AFL Cairns is excited to announce that David Williams has been voted in as the new Chairman of AFL Cairns by the Board of Directors. An experienced and dedicated executive with over a decade of football experience, Mr Williams will bring a strong strategic guiding hand to AFL Cairns.

Since arriving in Cairns in 2006, Mr Williams has been heavily involved with the Cairns Saints football club, starting as a player before dedicating his time as Treasurer, Vice President, and finally as Club President.

Outside of football, David has extensive Director Experience, including over four years as an Independent Director and Chair of the Finance, Risk & Audit Committee for the Gurriny Yealamucka Aboriginal Controlled Community Health Service in Yarrabah, and acting as an Independent Director at Cazalys Cairns since March 2021.

David replaces outgoing Chairman Gary Young, who spent 14 years at AFL Cairns, heralding in major changes in the organisation and leaving behind a major legacy.

Williams said, “I had the pleasure of working with Gary several years ago when I was President of the Saints, and thank him on behalf of the AFL Cairns board for his efforts in growing the league to where it currently is today”.

“The AFL Cairns league continues to improve its standard each year and is truly becoming one of the best regional leagues, not just in Queensland, but in Australia. We now have a very high standard of both men’s and women’s senior football, together with a very strong junior competition. We continue to create pathways for talented players to progress their football journey and are seeing evidence of that each year as more players are given opportunities through the Suns Academy.

I am excited to contribute to the AFL Cairns leagues and I look forward to working with our General Manager, Craig Lees, and his team, together with the local clubs and committees to continue to support the growth of our game and standard of our competitions”.