Essendon president Andrew Welsh says “we are confident the best days for this football club are ahead of us” after sacking embattled coach Brad Scott.
The Bombers moved on from Scott after winning just one of their first 11 matches.
Scott was appointed late in 2022, tasked with stabilising the club both on and off the field.
But the noise around his position grew louder as Essendon claimed just one win across 24 starts between the end of 2025 and start of 2026.
It comes just weeks after Welsh backed Scott, declaring he would be the club’s next premiership coach.
But Welsh, in a club statement on Tuesday morning, said the club could not accept the results Scott had generated.
“Brad is a resilient, stoic leader who gave everything to this football club and to the people in it,” Welsh said.
“He came to Essendon with a clear set of values and he never compromised them, through good times and difficult ones.
“We appreciate the sacrifices he made for our club and thank him for his commitment and professionalism.
“Brad leaves a legacy with the decisions he made in building our list which were always club first.
“Ultimately, whilst we know we are a young team, we are not comfortable with our current position which led us to meet as a board to assess and make a decision on the future of the senior coach position.”
Scott had one season left on his contract extension he penned at the start of the 2025 season.
Welsh said the board felt it would be “unfair” for Scott to coach out the remainder of the season.
“When looking at the overall progress of our football team this season, it was agreed that we needed a fresh voice to take the club forward for the 2027 AFL season,” he said.
“Once that decision was made, it would have been unfair to have Brad continue as coach any longer and that is why we have brought this decision forward to today.
“While long-term decisions have been clear and provide great hope for our future, we still need to show progress week to week, and we haven’t seen that this year.”
He said it was a “genuinely difficult’ decisions.
“ … But the cumulative nature of our losses and the key performance indicators set by the club at the start of the season are not trending in the right direction,” he said.
“In recent years we have transitioned our playing list, overhauled our high-performance department and enhanced our list and recruiting division and today we made the difficult decision to change our senior coaching structure.”
He said the club’s strategy was “extremely clear”.
“We are building the next successful era for Essendon, with a view to playing finals, winning finals and competing for premierships,” Welsh said.
“There is a lot to be gained from the second half of the season and we won’t waste the opportunity to develop and improve our performances.
“We know recent times have been hard for Essendon people, and we feel that deeply. We are confident the best days for this football club are ahead of us and we are excited about the future.”
Essendon is now alongside Carlton in the search for a new coach, following Michael Voss’ immediate resignation earlier this month.
Welsh and Essendon chief executive Tim Roberts will front the media at 12.30pm on Tuesday.
