Dear Members and Supporters,
It is a privilege to have been given the opportunity to represent you as President of this great Club. There is much to be excited about on and off the field and I sincerely look forward to sharing that journey with you.
Richmond has always been a big part of my life. My father Basil grew up in Richmond and played four games for the Tigers in 1951 alongside his brother Jack. As a result, the team I would grow up to support was never up for discussion!
The 1973 preliminary final cemented my love of the Club. It was the day we reeled in a 36-point half-time deficit to beat Collingwood in front of 98,000 fans, with an injured Royce Hart coming off the bench to dominate the second half. The memories remain vivid 50 years later.
I would like to start by acknowledging Peggy O’Neal – a wonderful person and President. She was a trailblazer and an inspiration to many, and it was a pleasure to work so closely with her for the past seven years.
We will always be thankful for everything she gave the Club, which includes establishing a talented board that is totally committed to driving this Club forward. Together we will work with CEO Brendon Gale, coach Damien Hardwick and the senior management team to write the next chapter.
Richmond is a selfless and stable Club and that won’t change. But we operate in a highly competitive environment, and we must continue to innovate and look for opportunities to grow. If you are standing still in this business, you are going backwards. That is the challenge for all of us.
Clearly on-field success is what we all crave. Nothing is more important than having highly competitive men’s and women’s teams. We need to continue to create the environment that gives these teams the best chance of winning. That is - and always will be - our priority.
To deliver this, we need to nurture our culture, build a business that allows us to continue to invest in football and provide state-of-the-art facilities. To this end, the redevelopment of Punt Road Oval is a clear priority. We have made significant progress on this front, and we are currently in the process of appointing a builder. We are working hard on a financing plan that will allow the project to commence as soon as possible. We will communicate with members when the timelines for the project are locked in.
As you are aware, we are a purpose-based Club. Importantly, this facility will allow us to deepen and broaden our industry-leading community programming. This work is meaningful, it makes us a better Club and a unique proposition to both government and corporate partners. It is something we will continue to invest in not only because we can, but because we should.
As I write this, the Club has more than 80,000 members. It is a source of enormous strength and I thank each and every person that has signed up as a member for 2023. If you can do one thing for your Club, and you have the capacity, please “level up for 2023” and join as a member.
Our men’s 2023 season is now just a matter of weeks away. It is an incredibly exciting time of year. New faces bring new energy and there is real sense of purpose among the coaching and playing group. They – like all of us – can’t wait for the season to get started.
Should members have any questions they would like addressed in my next column, please email president@richmondfc.com.au
I look forward to seeing you at the football.
John O’Rourke
President
Richmond Football Club
