Essendon Football Club wishes to advise General Manager of Football Rob Kerr has made the decision to leave the Club next month.

Kerr has decided to take a break from football to pursue family business interests and complete a Harvard Business Course before resuming his professional career.

“It is with mixed emotions I have decided that now is a good time for me personally to move on from my role at Essendon,” Kerr said.

“I joined the Club when it was facing unprecedented challenges and having guided the department through this period I feel I have achieved what I set out to do and that it’s a good time to hand over the reins and look for the next challenge.

“The Club is about to enter an exciting phase in its history and I wish the players and coaches every success in the future. Essendon is well set up for success and I am proud of the contribution I have made.

“I will assist in helping set up for a smooth transition before finishing up later this year.

“I’d like to thank my family for their support through this demanding period as well as the staff at Essendon for their work over the last few years, in particular Xavier Campbell and the Club’s Executive, Coach John Worsfold and the Football Leadership team.”

Essendon CEO Xavier Campbell thanked Kerr for his hard work and commitment over the past four seasons.

“The contribution Rob has made to the rebuild of our football Club has been significant and I thank him for his unwavering dedication and passion,” Campbell said.

“In agreeing to take on the role Rob indicated that it was only ever going to be a medium term proposition.

“In that time he has made a significant impact, and Rob’s discipline, rigour and work ethic in driving the establishment of strong working structures, processes and compliance within the football program cannot be underestimated.

“Rob’s leadership has helped guide the football department through contingency planning during the challenging ASADA/WADA period, the acquisition of short-term contracted players, the retention and reintegration of the suspended players, the club’s finals appearances in 2014 and 2017 and, most recently, executing a successful trade period.

“I speak on behalf of everyone at Essendon in wishing Rob, Belinda and their family nothing but the best for the future and their next chapter."

Coach John Worsfold added, “I would like to thank Rob for the support he has shown me over the last two years, I have really enjoyed working with him and have valued his leadership of the department.”

The Club will now commence a recruitment process to find Kerr’s replacement.