Former Essendon chairman Ray Horsburgh reflects on Kevin Sheedy sacking

AS Collingwood ponders the future of coach Nathan Buckley, former Essendon chairman Ray Horsburgh reflects on one of the toughest decisions of his life: sacking Kevin Sheedy.

Kevin Sheedy coached his last game at Essendon in 2007, 27 years after he took the reigns.

RAY Horsburgh never actually lifted his hand to vote for Kevin Sheedy’s sacking that fateful night in July 2007.

But as the enormous reality of the decision descended upon him, he still felt the walls closing in.

Sacking a coach is never easy.

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Kevin Sheedy coached his last game at Essendon in 2007, 27 years after he took the reigns.

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But when that man is a club legend of 27 years service, you know it’s a decision you might never live down.

The former Essendon chairman had fought and won messy fights in decades running business empires including Smorgon Steel and ACI Glass.

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Yet speaking in detail for the first time about that night a decade later, Horsburgh says sacking Sheedy was one of the toughest decisions of his life.

As Collingwood’s board considers the future of one of their favourite sons, Horsburgh says Essendon had to consider the greater good.

“It was a very tough decision. Someone rang me the next day and said, ‘Who shot Bambi?’,’’ Horsburgh said.

“I have sold multi-million dollar businesses, I have had to put people off but for some reason those things didn’t have the personal affect of having to tell someone like Sheeds.

“I think it was like a weight dropping on you, as if the ceiling (in that board room) was closing down on you.

“It was one of the toughest decisions I have had to make.”

Essendon’s master spruiker and coaching legend Sheedy had survived the tightest jams before, of course.

But as that 2007 season unfolded he had already been warned of potential change by chief executive Peter Jackson during a pre-season discussion.

Sheedy with Horsburgh at the legend’s induction into the Bombers’ Hall of Fame.

With Essendon at 8-8 and the fans restless about a fourth year of missed finals, the board’s timeline for a post-season decision was resolute.

Then circumstances outside their control began to force their hand.

“He was up for renewal at the end of the season at the end of the season and that particular week Freo sacked Chris Connolly and Melbourne had sacked Neale Daniher,’’ Horsburgh recalls.

“Peter Jackson said if we are not going to renew Sheeds we shouldn’t be waiting because there will be a waiting list for coaches. We have to make a decision.

“So I thought, ‘Oh s***’, and we put it to the board and had quite a discussion.

“There was a lot of discussion about what Sheeds had done for the club and his icon status, but the fans were worried about where we were heading

“Sheeds had been there so long and some senior players were having doubts about the future of the club.

Kevin Sheedy speaks with champion James Hird, who would go on to coach the club.

“Everyone was talking about Michael Voss at that stage as being highly sought-after.

“There were rumours Carlton was talking to him about replacing Denis Pagan and Peter Jackson said, ‘We can’t wait or we will be at the end of the queue’.

“In the end the vote was 8-2. And as chairman, I am not trying to avoid the issue but I didn’t even need a casting vote.”

Horsburgh can still remember that surreal moment as the individual members of the board contemplated the enormity of the decision.

But decision made, it was absolutely critical to execute the exit strategy with style and grace.

Immediately, everything went wrong.

“We made a mess of it. I don’t know to this day how it happened but someone leaked the meeting because Peter Jackson and I tried to find Sheedy that night after the board meeting and couldn’t get him.

“He wasn’t answering his phone and we were out at the old Windy Hill premises and I went down the stairs to my parked car and Hutchy (Craig Hutchison) and about six other guys were there and they all knew.

Richmond champion Matthew Knights would replace Sheedy as coach of Essendon.

“I denied it because we couldn’t find Kevin to tell him yet. I said, ‘No, we didn’t talk about it, here is the agenda’.

“We found him the next morning at a racing lunch at Crown and met him there and more or less said at the end of the season we are moving on. We had (six games) left.

“It was just at a side table out of the way. It was shocking. I wasn’t looking forward to it, I can assure you.

“What upset Sheeds more than anything is that we used to meet up once a month at the Botanical for a coffee and a chat and we had only met a few weeks earlier and I hadn’t said anything.

“But it hadn’t been on our agenda. At the time he was very angry and didn’t acknowledge me for a while.

“But when we got him back to Essendon, we became close again.”

Sheedy would later admit he should have left Essendon five years earlier and gone on to set up Greater Western Sydney for the AFL.

Essendon’s new coach would come from within — appointing former Richmond champion and assistant coach Matthew Knights.

Sheedy admits now he should have left Essendon earlier than 2007, after going on to coach GWS in its inaugural season.

Horsburgh says sacking a club legend only adds another dimension to an already-difficult decision.

“That’s the hardest part. There are two parts to a coach — the footy club and then his off-field persona and most of those coaches have been icons in their own right,” he said.

“The difference with Buckley is they sacked a successful bloke to back him in. In business you just weigh up all the attributes and issues.

‘You can put a weighting on all of those at the end of the day, but all that matters to a footy club is on-field success.”