Richard Goyder's rise to AFL chairman

MEET NEW AFL CHAIRMAN RICHARD GOYDER:

* First AFL chairman to be based outside Victoria

* Born in 1960 and grew up on a farm with his parents

* Moved to Perth to board at Hale School

* Holds a bachelor degree in commerce at The University of Western Australia as well as an honorary doctorate

* Credited with transforming Wesfarmers after acquiring the Coles group in 2007 for an estimated $19 billion

* Joined Fremantle board in 2006. Five years later, Goyder was appointed to the AFL Commission - the first from WA in more than a decade

* Had his annual pay cheque halved in 2015, following significant writedowns across the business

* After 12 years as managing director and CEO of Wesfarmers, Goyder will step down from the post and assume the title of AFL chairman in April

* Mike Fitzpatrick on Goyder: "Richard is very thorough. He doesn't deal with fools lightly. He's very organised and very committed to the game"