Last Friday afternoon Essendon’s vice captain Andrew Welsh announced his retirement from AFL at the age of 28, after 10 seasons, 162 games and 32 goals.
At a press conference on Friday afternoon, Welsh said he has pulled the curtain on his 162 game career as he was unsure as to how he would recover from a major ankle operation he needed o have and didn’t know how long the recovery process would be. “As an Essendon person, I believe it’s selfish to take up a spot on the list for a younger guy who could have the opportunity to play at this great club”, he said.
Welsh added that the decision to retire was very tough. He said that he loved the club and it was going to be very difficult not to come to the club every day, “I will miss all the players and the people here at Essendon. There are a lot of good people at the Essendon Football Club and they will be friends for life”, he said.
Senior coach James Hird, paid tribute to his former team mate saying his as a loyal, courageous and popular player at the club. He added that Welsh would be more than welcome at the club to work if he wanted to. “He sat in the (coach’s) box this year and has got a good football brain; he’s a quality person and he’d be a really good asset” Hird said.
Welsh was recruited by Essendon as pick number 47, 3rd round selection, traded by Port Adelaide for Damien Hardwick in the 2001 National Draft. He player his debut match in 2002. Throughout his career Welsh was known as a good utility player, who was a great tagger and very courageous.
Andrew Welsh future plans involve possibly pursuing his love of acting. He hopes to work in the media, however also as other alternate business interests.
Tags: Andrew Welsh
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too young ti retire, way too young. The Wallabies have a 35 year old