Geoff Walsh stepping down as Saints head of football

Geoff Walsh is stepping down as head of football at St Kilda.

Club sources said Walsh was stepping down for family reasons, leaving the Saints with a vacancy in a revamped football department headed by prodigal senior coach Ross Lyon.

The highly regarded Walsh, a former head of football at both Collingwood and North Melbourne, had only been in the position for a matter of months. He was appointed in the post-season of 2022.

Geoff Walsh is stepping down at St Kilda.Credit:Darrian Traynor

Walsh’s departure means the Saints will need to find a new football chief on the eve of a season in which Lyon will be taking charge in his second stint as senior coach.

The Saints had just appointed Stephen Silvagni, the ex-Carlton great and list manager, to a list management role alongside veteran administrator Graeme Allan.

St Kilda had also appointed new assistant coaches in favourite sons Lenny Hayes and Robert Harvey for the 2023 season. Lyon coached the pair in his first stint at the club.

Walsh had considerable success as a football boss at North and Collingwood, where he was involved in premierships alongside Denis Pagan and Mick Malthouse. He returned for second stints at those clubs, working with Brad Scott and Nathan Buckley and presided over important club reviews at Collingwood in 2017 – which led to the Magpies jumping up to a grand final – and Carlton in 2021, followed by a review of the Kangaroos last year.

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