BEN BUCKLEY is stepping down as North Melbourne president and will be replaced by Sonja Hood - the fourth woman to hold that position at an AFL club.
Buckley will leave in March, six months earlier than originally planned, just short of completing nine years on the Kangaroos' board.
Hood will then join Peggy O'Neal (Richmond), Kate Roffey (Melbourne) and Kylie Watson-Wheeler (Western Bulldogs) as president of an AFL club.
"For those of you who may not know Sonja, she is as North Melbourne as anyone I've met," Buckley wrote in a letter to North members.
"She watched the Kangas from the terraces at Arden St as a little girl and has closely followed the ups and downs of the club ever since. I couldn't think of a better person to take the club into the next phase of our future."
It will end a long association for Buckley at the Kangaroos.
The 54-year-old played 74 games for North between 1986 and 1993, before becoming president in 2016 after the long-serving James Brayshaw stepped aside.
"It's not a decision I took lightly but I feel the time is right for Sonja Hood to take the reins ahead of the coming AFL season," he said.
Under coach David Noble, North has undergone a significant rebuild for the first time in the club's modern history and finished with the wooden spoon last year.
But Buckley said he was confident in the club's direction after it became debt free for the for the first time in almost four decades last year, and it was now about to embark on an $8m extension of Arden St and play a "major role" in the Arden Urban Renewal project.
"On-field, our AFLW team has started the year in fine style, winning three of our first four matches under coach Darren Crocker and captain Emma Kearney. And our AFL team is building something really special under coach David Noble and skipper Jack Ziebell. Our fans are optimistic about the prospects of both teams, with great justification," he said.
Hood was the CEO of The Huddle (North Melbourne's not-for-profit community arm that works with young people to help them feel socially included) for five years from 2010-15. She was elected to the board in 2019.