The announcement follows in the wake of last year's boardroom coup which saw former chairman Steven Lowy unseated and replaced by new chair Chris Nikou.

It sparked a wave of change at the governing body including the move to create the new independent A-League and W-League body, owned and run by the clubs.

That's set to go through in time for the start of this season if a final deal can be arranged by the end of this month.

But it will leave the FFA with a much reduced budget and set of responsibilities – and Gallop as CEO, believed to be on around $1.5m a year – will no longer have the same role as previously.

One of Lowy's last acts as FFA chairman was to sign off a new two year deal for Gallop to guarantee his position under the new regime, but the reduced FFA footprint no longer makes his position viable.

PLUS...

In pics: The Gallop Years...

Football Federation Australia Chief Exzecutive David Gallop today revealed he'll quit the job at the end of the year - so have a look back at this time in the hot seat through seven years of highs and lows.

Today Gallop confirmed his exit and set the date for New Year's Eve.

“It has been an honour to lead FFA for the last seven years," said Gallop today.

“With the NLWG recommendations to bring about fundamental changes to Australia’s professional competitions – the Hyundai A-League, Westfield W-League and Foxtel Y-League (the Leagues) and FFA, the chief executive’s role as it currently exists will be a very different, narrower role. 

"It makes sense for everyone to have time to openly determine what that new role and new leadership looks like. “

Gallop joined the FFA in 2012 to replace former CEO Ben Buckley and arrived from the NRL as the A-League enjoyed a crest of the wave success with the arrival of Western Sydney Wanderers and big name stars like Alessandro Del Piero, Shinji Ono and Emile Heskey.

But critics claim he allowed the league to stagnate over the ensuing years, stifling growth and causing friction with fans.

He presided over a series of crises, including the fan ban, the Matildas going on strike over pay negotiations, the sacking of Alen Stajcic and the ongoing saga with crowd figures and TV ratings which have put the value of the next TV rights deal in doubt.

Gallop also was behind the sacking of Holger Osieck and Ange Postecoglou's exit after both had qualified the Socceroos for consecutive World Cups, only see the team crash out at the group stage both times.

During his seven-year reign, he was boss of four different Socceroos coaches and four different Matildas coaches. A-League attendances peaked in 2013 before falling back to the same level as when he joined the FFA.

But his era also saw Australia host and win the 2015 Asian Cup, as well as qualifying for the 2014 and 2018 World Cups and the 2015 and 2019 Women's World Cups, and achieve record participation numbers.