RICHMOND  Football Club has announced that former player and AFLPA chief executive Brendon Gale will take over as chief executive at the end of the season, replacing Steven Wright who is stepping down for health reasons.

Gale returns to the club after five years at the AFLPA, where he has achieved many significant milestones and has become a highly respected CEO.

Richmond President Gary March said the board was very fortunate to have secured someone of Gale's calibre.

"He brings a wealth of industry experience to the club for which he once played,” 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 to its rightful position as a powerhouse in the AFL."

March said he was surprised and disappointed by Wright's decision but fully understood the issues he was having with his health.

Wright suffered from the debilitating Guillain-Barre Syndrome in early 2007.

"Clearly his health and well being are paramount above all other matters. Both personally and as club president, I would like to recognise and thank Steven for his outstanding contribution to the club as CEO over the past 5 years," March said.

"I am pleased that he will be able to continue to work with us to see through the re-development of the Punt Road Oval, a key milestone during his time at the club.”

Wright has been CEO at Richmond for five years and said his doctors told him he needed to work in a low hours and low-stress environment.

“Unfortunately, the 24hr x 7 day pressure cooker football environment is the exact opposite and in my time at Richmond I have put every ounce of my energy into rebuilding this wonderful club from the ground up. However, over the past 12 months, in particular, my body has been telling me to slow down,” Wright said.

“Sadly I won’t be able to continue as CEO of Richmond, the club that I love and as a consequence, I advised president Gary March recently of my intention to stand down from the role at the end of the year.

“Pleasingly, I will continue to remain involved with the club in the coming year as a consultant working on both the $20 million redevelopment at Punt Road and the creation of the Australian Institute of Indigenous Learning and Skills Development.”