Simon Lethlean (born 17 November 1975) is a former

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL) football operations manager and the current CEO of the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club ...

Career

Previously working as a commercial solicitor, Lethlean began working for the AFL in 2004. He worked across various roles at the league, where he was involved in the legal department, broadcasting, fixturing, and game development. As general manager of game development at the league he was involved in the creation of the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 1 ...

league, and oversaw its inaugural season. In March 2017, AFL CEO

Gillon McLachlan Gillon McLachlan (born 1973) is the chief executive officer of the Australian Football League (AFL). He was appointed to the role in 2014, succeeding Andrew Demetriou, having previously served as his deputy. In 2022 he announced his resignation ...

announced that Lethlean would be replacing outgoing football operations manager Mark Evans, who was taking on the CEO position at

Gold Coast Football Club The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since th ...

. Lethlean retained his role in running the AFL Women's competition. In July 2017 following media reports of "inappropriate relationships" within AFL headquarters, McLachlan announced that Lethlean had resigned from his position within the league. It emerged that Lethlean had been involved in an extra-marital relationship with a younger female staff member from the AFL's New South Wales office. The relationship had begun a year earlier in August 2016, but had ended prior to Lethlean taking on the football operations role. He also resigned from his position as a director of statistics company Champion Data, which is part owned by the league. Following his departure from the AFL, it was reported that Lethlean was seeking a CEO position at an AFL club. He had been linked to chief executive openings at Collingwood,

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, and

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

, and later to the head of football department role at

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

, but in December 2017 it was announced that he would become general manager of football at the St Kilda Football Club from the beginning of 2018. The role became vacant following a restructure caused by the departure of Saints chief operating officer Ameet Bains. Lethlean became St Kilda's CEO in 2022.

Playing/coaching career

Lethlean played for the Hawthorn reserves side, playing in 40 games during the 1990s before later playing for the Old Xaverians, where he was involved in five premierships. He went on to captain the

Victorian Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria. It consists of seven senior men's and women's divisions ranging from Premier to Division 4. In addition there ...

(VAFA) representative team. Lethlean later returned to the Old Xaverians as coach, winning premierships again in 2009 and 2010. He also coached the VAFA representative side to six wins from six games.

Personal life

Lethlean attended Camberwell Grammar and studied law through the University of Melbourne's Sports Law Program. He is married and has four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lethlean, Simon Living people 1975 births VFL/AFL administrators University of Melbourne alumni Old Xaverians Football Club players St Kilda Football Club administrators Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)