Celebrate Kevin Sheedy this Sunday
By Brendan Day
To mark Kevin Sheedy’s final home game as Head Coach, the GWS GIANTS will don a special commemorative guernsey when they take on the Richmond Tigers at Skoda Stadium this Sunday.
The guernsey features a lengthy list of Sheedy’s accomplishments as a player and coach, and is a part of a larger celebration of the retiring coach’s career.
The AFL Commission’s CEO Andrew Demetriou and Chairman Mike Fitzpatrick are scheduled to be in attendance at the game, where they will conduct a presentation to recognise Sheedy’s invaluable services to AFL.
In addition, the first 10,000 fans to come through Skoda Stadium’s gate will receive a special Kevin Sheedy flag, and both Essendon and Richmond members will be able to enter free of charge provided they show their 2013 membership passes.
Having played 251 games with Richmond Football Club from1967-1979, Sheedy became the Head Coach of Essendon in 1981, a position he held until 2007, and coached the club for 634 games in total. He was named GWS GIANTS’ inaugural Head Coach in 2009, and will be succeeded in 2014 by his Assistant Coach, Leon Cameron.
In an interview with gwsgiants.com.au, GIANTS CEO David Matthews described Sunday’s match as “a fitting conclusion in Sydney for a person who has done so much to put the GIANTS on the map.”
“It is appropriate we are playing Richmond where his career began 46 years ago, and we want to see as many AFL and sports fans get along and help fill Skoda Stadium to thank him for what he has done,” Matthews said.
AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou shared similar sentiments to Matthews when also interviewed by gwsgiants.com.au, encouraging fans to attend the match and celebrate Sheedy’s legendary career.
“I urge football fans in Sydney and Melbourne to take this historic opportunity to celebrate the life and times of Sheeds at his final home game at Skoda Stadium as the senior coach of this up and coming side,” Demetriou said.
A social media campaign with the hashtag #thankssheeds is being utilised as a way fans can express and share their own favourite moments from Sheedy’s six-decade-spanning career, with participants eligible to win family passes to the match this Sunday.
The GWS GIANTS take on Richmond Tigers this Sunday, August 25, at 3:20 p.m. at Skoda Stadium.
Tickets are available here: www.ticketmaster.com.au/giants