Essendon Football Club wishes to thank James Kelly for his services as a player and coach, after he tendered his resignation from his position as assistant coach (stoppages).

Kelly will step back from the game to care for his two young sons on a full-time basis, with the club fully supportive of his decision.

“This decision wasn’t made lightly, but for me family comes first, and the time is now right to step back from football,” Kelly said.

“It will be really difficult to step away from the club and I will miss the people who made my experiences as both a player and a coach at Essendon so enjoyable over the past six years.

“The football program at Essendon is in really good shape under the new leadership with ‘Truck’ (Ben Rutten) and Josh (Mahoney), and I’ve seen the genuinely positive change that is happening at the moment. It’s been exciting to see and I wish the players and coaches all the very best for the season ahead. I’ll be watching the boys closely this year.”

General manager, football Josh Mahoney said Kelly departs with the full support of everyone at the Essendon Football Club. 

“James has been a popular member of our club as both a player and coach and while we are sad to see him go, he departs the club with our utmost support to be with his young family,” Mahoney said.

“There’s no shying away from the fact we work in a consuming industry, which was highlighted last season living in hubs. We ask a lot of our partners and families and James has been very open about his desire to be at home more permanently to look after his two young sons. Family is the most important thing in life, and we extend our best wishes to James, Leanne, Jack and Tom for their future endeavours.”

“As a result of James’ departure, we are well placed internally to redeploy the requirements of his role among our current coaching group and broader football department staff’s responsibilities.”