As Darren Burgess prepares to leave his role as Adelaide’s high performance boss for a new chapter with Italian soccer giant Juventus, there’s one thing he’s certain of.

Despite the impending move abroad, Burgess says his connection to the Crows will remain strong, forged through hard work, shared ambition, and close personal bonds.

“I’ll be a Crows person… I will absolutely be watching on,” Burgess said.

“I’ve developed lifelong friendships here… I’ll be excited watching the team go onto bigger and better things in the next few years.”

The Club announced on Thursday morning that Burgess, who had been a significant part of the Crows’ football program as General Manager High Performance for the past four years, was joining the Italian Serie A club as Director of Performance.

Speaking after the news was announced, Burgess said leaving the Crows wasn’t an easy decision but the opportunity was too good to refuse.

“The thing that we are most proud of as a high performance department is the resilience that we’ve instilled both mentally and physically into the players over the last four years,” Burgess said.

“It is sad (to leave) because I’ve absolutely loved working with the players, and the coaches, and the staff here at the Crows.

“It’s a bit different, it’s more of a suit and tie role, so I kind of have to give up the whistle and the tracksuit.

“I am overseeing a lot of staff in the performance area across the whole club - the men’s program, the women’s program, the academy program and essentially every aspect of performance there.”

Burgess will be replaced by Ian McKeown, who comes to the Crows from NHL club, the Philadelphia Flyers, where he has held the position of Vice President, Athlete Performance and Wellness.

He has previously been Head of High Performance at the Port Adelaide Football Club.

Burgess said the Club was in a strong position and McKeown was a great appointment. 

“That was a really important part of my exit is to make sure the Crows are in good hands, and I’ve worked with Ian McKeown for about four-and-a-half, five years, previously,” Burgess said.

“We’ve been in contact throughout the last seven or eight years that we haven’t been working together, he’s one of the best performance people on the planet, he’ll be fantastic for the Club.

“It will be a really seamless transition, he’s a fantastic acquisition, and he’s certainly sought after across the League and across the world, so it’s a great coup for the Crows to get him.”