NEW ST KILDA coach Ross Lyon has revealed AFL Legend Leigh Matthews was instrumental in convincing him to return to the coaches box, more than three years after he departed Fremantle. 

Lyon was officially unveiled at RSEA Park on Monday afternoon, 10 days after the Saints made the brutal decision to sack Brett Ratten, as revealed exclusively on AFL.com.au, less than three months after extending the Carlton great for two more seasons. 

After spending the past few years working in property around media commitments for Channel 9 and Triple M, Lyon returns to the club he almost guided to a second premiership more than a decade ago, where he holds the best win-loss coaching record in the club’s history. 

"I hate to use the name, but I will use it because he has the most credentials in the AFL, which is Leigh Matthews. He rang me during the week out of the blue, unsolicited. He understands it and I shared a little bit," Lyon said at a press conference on Monday afternoon. 

"He said 'You don’t wake up one day and think I want to coach AFL football, because when you've been through it, you know the highs, and you know the lows, you know the challenges, the hot seat you're in, and the expectations. You actually need to be taken along the journey with the people that want to employ you and convince you that all the pillars are there so then you’ll take that emotional risk'. That's really what happened with me to be truthful. 

ONE CLUB, TWO STINTS Lyon's return rare in modern footy

"He didn’t push me, there was no do it or don't do it. It was nice he checked in. They are incredible, coveted, rare jobs, but when you've been in there, it's like a kid going to the dentist, it is hard to go back, but the highs and walking onto the MCG with 100,000 people for prelims and Grand finals, big games. It was just an acknowledgement of what I was going through and making sure I'm up for the fight more than anything. And I am up for the fight."

St Kilda president Andrew Bassat insisted that he didn't make contact with Lyon about returning to the club until after the press conference that confirmed Ratten's departure on October 14. 

TWOMEY Why sacked Ratten is right to feel let down by Saints

The review of the club's football operations identified a need for someone with Lyon's character traits to take the club forward, resulting in a week of intense meeting with the Victorian that were held at Bassat's bayside property and inside the St Kilda Football Club.   

Lyon said he became emotional during a presentation with St Kilda's board inside RSEA Park as he reflected on his controversial departure at the end of 2011 and considered what it would mean to return to the club. 

Lyon said he had maintained deep connections with influential St Kilda powerbrokers, including club champions and long-term supporters, undergoing his own due diligence with those people and others outside the club before deciding to entertain St Kilda's offer. 

But after coming so close in 2009 – St Kilda lost to Geelong by two goals after leading at three-quarter time – and again 12 months later when Collingwood won the 2010 premiership seven days after the famous drawn Grand Final, Lyon has unfinished business at RSEA Park. 

"I have always had a strong affinity to the Saints, and it feels incredible to be back here as senior coach. I have unfinished business with St Kilda and want to play a role in delivering success to the industry's most loyal fans," he said. 

"In my coaching resume there is unfinished business. This is an Everest that can be climbed and I would like to be the person that does that with this group."

The appointment of Lyon arrives amid a major reset of the St Kilda Football Club, following the appointment of revered administrator Geoff Walsh as football operations boss – above David Rath and James Gallagher – and the transition of power at the other end of the building with Simon Lethlean succeeding Matt Finnis as CEO.

Lyon referenced Walsh early in the press conference that exceeded 30 minutes and said later that he was integral in his decision to return to the club. 

"The relationship between the senior coach and the GM of footy is a critical piece,” he said.

"It's the model that Andrew Ireland and the Swans championed with Paul Roos. It is the model of success. He is my boss, he holds me to account, and I need to know that he can hold me to account, but I'm the leader of football. He is a straight shooter, we like that."

While those two posts were a key part of the 10-week review into the football operations, led by Bassat and former North Melbourne senior coach David Noble, the club will present the remainder of the findings to members within the next week. 

"Later this week, I've been busy," Bassat said before the room erupted in laughter.

"Or the weekend at the latest. The high-level findings will be delivered shortly. A fair few of the outcomes you've seen, with the appointment of Ross and the appointment of Geoff Walsh, but I did promise to members that I would deliver findings of the review within the next week."

St Kilda great Lenny Hayes joined the football department as midfield coach for 2023 months ago, while the Saints still need to fill at least one vacancy left by Brendon Lade, who moved to the Western Bulldogs last month.

It is understood the appointment of Lyon could result in other key figures from his first stint returning to the club, including dual All-Australian Brendon Goddard, Brownlow Medal winner Robert Harvey and fitness boss David Misson.

Lyon hinted at a well-known name that will arrive at the Saints imminently but wouldn’t disclose anything just yet. 

He is the first coach to return for a second coaching stint since David Parkin returned to Carlton in 1991, six years after departing Princes Park for the role at Fitzroy. The four-time premiership coach led the Blues to two flags in his first stint, before winning another one in 1995 after he returned.

Now Lyon is back at Moorabbin ahead of St Kilda's 150th anniversary, searching for the same goal as last time: the elusive second premiership.  

"We've got plenty of ground to make. We want to improve our people and there are no more important people at a football club than the players. I need to improve. We are all chasing Geelong. That's where we sit."

The best of Ross Lyon's press conference

• "It's like a kid going to the dentist. It's hard to go back." - on returning to coaching
• "When I left, I dropped an iron curtain." - on his departure from the Saints in 2011
• "If you don't do the work, you're just a daydreamer, aren't you? We've got to put our work boots on." - on St Kilda's chances in 2023
• "They've got their doodle pens out and they're working now." - on his assistant coaches
• "When we were here (before), it was a condemned building. This is like Disneyland." - on St Kilda's new facility at RSEA Park
• "There's no victory lap here ... this is just the starting gun going off." - on his return