Only Essendon's Mark Thompson has to date refused to forgo the money that is claimed by AFL coaches every year in a bid to further their coaching credentials through study, international travel or other forms of teaching or technological development.

The coaches association, which was virtually disbanded several months ago and is undergoing a full restructure, lost $160,000 in 2013 and was headed towards a similar deficit in 2015 as the rapidly increasing numbers of assistant and development coaches were all claiming professional development grants.

Fairfax Media understands Alastair Clarkson, John Longmire and Ross Lyon moved in June to forgo their subsidies in an attempt to improve the dire financial position.

Clarkson, Longmire and Lyon, who moved in to temporarily run the board of the AFLCA, have also led the push to introduce mandatory coaching accreditation. Having unanimously agreed to each forgo the subsidy, the trio then asked every other senior coach to follow suit.

All bar Thompson, who is resisting the push, have agreed in writing to sacrifice the $5000. The move has saved the association $85,000 and reduced this year's forecast loss to about $50,000.

The AFL Coaches Association is funded by the AFL to the tune of $850,000 annually with all senior coaches paying an annual $800 membership fee. The $5000 subsidy is conditional on the coaches committing to four public appearances each year.

The drain upon the association finances was alleviated by the rapidly growing number of assistant and development coaches - more than 160 now work across the 18 clubs - all of whom pay a lesser annual membership of $300. With six respective public appearances, they are in turn entitled to $1500 in professional development. Those coaches have not been asked to sacrifice their subsidies.

Late last year suspended Essendon coach James Hird was forwarded $5000 towards his overseas study. Several coaches travelled to Britain for an international coaches conference, while Clarkson also underwent a management course at Harvard.

The AFLCA coup in May this year saw the board disbanded, CEO Danny Frawley and his assistant Paul Armstrong removed with North Melbourne director Mark Brayshaw appointed interim chief executive in June. While chairman David Parkin remains, it is understood he is there in name only and a new chairman - who is unlikely to be a former coach - will be appointed at the end of the season.

On Monday night the restructure will move to the next stage at a special general meeting that will see the drafting of a series of legislative changes.

There has also been a push to retain Brayshaw, a former North Melbourne teammate of both Clarkson and Longmire, a move that could see the Kangaroos director and brother of chairman James Brayshaw stand down from the club's board.

The move to introduce compulsory accreditation based upon the British Football Association's licensing system has won support from the AFL. At the recent summit of the 18 club chiefs, football boss Mark Evans presented a skeleton model that could make it mandatory for every coach at every club in future to undergo the level-three coaching course.

The coaches and the AFL plan to refine a model over the off-season, which would introduce a level-four system to be known as the senior coaching award. This would see senior coaches forced to qualify for their roles under a series of requirements that would include several forms of experience and could include coaching a team at a lower level, professional experience outside the AFL or a tertiary degree.