Loveridge takes over as AFL appeals board chair

St Kilda's Lance Collard had his suspension for a homophobic slur controversially reduced on appeal. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS)

Veteran AFL tribunal member Richard Loveridge will take over from Will Houghton KC as the league's appeals board chairman.

Houghton, who also had a lengthy stint in the AFL tribunal system, was sacked from his role in the wake of the Lance Collard case.

Loveridge will be the interim appeals board chair for the rest of the AFL season and the upcoming AFLW season.

The 1983 and '86 Hawthorn premiership rover is a veteran lawyer in private practice, serving on the tribunal and appeals board since 1999.

Lance Collard has played 15 AFL games in two seasons for the Saints, but none in 2026. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

Houghton was removed from the appeals board last month, two days after he said racist, sexist or homophobic language was "commonplace" in the AFL.

He made the comments when Collard's ban for a homophobic slur in a VFL game was reduced on appeal.

The St Kilda player was originally banned for seven weeks, with another two weeks suspended. While the appeals board agreed with the original verdict of conduct unbecoming, the penalty was cut back to two weeks, with another two weeks suspended.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon condemned Houghton's comment and the reduction in penalty.