Essendon and Melbourne great Neale Daniher has been named by the AFL as the fourth recipient of the John Kennedy award for lifetime service to the sport.

The former Demons coach was honoured by the league on the occasion of the club’s elimination final with Geelong at an MCG pre-match function.

Daniher coached Melbourne to their last grand final appearance, in 2000, but has become more commonly hailed for his efforts to raise awareness of motor neurone disease (MND), an affliction he has battled since 2014.

Named after former AFL commission chairman and Australian Football Hall of Fame member John Kennedy, the award recognises those who have made an extraordinary and positive contribution to the code across multiple parts of the game.

Already an AFL life member for his services as a player with Essendon and head coach of Melbourne, Daniher is also a co-founder of Fight MND, an organisation that has raised more than $35 million for research into curing motor neurone disease.

AFL Commission chairman Richard Goyder said the commission and wider football community was proud of the hard work Daniher had done in the face of major adversity.

“Neale made an immense contribution to our game as a player, coach and administrator across more than three decades, and since he was diagnosed with illness he has found a way to unite the football community in a manner that has rarely been seen,” Goyder said.