Australian Football League (AFL) chief executive Gillon McLachlan has announced he is stepping down as league boss. McLachlan has been in the top job for eight years after taking over in 2014, and he will step down at the end of the 2022 season.

Gillon McLachlan will be remembered for two major achievements. The first was that he steered the competition and the clubs through the COVID-19 crisis when the AFL first suspended its (2020) season and then relocated to Queensland. The second was creating the women's competition in 2016. The Australian Football League Women's (AFLW) competition and the growth in grassroots participation in footy by girls are likely to be his signature legacy.

Asked about his thoughts on who should replace him, Gillon McLachlan said the new boss would be "completely different". Richmond chief Brendon Gale is reportedly in the running to be McLachlan's successor after missing out on the job in 2014, while football boss Andrew Dillon, executive Travis Auld, and Western Bulldogs president Kylie Watson-Wheeler are also in the discussion. Whoever takes the baton from him, Gillon McLachlan has made an indelible mark.