The St Kilda Football Club has today appointed Brett Ratten as Senior Coach of the St Kilda Football Club.

Ratten’s appointment was endorsed by the club’s Board at a meeting on Thursday evening, following a recommendation from the coaching selection sub-committee.

St Kilda President Andrew Bassat said Ratten had impressed the panel at every stage of the recruitment process.

“We were able to evaluate Brett across six weeks as interim coach and through the opportunities he had to present to the panel,” Bassat said.

“At every stage, he gave us great confidence that he is the right person to lead our football program.

“Brett is an extremely experienced, knowledgeable and tactically astute coach who knows what it takes to achieve premiership success." - Andrew Bassat

“His greatest strength is building relationships with players, coaches and staff, and we have seen that first-hand during his time at the Saints.

“He brings a great balance in building relationships and creating a positive environment, while also driving uncompromising standards.

“We know as a football club we have to lift in a number of areas to achieve the consistency required to play finals football.

“We have a young, talented group of men who we need to develop, add to, and inspire to take their football to another level.

“Brett is the right person to lead our coaching group in driving that improvement, and we look forward to seeing him take charge as Senior Coach for the next three years.”

Ratten said he was honoured by the opportunity to lead the St Kilda Football Club.

“I’ve made no secret of my desire to coach again, but to be given an opportunity with this group is really special,” Ratten said.

“We have a strong core of talented young players who are determined to drive the club forward.

“I’ve loved working with the guys over the past 12 months, and their development gives me great confidence in what we can achieve as a football club in the coming years." - Brett Ratten

“As I acknowledged after Round 23, we know there are areas that we have to improve, and that will be the focus this off-season.

“I’m honoured to be the coach of the St Kilda Football Club, and I thank them for the opportunity.

“I want to specifically acknowledge my family; it’s their unwavering support and encouragement that’s allowed me to take on this role.

“I also want to thank Saints fans for their support, especially over the past two months.

“We will do everything in our power to make you proud, and we look forward to sharing this journey with you.”

Ratten began his coaching career at Melbourne as assistant under Neale Daniher in 2004. He then coached Norwood in 2006 before joining Carlton as an assistant ahead of the 2007 season.

After taking the interim job at the Blues mid-way through 2007, Ratten assumed the senior coaching role from 2008 and 2012 where he enjoyed a winning percentage of 51 per cent, and led the team to finals on three occasions.

He then joined Hawthorn as an assistant coach under Alastair Clarkson and was part of the Hawks’ three premierships, before accepting a role at the Saints prior to the 2019 season.