We continue the special pre-season series on the mighty journey from the Punt Road Oval to the bold, new ME Bank Centre . . . 

It was a case of from feast to famine for Richmond in the years following the Club’s smashing of Collingwood in the 1980 Grand Final.

That glorious ’80 triumph was Richmond’s fifth premiership in 13 years, and Tiger fans revelled in their Club’s dominance of the competition.

Incredibly, just 10 years later, they were dipping into their pockets to find the necessary money to keep the Tigers alive.

On August 15, 1990, Richmond announced that it needed to raise $1 million by October 31 that year, or it would be forced out of business.

The Save Our Skins campaign was launched, in a desperate bid to raise the necessary funds to stave off the Tigers’ extinction.

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Following plenty of frenetic tin rattling, stirring rallies, plus a host of other fund-raising activities, Richmond secured the $1 million before the deadline and was saved.

In 1996, the Club established the Jack Dyer Foundation, through which donations could support the redevelopment of the facilities at Punt Road Oval.

The Tigers were determined to ensure their long-term future at the ground that had been their home since the Club’s formation in 1885.

While other league clubs in Victoria were looking at greener pastures away from their traditional homes, Richmond’s plan was to thrive at the iconic Punt Road.

Stage One of the Jack Dyer Foundation’s fund-raising was the refurbishment and restoration of the Jack Dyer grandstand, which housed the players and football department.  The Foundation consequently raised the $1.2 million required to complete that upgrade.

Stage Two of the JDF Punt Road Oval redevelopment was the renovation of the Social Club, to include the Tigers’ membership and merchandise operations.

The final stage of the JDF’s “Vision for Punt Road” was the building of new administration offices and a 25-metre, five-lane, indoor swimming pool.

A few years later, however, and it was obvious Richmond had outgrown the facilities beneath the Jack Dyer Grandstand for its most important asset – the players – along with an expanding football staff.

The Tigers desperately needed to keep pace with their resource-rich interstate and local rivals.

In 2008, Richmond received the go-ahead for an extensive redevelopment of Punt Road Oval.

The upgrade was announced as part of the Victorian AFL Club Facilities Funding Program.

Along with the AFL’s financial contributions, funding was also to be provided by the State Government and the City of Melbourne, with Richmond finding the extra money to complete the project.

The major upgrade of Punt Road Oval included:

• Demolition of the Social Club building and development of a new, integrated football administration and training facility, with a gymnasium and supporting player facilities; lecture theatre; and improved toilet and change-room facilities to support the indoor swimming pool.
• Reinstatement of the Jack Dyer grandstand to its former historical form.
• Development of a new RFC museum.
• Development of new change-rooms for community football played at the ground.
• Development of new offices for community groups.
• Development of an Indigenous Institute.

The $20 million redevelopment of Punt Road Oval was completed in early 2011.

That same year, ME Bank took over as naming rights partner of the famous ground.

The striking redevelopment had delivered Richmond state-of-the-art facilities the equal  (if not better) of those at any other AFL club.

But the Tigers realised, as good as this was, that they now needed to take the next crucial step on the path to sustained football success.

In early 2011, Richmond launched the ‘Fighting Tiger Fund’, with the express aim of building the platform that would enable the Club to thrive in the AFL competition.  The Tigers embarked on a quest to raise $6 million, in a bold bid to remove their debt, and to invest heavily in their football department.

As Richmond’s CEO, Brendon Gale, said:  “By doing this, we will give ourselves the best possible chance of achieving what every person with Yellow and Black blood coursing through their veins wants – premiership success”.

Such was the Tigers’ financial position, they had been forced to sell home games interstate, which was far from an ideal situation, but necessary in the short term, to enable the Club to invest those funds in its football program.

Through the extremely generous support of the Yellow and Black faithful, via the Fighting Tiger Fund and record membership figures, Richmond has now been able to return all its home games to Melbourne, with all bar one for the 2014 season scheduled at the MCG (the other being at Etihad Stadium).

There were a couple of other important pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that slotted in at the Punt Road Oval, ME Bank Centre.

Firstly, following years of negotiations, the Richmond Cricket Club agreed to leave the ground and move to Mt Waverley’s Central Reserve.

Once that happened, the Tigers subsequently embarked on a major resurfacing and reconfiguration of their ground.

Then, late last year, Richmond announced that, thanks to the tremendous support of the Fighting Tiger Fund, it was finally debt free.

The Tigers have come a long, long way since those tin-rattling days of 1990 . . .