When was richmond football club established

In fact it only earned the distinction of being the only club to have lost three consecutive Grand Finals, and all against Collingwood. The Richmond Tigers finally avenged their defeat with premiership wins in and In the post World War II era Richmond Football Club tried its best to amass the laurels but could not succeed until the beginning of what came to be popularly known as the Hafey Era.

Under him the Richmond Football Club won premiership titles. A yellow and black striped guernsey was worn from The black guernsey with the diagonal yellow stripe was introduced in , becoming the norm from Known popularly as the Richmond Tigers since the s, the war cry 'Eat 'em alive, Tigers' has been used since the s.

Following admission to the VFL, the club initially struggled at this level of competition. In the following week's replay, Richmond appeared to put a mortgage on the '72 flag with a vigorous, confident display that yielded a 41 point win. When the same two sides met again a fortnight later in the 'big one', most neutral observers expected to see a repetition, but instead what transpired was one of the most freakishly unpredictable games in football history. Richmond, in accumulating a tally of Incredibly, this was the first time since that Carlton had defeated Richmond in a major round game.

In , with only one thing - revenge - on their minds, the Tigers experienced the opposite of a premiership hangover, and ultimately emerged with the flag. However, the route to the premiership was often bumpy, with a 20 point qualifying final loss to Carlton representing the nadir, and meaning that the team would have to confront - and surmount - three weeks of cut-throat finals football to emerge with the ultimate prize.

The first semi final against St Kilda was closely fought until three quarter time, but in the last term Richmond added 6. At half time in the preliminary final, the Magpies look to have one foot already in the grand final, as they led by 6 goals and seemed totally in control. In the second half, Tom Hafey opted to introduce a half fit Royce Hart to the fray, and the gamble paid off in dramatic fashion as he provided a hitherto absent focal point ahead of centre, helping himself to 2 magnificent goals, and contributing to several others as the Tigers roared back to be within 8 points at the final change.

The Magpies were not yet beaten, and in terms of general play the last quarter was evenly contested, but there seemed to be an air of inevitability in the way that Tiger moves were rounded off with goals, whereas Collingwood kicked a succession of behinds.

Richmond duly added 5. In battling its way to a For many, the VFL grand final is best remembered for a controversial incident just before half time involving champion Blues full back Geoff Southby and the flailing fist of Richmond strong man Neil Balme, but the effect of this incident on the outcome of the game was negligible.

The Tigers won - and indeed led at every change, by 9, 26 and 38 points - because, just as in , they had peaked at precisely the right time, and because every member of the side was adept at performing skillfully and purposefully under pressure. Carlton made a semblance of a comeback early in the last quarter to get to within 18 points, but the Tigers went on to dominate the closing stages just as they had most of the rest of the match, and in the end the 30 point victory margin probably flattered the losers.

The rubber stamp to what had been a remarkable season came when Richmond re-claimed the Australian club championship courtesy of hard fought wins over Glenelg by 15 points and Subiaco by 13 points in Adelaide. Of all Richmond's flags under Hafey that of was arguably the most conclusive. The popular perception at the time was that the Tigers that season had lifted the game to a new pinnacle of excellence, and although they did occasionally - five times in fact - taste defeat they gave the distinct impression that this would never happen when it really mattered.

After clinching a week's rest by finishing top after the minor round, Richmond showed finals newcomers North Melbourne what September footy was all about by booting 5. A fortnight later in the grand final, North presented a slightly sterner challenge, thanks mainly to accuracy in front of goal; by half time, however, with the Tigers leading The answer, after a second half of fluent, sometimes flawless football from Richmond, was 41 points, but in truth the margin told little about the Tigers' superiority in Where they clearly excelled over almost any team that had gone before was in their handling of pressure; prior to Richmond, the benchmark of a great team often tended to hinge on a perceived ability to cope with pressure, but Hafey's Tigers did not merely cope with pressure, they thrived on it.

Consequently, when players of the calibre of Kevin Sheedy best afield in the '74 grand final , Royce Hart, Paul Sproule, Kevin Morris, Dick Clay, Kevin Bartlett, Gareth Andrews and Robert McGhie found themselves in situations of reduced pressure - as in the Australian club championships in Adelaide - they resembled ravenous wolves released in a paddock full of sheep, with the resultant carnage pathetic to behold.

Richmond completely annihilated a Tasmanian combination Richmond dropped to 3rd place in , and Tom Hafey left to coach Collingwood at the end of a season which had seen the Tigers plummet to an all time low under his aegis of 7th, with just 10 wins from 22 matches. Overall, however, the Hafey era at Richmond was by some measure the greatest in the history of the club, with four premierships in ten seasons, and a phenomenal success rate of The Tigers' two seasons under Barry Richardson were somewhat disappointing, yielding 4th and 7th place finishes, and when Tony Jewell, a defender in the club's grand final win over Geelong, took over the coaching reins in initial indications were not good, as the side plummeted to 8th, its lowest position since The following year, however, everything miraculously clicked, the side comfortably qualified for the finals in 3rd spot with a record, and in trademark Richmond fashion it peaked at just the right time, sweeping into the grand final on the back of impressive wins over Carlton by 42 points and minor premiers Geelong by 24 points.

On the face of it, the Tigers' route to the VFL flag had been smoothed somewhat by virtue of the fact that their grand final opposition was being provided by a Collingwood side which had not only had to scramble its way through from the elimination final, but whose players were confronted by the immense psychological hurdle of the 'Colliwobbles syndrome', which centred on the discomfiting fact that the Magpies had lost their last six grand finals, most recently to Carlton the previous year.

Nevertheless, while the majority of pundits favoured a Richmond victory, few if any of them could possibly have imagined the scale of the massacre that was to unfurl before them on one of the blackest days in the history of the Collingwood Football Club, Saturday 27 September Right from the outset, Richmond had too much pace, class and vigour for the Magpies.

At quarter time, the Tigers led by 23 points; by half time it was a match-winning 43 points. In the end, Richmond's margin of victory was a record-breaking 81 points, with Norm Smith Medallist Kevin Bartlett 7 goals and centre half forward David Cloke 6 alone responsible for more than Collingwood's entire score.

Surely, as in the words of the song, 'things could only get better'? The premiership hangover suffered by Richmond in may have been predictable, and was certainly milder than many of its predecessors the side's record would have comfortably ensured finals qualification in most years , but these facts did not enable coach Tony Jewell to escape the axe. To the popular acclaim of many fans, favourite son Francis Bourke was installed as coach prior to a season which, with the benefit of hindsight, and until something better emerges, it is tempting to regard as the Indian summer of the Richmond Football Club.

The team was also supremely well coached, and just as capable of playing vibrant, uninhibited attacking football, as evidenced in high scoring wins over Essendon The nature of football, however, and part of its allure and charm, is that optimum ingredients do not always give rise to optimum achievements; it is the better team on a single day which carries off the premiership. In , the Tigers were probably the best team for 21 out of the 26 weeks of the season, but when it mattered most, on grand final day, they were found wanting, if only marginally.

After topping the ladder with 18 wins from 22 home and away matches, the Tigers cruised into the grand final thanks to a second semi final defeat of Carlton in which the 23 point victory margin completely failed to reflect their supremacy. Already strong flag favourites before the match, Richmond was now at very short odds indeed to secure its second flag in three years, and the odds narrowed still further when it emerged that Carlton, rather than the supposedly tougher Hawthorn, would be the Tigers' grand final opponents.

The Carlton players gave as good as they got during this period, both on and off the scoreboard, and by quarter time it was a 4 point ball game in favour of the Blues. The second term saw the Tigers, with Weightman, Rioli and Raines constantly in the thick of the action, play their best football of the game to open up an 11 point half time lead, but the loss of Bruce Tempany with a broken arm was a cruel, and in the end arguably decisive, blow. The third term saw Carlton in almost complete control, adding 5.

The Tigers were far from done, however, and goals to Jess and Bartlett within four minutes of the resumption brought the margin back to 5 points. Then came two incidents which probably swung the match. First, Carlton defender Bruce Doull saved what looked like a certain Richmond goal, and moments later, at the opposite end of the ground, Wayne Johnston pressured a Richmond defender into a wayward clearing kick, which was pounced on by Rod Ashman, who initiated a chain of handpasses that culminated in Peter Bosustow kicking truly.

Thereafter, it was largely a case of Richmond repeatedly coming up against the brick wall of Carlton's half back line, with breakaway goals to Marcou and McConville making the game safe for the Blues.

The final scoreline of Carlton Having come so close in , there was justifiable optimism at Punt Road prior to the commencement of the season. However, after a disastrous start to the year in which all of the first five games were lost, the club never recovered, managing just 7 wins all season for 10th place - the lowest position since - on the ladder. Francis Bourke departed at the end of the season, precipitating a coaching merry-go-round that was to see four different men at the helm over the course of the remainder of the decade.

None proved successful, and by the close of the s Richmond had plummeted from premiership aspirants to perennial cellar dwellers. Even worse, the club was in serious financial strife, precipitating strong speculation in that it would have to merge with another club in order to survive. In the end, however, a 'Save Our Skins' campaign, launched by club president Neville Crowe in October , raised enough funds to steady the ship.

Mere survival, however, was not enough. As Crowe himself had ventured in the club's Annual Report:. Survivals are for losers. The unwieldy transition of the VFL from a suburban to a pseudo-national concern was much less a clearly thought out process than a sequence of knee-jerk responses to predominantly economic stimuli. In this, it mirrored to some extent developments in the game which took place a century earlier. A linking factor in both periods of transition was the difficulty that the Richmond Football Club had in coping.

In the twentieth century, the club was brought to the verge of collapse by its financial predicament, and even though recovery was achieved, this has yet to translate into significant on field success. Back in the nineteenth century the club, in common with the game of Australian football, and indeed with the entire nation-in-waiting itself, was fumbling towards an identity, with many almost accidental occurrences helping shape all three.

In the case of the Richmond Football Club, which was officially formed at Byrne's Royal Hotel, Richmond, on 20 February , a key identifying feature was present right from the outset - pride in the jumper albeit that that jumper, initially at any rate, was incongruously coloured all blue. The club also had a ready made home ground at Punt Road where the local cricket team had been playing its home matches since Before Richmond's footballers took to the field for the first ever time on 25 April against Cremorne Juniors, the inaugural pre-match address was delivered by vice-president J.

Lancashire, who is reported to have said, "I ask you gentlemen to play the game in such a spirit as to uphold the honour of the Richmond Football Club" - scarcely the sort of language one can imagine issuing from the mouths of 'Checker' Hughes or Jack Dyer, but the underlying sentiment is pure Richmond: the honour of the club transcends all. Of course, the precise nature of that club had still to emerge, but arguably the most important and distinctive feature was not long in arriving.

Aside from the jumper, the most important feature of a nineteenth century footballer's garb was his headgear, and when Richmond players took to wearing yellow and black striped caps - presumably because this was a popular and readily purchasable design at the time - the Tiger nickname quickly followed although the team was also referred to as the Wasps for a time.

Before long, yellow and black replaced blue as the colours of the team's jumpers as well. On the field, with the exception of a promising season which yielded 11 wins and 8 losses, Richmond's early fortunes were inauspicious in the extreme. Members of the VFA from their very first season, the Tigers repeatedly found clubs like Carlton, Essendon, Geelong and South Melbourne too strong, and indeed on many occasions they were on the receiving end of substantial hidings.

Moreover, although football was still ostensibly amateur at this time, the number of talented players lost by clubs like Richmond to wealthier opponents clearly suggested that money was beginning to be the predominant controlling influence in the game.

Although it was less clearly defined than it is today, there was nevertheless an implicit pyramid system in nineteenth century football dominated by the clubs which would eventually comprise the VFL. Only after the departure of those clubs from the VFA in did Richmond's fortunes improve: in , the team finished fourth, its highest position to date, and two years later it rose to third.

In , "they were considered the best team in the competition",[16] but an unaccountable late season loss of form saw them narrowly miss out on the premiership, which at that point was still decided on the basis of placings after the home and away matches. Port Melbourne was the team which benefited from Richmond's end of season fade out, precipitating a keen rivalry between the clubs which was to endure for the remainder of the Tigers' involvement in the VFA.

Richmond and Port Melbourne remained the strongest teams in the competition in and engaged in a season long tussle for supremacy. After The Tigers struck the first blow with a 19 point opening round win against their arch rivals at Punt Road, the Borough comprehensively turned the tables midway through the year at the Port to leave both sides with just 1 defeat up to that point, and the VFA faced with the tantalisingly lucrative prospect of a play-off to determine the premiership.

Williamstown ultimately stuck a pin in this notion, however, by securing an upset win over Port Melbourne, a result which effectively handed the Tigers their first flag.

According to 'the Guardian' football writer, the achievement was well warranted:. We have to sincerely congratulate both the Richmond team and members on the magnificent season when for the first time in the history of the Richmond club, they won the premiership. Long years had they battled hard to gain the honours, and when the curtain of was rung down and the players had achieved their ambition every heart in Richmond was filled with joy at the success of the old club.

Never will that eventful day be forgotten. The success of the team was thoroughly deserved, for never in the history of the club has there been such a fine, manly and honest combination of footballers and the members of the club had every reason to be proud of them. Key players for Richmond at this time included George 'Mallee' Johnson, widely considered to be one of the best big men in football, a reputation he endorsed when he crossed to Carlton in the VFL in , veteran utility Charlie Backhouse, and brilliant rover Charlie Ricketts.

The side was captained by Alex Edmonds. Prior to the start of the season, Richmond engaged in two matches against VFL opponents. The first, at Corio Oval, Geelong was played in a relaxed, almost friendly spirit, with the Pivotonians winning comfortably by 70 points.

The second fixture was a much more serious affair, however: the first ever challenge match between the premier teams of the VFL and the VFA. With the pride of the whole of the VFA riding on their backs, the Tigers battled fiercely and gamely, but VFL side Collingwood was just too accomplished, winning 7.

The VFA had been reluctant to introduce a finals system because it did not wish to be thought to be aping the VFL, but the loss of a potentially huge pay out in convinced it to change its mind. The season saw the inception of a 'final four', with the top side - which proved to be Richmond - enjoying the right of challenge if beaten in either the semi final or final.

A lacklustre semi final loss against Footscray, which some observers felt was attributable to some key Richmond players 'lying down', meant that the Tigers could relax for a week while the Footscray and North Melbourne fought for the privilege of contesting the challenge final.

Victory ultimately went to North. The VFA's first ever challenge final took place in front of an estimated 20, spectators at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground on an extremely windy day which would prevent either side from scoring even as much as a behind at the railway end.

North enjoyed first use of the wind and booted 3. In the third term North, playing with much greater cohesion than the Tigers, added a match-winning 4. Richmond again topped the ladder in but sensationally, on what the club's players and officials regarded as a matter of principle, surrendered the possibility of a premiership when, after narrowly losing a semi final in controversial circumstances to North Melbourne, they refused to participate in the challenge final if the same umpire, a certain Mr.

Allen, was appointed to officiate. Not surprisingly, the VFA refused to be coerced, and promptly appointed Mr. Allen as the challenge final umpire, whereupon Richmond forfeited both the match and the premiership. In retrospect, the incident probably played a major part in persuading the club hierarchy to begin to explore the possibility of joining the VFL. First, though, there was one more VFA pennant to be won.

In , it was North Melbourne's turn to enjoy the right of challenge, but in both the final and challenge final Richmond proved too strong. The Tigers won the former match by 20 points, after leading from start to finish, while in the decisive encounter a week later they were much too strong after half time en route to an even more convincing win.

The final scores were Richmond 9. Richmond's fortunes waned somewhat in when Williamstown and North Melbourne, in successive weeks, inflicted the side's first home losses for five years.

Although by no means a disaster, third place at the end of the season was disappointing to a club that had quickly grown accustomed to, and highly appreciative of, the taste of success. Just prior to the season, the VFA introduced a ruling which barred its member clubs from playing matches against VFL opponents, a practice which Richmond, alone among those member clubs, had been in the regular habit of engaging.

Indeed, a pre-season practice match against Geelong had already been arranged, and the club committee decided to call the VFA's bluff. The upshot was that the match was played - and won by Richmond - and the VFA backed down. However, it seemed clear to most observers that Richmond's days in the VFA were numbered. After an injury-ridden season which brought another third place finish, the Richmond committee resolved to take the proverbial bull by the horns and make an official approach for admission to the VFL.

As it happened, the club's timing was perfect, as the VFL itself had decided that the time for expansion was nigh, and it responded warmly to Richmond's overtures. The Tigers' VFA apprenticeship, which since the departure of the eight VFL renegades in had seen them go from strength to strength, managing an overall success rate during the period of Richmond's induction into VFL ranks could scarcely have been more satisfying as, after trailing until midway through the third term, they overcame the challenge of Melbourne at Punt Road by 11 points, the first of 6 wins from 18 games that the side was to enjoy.

In what was now a ten team competition, the Tigers ran ninth, albeit that they were four wins better off than wooden spooners Geelong. If Richmond's first few seasons in league company were unspectacular, the club nevertheless quickly acquired a reputation for tenacity, excellent organisation, and a refusal to cave in, whatever the odds.

In , the side participated in the finals for the first time, albeit that, with the ravages of war having reduced the competition to just four clubs, qualification was automatic. Paradoxically, after going under by 3 points to Carlton in a semi final, Richmond was consigned to its first ever wooden spoon, an indignity it suffered again the following year, this time in a competition involving six teams. Once the war was out of the way, however, the Tigers were ready to roar at full pitch for the first time since leaving the VFA.

In , as relieved crowds flocked back to football grounds all over Australia, Richmond, under Norm 'Hackenschmidt' Clark, embarked on its first legitimate assault on the VFL premiership. Clark, a South Australian, had played for Carlton before the war, and coached that team to successive premierships in He clearly knew how to win, and his experience quickly rubbed off on his charges, who burst out of the blocks with wins in the opening 3 rounds before going on to qualify for - as opposed to being automatically included in - the VFL major round for the first time.

Richmond's semi-final opposition was provided by reigning premier South Melbourne, a team which had twice defeated the Tigers during the home and away rounds. However, in front of 45, supporters at the MCG the underdogs raised their game to a new level, with only greater accuracy in front of goal keeping South in the game; in the end though it was Richmond by 14 points, a result that was as unexpected as it was pleasing.

Nevertheless, there was better to come: in the final, in front of a huge crowd of 51,, Richmond played superbly to lead at every change against minor premier Collingwood en route to a As minor premier, Collingwood had the right of challenge, and this time the tables were turned, with the Magpies winning