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ST KILDA is on the lookout for a new head of football after Chris Pelchen resigned from the position on Tuesday.

 

The decision came after a lengthy review of the Saints' football department. 

 

The club said Pelchen had resigned from his position following the review, which revealed the club needed to shift the focus away from list management and on to high performance.

Pelchen and Finnis completed the review together and decided the end of the NAB AFL Trade Period was an "appropriate time" to make the change.

 

Current list manager Ameet Bains will take control of the football department until a replacement is found.

 

The search for the new head of football will start immediately. Pelchen will hand over his responsibilities to relevant personnel in the meantime.

Pelchen has been linked to Carlton.

 

He arrived at St Kilda in August 2011 after a 14-year association with Hawthorn, where he had a key hand in assembling the list that won the 2008 premiership.

 

He abruptly left the Hawks in June that year after a re-organisation of the club's football department.

 

At the Saints, he oversaw list management – which recently involved the strategy of trading to strengthen the club's position inside the first round of the NAB AFL Draft – and improved their total player payments position. 

 

He was also involved in establishing the Saints' New Zealand foothold, which secured them a fixture on Anzac Day in Wellington until 2018.

 

He was involved in the recent re-signing of 19 young Saints – including last year's draftees Jack Billings, Luke Dunstan and Blake Acres – as part of the Saints' "Future Fest".

 

Pelchen was only last week involved in the Saints' trade of Rhys Stanley to Geelong and the acquisition of pick No.21 for the November NAB AFL Draft.

 

He said he was pleased to have been involved in building a "strong foundation" at the Saints for them to "regenerate" their football program from.

 

"The Saints are an iconic brand in the AFL competition and I am pleased to have played a part in strategically repositioning them for future success - an objective that I am confident will be achieved in coming years," Pelchen said.

 

"Like all AFL clubs, there must be a relentless pursuit of premierships and I fully support the club's need to restructure their football program to reflect the ever changing landscape."

 

Finnis, who started at St Kilda in May after leaving the CEO's position at the AFLPA, said he was confident there would be "strong interest" in the position.

 

"St Kilda is a proud foundation AFL club with a developing list and a quality coach - I know there will be strong interest in this position," he said.

 

"Whomever is appointed will play a key role in overseeing the management and strategy of our high performance environment."

 

The Saints have seen plenty of turnover at high levels throughout the club in recent years.

 

Alan Richardson was installed as senior coach in November last year after Scott Watters survived just two years at the helm.

 

CEO Michael Nettlefold resigned in September 2013 after four and a half years in the role, two weeks after football manager Greg Hutchison was made redundant.

 

This year, the club's chief operating officer Terry Dillon and general manager of commercial operations Shane Wakelin were made redundant, with Christine Finnegan appointed as the new commercial operations officer to replace them.

 

Dillon acted as interim CEO in between Nettlefold's departure and Finnis starting.

 

And, the president of the club has changed in the past 12 months with Greg Westaway stepping down after his maximum term of six years.  

 

He was replaced by Peter Summers in September last year.