Legendary footy commentator Bruce McAvaney has officially called his last AFL match.

McAvaney on Sunday night announced that he is stepping away from Channel Seven's AFL commentary team for 2021, explaining that he wanted to cut back his workload this year.

It marks a sad day for footy fans who have grown accustomed to McAvaney's voice on their TV screens for decades, dating back to the start of his career in 1978.

The 67-year old has called over 1000 matches, including 20 grand finals, with last year's decider between Richmond and Geelong being his final match.

โ€œI felt like I got to a stage in my career where I had to reduce my workload,โ€ McAvaney toldย Seven News.

โ€œIโ€™m going to miss it enormously, I just visualise when Richmond and Carlton run out there in round one, and the ball is bounced, Iโ€™m going to climb a wall somewhere.

โ€œIโ€™m going to have to move on and just be a fan like everybody else.โ€

However, it isn't the end of his career, with McAvaney still set to call racing as well as the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

โ€œ[Iโ€™m] certainly not anything close to retirement, itโ€™s just a new phase, where I cut back slightly, and anything Iโ€™m asked to do at Seven Iโ€™m going to do with the same enthusiasm and same commitment,โ€ he said.

McAvaney in 2017 revealed that he was battling leukaemia, which he still continues to manage.

But that did not play a part in his decision to retire from calling AFL, with McAvaney declaring that "in a ridiculous way I feel like I haven't reached my potential".

James Brayshaw will take McAvaney's place in Channel Seven's Friday night commentary team in 2021.

MORE TO COME.