Brendon Gale Biography

Brendon Gale steps down from his post at Richmond and signs on to be Tasmania's first CEO, starting in early 2025.

“Not only have we got a highly successful and proven AFL Club CEO, we have also tempted home a proud son of Tasmania," chair of the Tasmania Football Club Grant O’Brien said.

“Brendon grew up on the North West Coast of Tasmania, and before his incredible 244-game career at AFL level, he played his early football for Burnie Hawks and represented Tasmanian four times.

“This is an enormous vote of confidence in our Club."

Richmond chief Brendon Gale has stopped short of declaring his interest in the AFL's top job, but says he's flattered to be considered a contender.

"It's flattering that some people see you in that role, but it's not something that I've thought a lot about," Gale said.

"Right now I'm very, very much focused on Richmond as we all are down there and getting ourselves back up and firing.

"But as to whether it's something I'm interested in down the track – it's probably something I wouldn't comment on."

Richmond CEO Brendon Gale has copped an earful from the Tiger faithful about last year's disappointing season but says he admires their passion.

"We're a club with such a strong history of success that we define our success in terms of premierships. We haven't won one since 1980, so clearly we've been unsuccessful, but I think our people, their expectations remain high, they maintain the rage," Gale said.

Matthew Richardson accepts a position in Richmond's commercial operations department.

"Brendon (Richmond CEO Brendon Gale) wanted me where I had a key role and where I had something to do, and I'm actually contributing and I've got goals that he wants me to achieve." Richardson said.

AFLPA chief Brendon Gale is appointed Chief Executive Officer at Richmond, the club where he played 244 games.

"He brings a wealth of industry experience to the club for which he once played," Richmond president Gary March said.

"The board thought Brendon was the ideal candidate to take over from the strong platform established by outgoing CEO Steven Wright, and continue to restore the club."

AFL Players' Association vice-president Brett Burton says departing chief executive Brendon Gale will be missed after the latter accepted a position as CEO of Richmond.

"It's disappointing to lose Brendon, but we certainly congratulate him in moving on," Burton said.

"Brendon's been in the game for a long period of time. His leadership over the last few years has been outstanding in a number of issues including the collective bargaining agreement and the free agency issue, which is on the table at the moment.

"We wish him the best for his future."

AFLPA head Brendon Gale says the League must limit football department budgets to ensure a truly level playing field.

"Now the top four-spending clubs in the AFL spend nearly $17 million a year on football operations," he said.

"The bottom four clubs spend about $12 million. So I'll go out on a limb and say I reckon that spend or lack of spend has a bit to do with whether a club can be competitive or not.

"In fact I'll go more than that and say there is actually a demonstrable correlation ... the AFL's figures tell us."