The AFL's proposed club on the Gold Coast has suffered another setback, with Geelong CEO Brian Cook knocking back a lucrative deal with the new franchise to stay at Skilled Stadium.

Cook, revered as one of the best football administrators in the game, has decided his work at Geelong is not yet done despite taking the club from the verge of financial oblivion to a position of strength, culminating on field in last year's famous Grand Final win.

The GC17 consortium had been keen to lure Cook north as its inaugural CEO. Last week, Michael Voss turned his back on a coaching role with the club, electing to join West Coast as an assistant for two years.

"The decision was not easy but I feel that over the past decade we have come a long way to become a good club and the challenge is now to become a great club," Cook said.

"We need to continue to grow our brand, increase our supporter and membership base, continue to develop Skilled Stadium and keep the team at the forefront of the competition."

"The club has come a long way in the past decade, but we still have a way to go to reach the goals that we have set for ourselves. That is a challenge for me and everyone associated with the club."

"I have received a number of attractive offers in recent times and thank those organisations for their interest. In particular I wish the GC 17 consortium all the best in their quest with the new club, and I look forward to them joining the AFL in 2011."

Cook's decision to stay has delighted Geelong president Frank Costa.

"I have often said that Brian is the greatest recruit that we have ever had," Costa said.

"Our board is thrilled that Brian will lead us on the next part of our quest to become a great club. I know I speak for all members and supporters when I say this is a great result for both the club and Brian and we are all looking forward to the next three years."

“Brian saw the role as both a great challenge and a unique opportunity to build a new club but said a combination of family reasons and the opportunity to continue to build Geelong had determined his decision.

AFL Chief Operating Officer Gillon McLachlan said the AFL and GC17 would now go to the market and advertise for the role.

"We respect Brian’s decision and thank him for his interest in considering the challenge of taking on the Gold Coast role," McLachlan said.

"We have certainly had plenty of interest from many people in both the football industry and in business and we will now go through that process to find a CEO."