EDFL: Tom Gleeson reflects on leaving Coburg Districts

Outgoing Coburg Districts coach Tom Gleeson has revealed what he was most proud of during his five-year stint with the EDFL club following his decision to move on.

Tom Gleeson knows it is the right time to move on from Coburg Districts.

After five years (four as senior coach) with the Essendon District league club, Gleeson has announced he will take the next step in his footballing journey.

With a newborn baby on the way, Gleeson said he was making the right move for he and his family.

“I’m humbled by all the messages I’ve received since the news was made public but I never coached for all the personal accolades,” he said.

“When you are coaching, you need to give it everything and then more. If you get to a point where you can’t do that anymore it’s not fair on the playing group or the club.

“That’s part of the reason I’ve decided to step down.”

Tom Gleeson.Picture: Hamish Blair

The former VFL-listed forward arrived at the Lions as a playing assistant in 2019 and went onto kick 30 goals in his first season before replacing Chris Tankard at the end of the year.

What was supposed to be his first year as coach was eventually wiped out by the Covid pandemic in 2020 before the following season was eventually impacted.

Districts would eventually reach the 2022 preliminary final, where they were beaten by Oak Park.

But it was how they got to that point which stands out as the highlight of Gleeson’s time at Cole Reserve.

“Covid was a period that was make or break for clubs,” he said.

“As a club we galvanised and managed to work through it together. I think we might have lost just one or two players during that period, whereas other clubs lost large numbers.

“Keeping everyone together was a massive achievement. It put us in a really good position on the other side of Covid. Retention is always one of the great challenges, but it’s also important to recruit to give yourself every opportunity to win and keep improving.”

Tom Gleeson in action. Picture: Steve Tanner

The Lions fell down the ladder in 2023, finishing fifth to miss the top-four on percentage.

“At the end of the day, we just weren’t good enough,” he said.

“We had phases where we played some good footy but then there were other times where we weren’t at our best. The competition is of a fantastic standard, it’s always a continuous challenge.”

Despite hanging up the whiteboard, Gleeson says he still has plans to continuing playing after being limited to just nine games this year.

“I was very fortunate to spend a good five years with Coburg Districts,” he said.

“There’s a lot of people that made my life a lot easier — Cat (president Allan Chandler, Adam Patterson (assistant coach), Anthony Caccamo (co-president) and Nick Byrne — I’d like to thank them for everything.”