Outstanding AFL player and coach

Multi award winning AFL star, coach and AFL Hall of Fame inductee, Kevin Sheedy tops the records for involvement with 1000 games and 8 premierships to his name.

Kevin’s contribution to the sport is an outstanding catalogue of achievements, with some of Australia’s most lauded awards and recognitions including Advance Australia Award (1993), Member of the Order of Australia (1998) and Australia Sports Commission Coach of the Year (2000). Kevin’s off-field success saw the Essendon club increase its membership by 25,000 from 1980 - 2008, whilst establishing the club as a national brand.

Kevin Sheedy is one of the Australian Football League’s most enduring figures. A player and coach over five decades, Kevin has an unsurpassed record of involvement in a 1000 games and eight premierships. In 2008 Kevin received a number of accolades. He has been inducted in to the Australian Football League’s Hall of Fame, made a Legend of the Essendon Football Club and nominated as The Australian Thinker of the Year. 

Award Recognition

He received the Advance Australia Award in 1993, was Honoured in1998 as a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his service to sport and the community, awarded the Australia Sports Commission Coach of the Year for 2000 [Domestic] and was also awarded an Australian Sports Medal in recognition of his service to Australian Football. Kevin is a member of the Team of the Century of the Richmond Football Club, and in 2003 he was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal.

He began his career at Prahran Football Club in the Victorian Football Association in 1964. After playing in a premiership with that club, he transferred to Richmond in the Victorian Football League in 1967 and played 251 games before retiring in 1979. Kevin played in three winning grand final sides for the Tigers - 1969, 1973 and 1974. He was the Skills Coach at Richmond when the club won the 1980 Premiership.

In 1981 Kevin was appointed Senior Coach at the Essendon Football Club, where he coached for a record 635 games during 27 years of continuous coaching. In that time the club completed in 19 finals series. During his time at E.F.C., the club competed in seven Grand Finals, winning flags in 1984, 1985, 1993 and 2000. The club also won six of eight “Night" grand finals in which it competed. Overall, Kevin has coached in 69 pre-season competition games.

Kevin’s success ratio as a coach is 61.0% - 386 wins, 242 losses and 7 draws. In finals, he won 23 games and lost 20. Sheeds was “All Australian" coach in 1984, 1985, 1993 and 2000 and State of Origin coach in 1984 and 1985.

He was also the successful Coach of the International Rules Team in 2005 and 2006, winning three of the four Tests played during his tenure. In round 15 of 2007, Kevin broke the VFL/AFL’s combined playing/coaching record with 251 games played and 628 coached - 879 games.

As well as on field success, Kevin also helped develop Essendon off the field. In 1980, membership was 15,000, in 2008, Kevin was given the honour of being the club’s 40,000th member in recognition of his efforts in making the club a national “brand".

He was appointed to be an Ambassador for the AFL during the 150th anniversary celebrations of Australian football.

Kevin is a life Member of the Richmond Football Club, Essendon Football Club and the Australian Football League

Other awards include

• Runner up in the Vic Division for 2008 Senior Australian of the Year
  
• The Centenary Medal in 2003

Kevin was one of three finalists for ‘Coach of the Year" in the 2000 Australian Sports Awards, and the Essendon Football Team were judged as the National Team of 2000. The club and Kevin are justifiably proud of achieving these awards in an Olympic year.

Co-author of seven books

• “Sheeds – A Touch of Cunning"
  
• “Sheeds – Pockets of Greatness"
• “Footballs Women – The Forgotten Heroes"
  
• “Second Chance Winners"
  
• “Sheeds - Follow Your Dreams"
  
• ’’Coaches 500 Club"
  
• “Stand Your Ground"

Presentation Topics Include

• Positive and Lateral Thinking
  
• Building a Team
  
• Developing Young Employees
  
• Coping With Change
  
• Empowerment AND/OR Leadership In The Workplace
  
• Motivation

Testimonials

Excellent, a perfect fit. Kevin slotted into the event like he was one of our own staff. He stayed for the duration of the event and virtually spoke to everyone in the room. Kevin posed for photos and signed autographs, and his address was not only highly entertaining but relevant to our objectives on the night. He is a true legend.
Insurance Group Australia

Kevin was thoroughly entertaining and also very giving in terms of interactions with people before and after his presentation. He was extremely well received by all sections of the audience, younger or older, male or female. We all saw ‘Sheeds’ at his best: funny, thought-provoking and passionate. We would highly recommend Kevin as an after dinner speaker to any event.
The Police Association of Victoria

An inspiring talk, well targeted at the audience; well received.
 T University of Melbourne

An old stalwart with fresh views to share which are great.
Municipal Works Operations Association

Audience enjoyed – suited as a dinner speaker. Raised huge amount of money for our charity – thank you.
Ambulance Victoria

Kevin was great! He was able to take his vast, practical experience and weave it into a presentation hat was perfect for our crowd. The nuggets of wisdom were delivered with power, conviction and, most importantly, plenty of laughs!!
Dominion Print Group

Kevin delivered a superb presentation. He was very engaging and was able to tailor his message to fit the audience through sharing his personal experiences. Speaking away from the lectern and using a whiteboard really connected with the audience. I would not hesitate in booking Kevin again.
Moonee Valley City Council

What a great man – what a great presentation – no wonder Kevin Sheedy is called a ‘legend’
Civil Contractors Federation

Excellent - Inspiring actually, and he is relevant across all age groups. We would love to use Kevin again in the future.
TAL

Excellent. It was obvious that Kevin enjoyed himself in the “total CLUB environment.” He related well to all our members and created a great atmosphere during his presentation.
Clubs Victoria

Kevin was very relaxed and quite interesting. He sought to relate the growth and changes experienced in football with the business world, which was most appropriate.
National Australia Bank

Excellent. Very impressed with Kevin’s style of delivery and the parallels drawn between football and our business. Everyone benefited from the presentation.
Australian Wheat Board

Very stimulating speaker giving the audience a multitude ways of thinking and making things happen.
Northcote Training Services Inc

Excellent. Kevin’s presentation was enjoyed by everyone who attended.
Adelaide City Council

Very well prepared and focussed on the audience, related well to audience, excellent interactive presentation.
Rowville Secondary College

He was well prepared, interesting and related well to a mixed audience.
Moorabbin Football Club

Presentation very well tailored to our objectives – a seasoned presenter who was particularly well received by an attentive audience.
Australian Eagle Life

Excellent. Kevin was inspiring and in a subtle way kept driving home our theme.
VECCI

Excellent. A great success. Everyone loved his presentation. It was fantastic that he stayed & signed everyone’s flags, posters, ect.
Hume City Council

Kevin was very entertaining, engaging of the audience and generous of his time in signing autographs and talking to clients. Our guests really enjoyed themselves.
Hunt and Hunt Lawyers

Excellent. Top performance – I think attendees could have listened to him all day!
AIM South Australia

Excellent. As the key presenter at our Business Planning Forum, Sheedy provided a excellent balance of thought provoking ideas, incite and motivation which set the tone for a fantastically successful day.
A.G Coombs

Excellent. Kevin’s presentation was outstanding, he appeals to staff from around Australia, he clearly made a difference to our conference.
Rentokil Pest Control

Kevin was excellent, he engaged the audience fully and was very energetic and enthusiastic. All comments from the attendees were positive and I would most certainly recommend him to anyone who was looking for a very adaptable speaker who can engage all levels of the community and business world.
Victorian Institute of Water Administration

One of the best aspects of Kevin's presentation from our group's perspecitive was that Kevin talks from his own experiences in regard to coaching and building a business (football club and national league) which allows individuals to draw there own business parallels. Kevin was also very entertaining.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Excellent, Kevin was witty, extremely well spoke, friendly and easy to deal with and had the crowd hanging on every word
Champion Events

A sensational addition to our college awards night, Kevin’s obvious passion for life and about making a difference was inspirational.
Yarrawonga Secondary College

He was very well suited for our audience. His casual approach was excellent which suited our audience. Our people responded well. Its critical and very important that you as the customer brief your speaker direct and NOT thru layers. To ensure Kevin was effective, he needed to be very clear on the business message we wanted him to deliver and have an understanding of our culture and history to ensure he knew that he needed to tailor his presentation - this he did and did an outstanding job. Our people just loved him.
Cobham Flight Poerations & Services

Excellent presentation, good research and preparation of the topics we wanted covered. Made it relevant to his experience. Stayed around after for drinks which was very well received.
Planfarm