Revered Essendon figure stuns with shock coaching admission

Essendon legend Kevin Sheedy has sensationally revealed that he should've deserted his post as Bombers coach five years sooner, when the club was in the throes of a salary cap disaster.

Sheedy coached the Bombers for an unfathomable 26 years, from 1981 to 2007, but salary cap mismanagement very nearly forced an earlier end to that chapter of his career in 2002.

The storied club had to either trade one of two favourite sons in James Hird or Matthew Lloyd, or part ways with multiple premiership players as the financial strain of keeping together what should've been a dynasty proved too much.

Ultimately, Blake Caracella, Chris Heffernan and Justin Blumfield departed Windy Hill as collateral damage, with Sheedy admitting the necessary bloodletting took its toll. A passionate people person, 'Sheeds' offered that his relationships with his players were worth more to him than these axings suggested.

"I should have just left within a week or two. My love and care for the players is more important than just sacking them," he said on Code Sports' 'Essendon in The Lost Years series'.

Former lieutenant Robert Shaw said the difficult decision to part ways with the three premiership stalwarts "ripped the heart out of the place".

"That was the start of the 'now'," he added, alluding to the two decades of irrelevance that have befallen the Bombers.

The revelations come as Essendon officials, past players and administrative personnel share insight into the club's current plight as part of a new Code Sports series entitled 'Essendon: The Lost Years'.

This proud club, once a force in the league, have infamously gone 22 years without a finals victory, much to the chagrin of their long-suffering supporters. The new series looks to chart the Bombers' course from perennial powerhouse to unfortunate afterthought.