Former Richmond captain and current Tigers' official Wayne Campbell is to be announced as the AFL's new director of umpiring, replacing the long-time occupant of the position Jeff Gieschen.

Campbell, 41, will be officially appointed to the post when the league re-opens for business in the new year. His appointment is the latest attempt by the AFL to bring its football operations back to a closer connection with clubland, a direction which began with the appointment of former Hawthorn football manager Mark Evans to replace Adrian Anderson as head of its football department last March.

Wayne Campbell. Credit:Penny Stephens

Campbell has spent the past seven years as an official and manager, first with the Western Bulldogs for two years, then with the Tigers for the past five seasons, working under senior coaches Rodney Eade, Terry Wallace, Jade Rawlings and Damien Hardwick. For the past 18 months, he has played a leading role in putting together Richmond's stand-alone VFL team.

Campbell played 297 games with Richmond between 1991 and 2005, winning four best and fairests and captaining the side for four seasons between 2001-04. The last of those best and fairests, in 1999, came under the coaching of Gieschen, the man he will now replace in umpiring's top job. He will be the front man for all matters AFL umpiring, working in conjunction with another new appointee, former field umpire Hayden Kennedy, who takes over from Rowan Sawers as umpires' coach.