Murdock said he received a phone call from the Emus’ new president Michelle Glazbrook telling him he would no longer be at the helm.

He said he had a “handshake agreement” with the club’s former president, Michael Mango, to coach again this year, only for a new board to change its mind.

David Murdock, pictured in 2008 while coaching the SFL’s under-18s. Picture: Luke Hemer.

“It’s disappointing, obviously,” Murdock said.

Morphett Vale made a preliminary final under coach Gary Cameron in 2017 before sliding in Murdock’s sole year at the helm.

Murdock said the Emus had an exodus of key players before the start of last season, leading to a young side taking to the field most weeks.

He believed 2018 was a development season of a “two to three-year project”.

Murdock was unsure if he would coach again at another club this year.

Glazbrook, who was elected president in November alongside six new board members, said the club made the decision after speaking with members and players.

“Over the summer it became evident that it (keeping Murdock) wasn’t potentially in the best interests of the football club,” said Glazbrook, an Emus life member who was on the board for about 10 years before a two-year break in 2017-18.

“We were struggling to retain players – we had a fairly big walkout before I was there.

“We wish him all the best, he’s a nice person, it just didn’t fit.”

Morphett Vale’s Adrian Albanese tries to break free from Flagstaff Hill’s David Kearsley during a clash last year. Picture: AAP/ Keryn Stevens

Glazbrook said there were two standout candidates to replace Murdock and the club hoped to announce a new coach in the next few weeks.

“We are going through a fairly extensive process with the executive committee, past players, past coaches to appoint a new person,” she said.

Glazbrook said the Emus, a traditional SFL powerhouse that won four premierships in a row from 2004-07 and its most recent flag in 2009, hoped a new coach would boost the club.

“We need to find some positives at the moment because we aren’t in a great position,” she said.

“We need people through the door, we need money in the bank, we need people enjoying themselves and we need people wanting to be at Morphett Vale Football Club.

“We have a very strong history and we need to recreate that.”