Richmond Chief Executive Officer Brendon Gale has been elevated to Legend status in the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame.
AFL Tasmania’s Chief Executive Scott Wade today officially announced Gale’s elevation, along with triple Melbourne premiership full-back of the 1950s, Peter Marquis.
“Once again, it is an enormous thrill for me to be announcing the elevation of inductees – the late Peter Marquis and Brendon Gale – to Legend status, as our acknowledgement of the contribution they both have made to our great game,” Wade said.
Gale played senior football with Tasmanian club Burnie before being recruited by Richmond.
He was Richmond’s third pick (No. 27 overall) in the AFL’s 1987 National Draft and went on to play 244 senior games and kick 209 goals for the Tigers in a distinguished career as a ruckman/key forward from 1990-2001.
After retiring from league football, Gale took up the position as CEO of the AFL Players’ Association, before returning to Richmond as its CEO in 2009.
In the six years he’s been in the CEO’s chair at Tigerland, Gale has overseen many significant achievements, including the total removal of the Club’s substantial financial debt, record membership numbers (approaching 70,000), consecutive finals campaigns for the first time since the mid-1970s, the return of a stand-alone Richmond VFL team, and a major redevelopment of Punt Road Oval.
Gale, who was initially inducted into the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame in 2005, now becomes the sixth Richmond player to attain Legend status in it, joining Tiger greats Royce Hart, Ian Stewart, Paul Sproule, Matthew Richardson and Michael Roach.
He will be officially elevated to Legend status at the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame gala function on July 3.
