St Kilda locks in coach Alan Richardson until end of 2020

ST KILDA has rewarded coach Alan Richardson with a new contract extension, locking him into the club for the foreseeable future.

St Kilda coach Alan Richardson has been locked in by the Saints until the end of 2020. Picture: AAP

ST KILDA has rewarded coach Alan Richardson with a new contract extension, locking him into the club until the end of the 2020 season.

Richardson was already contracted until the end of next season, but the club is confident he is the right person to lead the club into the future as it chases its first finals series since 2011.

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St Kilda coach Alan Richardson has been locked in by the Saints until the end of 2020. Picture: AAP

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The Saints will announce the new deal at tonight’s Trevor Barker Medal, with chairman Peter Summers detailing his vision for the future.

The new deal means the 52-year-old will almost certainly become the second longest-serving coach of St Kilda, behind Allan Jeans (333 games).

He has coached the club in 88 matches, and could leapfrog Ken Sheldon (89), Stan Alves (115), Ross Lyon (121) and Grant Thomas (129) in the coming years.

Richardson is yet to lead his team into the finals from his four seasons at the helm of the club, but the club is mindful that it has been patiently building its playing list and resources to the point where they can soon be pushing not only for finals, but for a premiership.

Saints chief executive Matt Finnis said recently: “We are very confident Richo is our man for the long term.”

Richardson has played a key role in methodically working on St Kilda’s long-range plan to build a premiership side, after taking over the reins for the 2014 season. After a difficult first three seasons, the Saints finished ninth in 2016, and were disappointed to finish 11th this year.