Canterbury have confirmed the appointment of former Swimming Australia head coach Alan Thompson as the NRL club's general manager, football operations.

Thompson spent 17 years guiding the Australian swimming team and was on Wednesday officially cleared of an allegation of misconduct.

He will oversee the Bulldogs' high performance unit and their welfare and education programs.

"This is a major coup for the Bulldogs," Canterbury chief executive Todd Greenberg said.

"Working as a coach and as an administrator Alan guided Australian Swimming through a golden era.

"He has a proven ability to create environments that allow athletes to excel."

Thompson is a former lower grade player for the Bulldogs.

"I'm really excited to be back in professional sport and working with the Bulldogs, I've been following them for more than 40 years," Thompson said.

Thompson has been cleared of any wrongdoing at Swimming Australia following a four-month probe into alleged "inappropriate" behaviour at a coaching conference on the Gold Coast in 2007.

He later accepted a redundancy package from Swimming Australia after the body restructured its coaching ranks.

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