Essendon Football Club is pleased to announce Dan Richardson has been appointed the General Manager of Football.

Richardson joins the Bombers from the Richmond Football Club where he held the positions of GM of Football and GM of Football Talent over the past five seasons. 

Richardson brings a wealth of experience and knowledge through his time with the tigers, and more than a decade with Elite Sports Properties (now TLA), where he was an Associate Director and ran the company’s football division. 

CEO, Xavier Campbell, said Richardson’s appointment was a fantastic result for the entire Club.

"We are thrilled to announce Dan as our new General Manager of Football," Campbell said. 

"The recruitment panel of Chairman, Lindsay Tanner, General Manager, People & Culture, Lisa Lawry and myself were extremely impressed with Dan through what ended up being a comprehensive process.”

“We believe Dan’s straight up approach, core values, and strong football knowledge make him the right person to lead our football department, and more broadly we feel he will be a great addition to our entire Club.”

“Dan is incredibly well respected across the football industry, and he brings significant experience and knowledge from his time with Richmond and ESP.”

“Dan played a pivotal role in driving Richmond’s football department forward, helping them secure their first premiership in over 30 years, and as a Club we are excited for him to bring his experience and success and share it with our coaches, players and staff.”

"Dan will work closely with our coaches and players to continue to drive our high performance culture, and I’m confident his fresh set of eyes will help us innovate and grow as we continue the hard work towards our goal of establishing a period of success.”

Richardson said the opportunity to join Essendon is an exciting prospect.

“I would like to thank the Richmond Football Club, in particular the board led by Peggy O’Neill, Brendon Gale, Neil Balme, Blair Hartley, Damian Hardwick, Trent Cotchin and the playing group, who I have learned so much from over the past five years,” Richardson said.

“Career decisions are always difficult to make, and this has certainly been one of those occasions.” 

“The opportunity for my ongoing professional development presented by Xavier and the Essendon Football Club was compelling, and I am looking forward to this exciting new challenge.”

“Essendon is heading in a positive direction on and off the field, and I look forward to getting down to business and helping them build on the strong foundations they have established in recent years.”

Richardson will officially start as the GM of Football on 8th January, 2018.