How as Richmond maintained it's stature?

[Rezza Tiger]

I wonder if social media has had a big impact in the past 15 odd years in galvanizing our supporter base. In the late 80s and early 90s we couldn't come on Bigfooty and talk about the game, vent our frustration and share with everyone how awesome\s**t we feel after a win\loss. We couldn't discuss what it means to be a Richmond supporter. I'm not the biggest fan of social media but I reckon it has played a part in building up the army and keeping us together.

 

[Football Tragic]

The scary thing is that we have waned, our membership isn't great and we haven't been as loyal as others think. In the 60's - 80s we were THE biggest club hands down. We dwarfed Collingwood, Essendon and Carlton. We had the biggest name players, the most attended games, the greatest media attention.

Then we imploded.

70+ thousand members is just the loyal diehard fans. Wait until we really see some success. The MCG will be filled every week, the papers full of yellow and black and the noise around town deafening.

So we haven't really 'maintained' our stature, we are a ground zero atm. Watch how BIG we'll get now

 

[gaelictiogar]

I wonder if social media has had a big impact in the past 15 odd years in galvanizing our supporter base. In the late 80s and early 90s we couldn't come on Bigfooty and talk about the game, vent our frustration and share with everyone how awesome\s**t we feel after a win\loss. We couldn't discuss what it means to be a Richmond supporter. I'm not the biggest fan of social media but I reckon it has played a part in building up the army and keeping us together.

I detest social media. I mean I truly loathe the deadening impact it has on real relationships but i do think you are right to an extent. I never ever ever post on here when out or with friends because using phones when in company is the very depth of rudeness but i do like to catch up with fellow Tiges on here.....usually at strange times of day due to my work.

Remember last years Emotionally Checked Out thread? I loved that . It gave us the chance to vent!!!

 

[tiggywigs]

So true. The first game against GWS at Spotless had me curled up in a foetal position. But 10 minutes later I'm back on my feet and saying "Oh well that's Richmond." Now we're building up to an incredible emotional high, Who knows what's gonna happen but at least we can stand up to anything that comes our way

Took me a week to recover.
Possibly longer.
Swore that I would learn to take a Tiger loss less seriously after that.
Back ranting and raving at the telly shortly after.
As Ian Drury sang 'It's fun to be a lunatic'.

 

[Rezza Tiger]

I detest social media. I mean I truly loathe the deadening impact it has on real relationships but i do think you are right to an extent. I never ever ever post on here when out or with friends because using phones when in company is the very depth of rudeness but i do like to catch up with fellow Tiges on here.....usually at strange times of day due to my work.

Remember last years Emotionally Checked Out thread? I loved that . It gave us the chance to vent!!!

Very true but like it or love it social media has become a seemingly unstoppable force a bit like the Tiger army lol.

 

[Bojangles17]

I wonder if social media has had a big impact in the past 15 odd years in galvanizing our supporter base. In the late 80s and early 90s we couldn't come on Bigfooty and talk about the game, vent our frustration and share with everyone how awesome\s**t we feel after a win\loss. We couldn't discuss what it means to be a Richmond supporter. I'm not the biggest fan of social media but I reckon it has played a part in building up the army and keeping us together.

You might be right Reza, the like of BF and beyond have become an asylum for tiger tragics where thru good times and bad we've still managed to be heard without having to drop a pile of chook manure at Punt rd , it's got us thru

 

[fleabitten]

Friday 6th May 1990
Round 6 - Richmond vs West Coast

I was 5 years old, I will never forget this night for as long as I live.

I remember walking into this park with my dad. Hundreds of cars parked, possums scurrying around up into the trees.

There was these huge bright lights in the distance and everyone was walking towards them.

As we got closer to the lights I remember the smell of hamburgers from these old vans. Record... record this you boy was yelling and giving away magazines. I remember asking my Dad if we could get one of the young boy... we will get one after the game my dad said.... (tightarse)

Then all I remover was queuing up at the turnstiles and we proceeded through and there it was the hollowed turf of the greatest place on earth... The MCG.

We found a seat on this old wooden bench seat. And then it began... The song was being played over the ground!! This magical song... the only song I've ever known ever word too. "Yellow and Black".........

Sorry for the long winded description but this thread has really got me emotional about who this club is to me and my family... The Richmond footy club is part of my families family. That first time my dad took me to see our great club will stay with me forever, we got absolutely annihilated by the Eagles that night but it really didn't matter.. The results have never been the reason we love our club. We love our cllub because they are family to us

Great post, but that typo makes the bolded hilarious to me (due to my maturity level).

 

[Jack5]

Long time lurker here. Joined coz this touched a nerve. It's a family thing for me. My great grandfather lived in Richmond and his kids were Richmond. Both grandparents, two thirds of my cousins, all my nieces and nephews on my side are Richmond. My cousins kids are Richmond. We dont see each other often but when we do we talk about Richmond. My wife is Collingwood and she wanted the kids to be Catholics and I said OK but the kids are gonna follow Richmond. So we've got three catholic Richmond supporters. By now they are more likely to change religions than change footy teams.

 

[Brick Loosener]

I don't think any other club churns out cult heroes like we do.

 

[Coach_Required]

We have all been to a Carlton v Richmond game and then learnt pretty quickly Carlton can go and get ****ed.

 

[Tetley Tigers]

I said to my kids they had a choice - move out or support the Tigers


On iPad using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[mighty tiges]

Answer: Our history says be patient for success. Our history says we have long crap periods followed by glorious ones. Our history says we've always had big support.

Richmond has had 3 periods of glory that built up our huge supporter base. Each glory period followed a long drought and each drought followed by a period of glory.

We were formed in 1885 but struggled to match it onfield with the older existing clubs at that time. In 1896 we finished last in the VFA which cost us a place in the breakaway VFL. It was as a VFA club that we first became a big fish and built up our supporter base. Regular top finishes and two VFA premierships made us the big fish in the VFA pond.

We then finally joined the VFL in 1908 and swapped dominance in a weaker pond for struggles in the strongest one. It took 12 seasons to finally match it onfield with the big boys. Once there we stayed up there for a generation. We only missed the finals around 4-5 times in the next 25 years, were 10 times runners up and won 5 flags. It was this between the world wars period that we became one of the "Big 4" clubs.

Once Jack Dyer aged and then retired after WWII, we fell into a long drought. The club didn't adapt to the post-war era and we didn't play finals for 20 straight years. By the early 1960s, we were the easy beats. Old timers remember these days with dread. The club needed a good shake/wake up. By 1967 we were back at the top of the tree and a further 3 flags by '74 saw Richmond again with a bulging supporter base. We were the first club to attract a million in attendance in a single season. Collingwood and Essendon wouldn't achieve that feat for another 20 years.

However, success brought ridiculous expectations from some quarters including the board. When we missed the finals in 1976, we lost Hafey to Collingwood thanks to two board members who wanted to sack him. The eat your own mentality was kicking in. We still had the nucleus of a premiership side to build around to win the flag in 1980 and make the 1982 GF. Of course, we madly sacked another premiership coach between the two GFs. However, when we lost the latter, the proverbial hit the fan and we imploded. The club once again had failed to adapt to the changing landscape of footy. We entered another long drought.

In less than a decade, we were broke, we had a shocking playing list bar some good kids from the country and we almost ceased to exist. While they had dropped from going to games to watch us get flogged week in week out, all we had as a club to rely on was our large latent supporter base. It was the supporters that rescued the club from death or worse relocation in the late 80s/early 90s. The 1993 night GF and first finals appearance in 12 years in 1995 showed we still had that large supporter base hoping for the latest drought to break.

We've been patiently waiting and waiting and waiting since. Despite the past decades of off-field infighting, stuff-ups, idiotic recruiting, etc ... there's always been the hope that one day we'll be back again because we've done it before as a club. There's also been the want to not miss out when it eventually happens. There's always been the confidence that when it did eventually happen, our massive supporter base at games would be every opposition supporter's worst nightmare. We saw a glimpse last Friday night of what it would be like if Richmond got back to the top of the tree. We're potentially two weeks away from making this current long drought history and to enter another glory period. What Tiger supporter wouldn't want to hang around to taste it!

ps. Melbourne won 10 of their 12 flags in a 25 year period (1939-1964). Outside of that, they've done sweet all. So they never had successful multiple periods across generations to build up support to match the Big 4 clubs.

 

[Royce Hafey]

To truly understand, begin with an excellent book called "Struggletown" - an oral history of Richmond. Frank Hardy's "Power Without Glory" will also give you some context. The Irish-Catholic/working class dynamic is important. Just to add a few details: in the campaign for the 1917 2nd conscription referendum the official head of the "No" campaign was the leader of the Labor Party, Frank Tudor, who'd taken over from the expelled Billy Hughes. (The unofficial leader of the "no" campaign was the fiery Irish/Nationalist and Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix). Tudor was also the member for Melbourne Ports, the federal seat that included Richmond, and the President of the Richmond football club.

During that campaign an attempt was made to hold a monster rally for the Yes vote at the MCG. It was wrecked by a mob of hostile interlopers who gathered at the Punt Road End heckling and throwing stuff at the speakers, nearly surging through police lines at one stage to invade the pitch. Eventually the meeting was ended after a large stone narrowly missed the Prime Minister.

Note that in the 1943 state election the Communist candidate got 31.6% of the vote in Richmond in a two horse race with the ALP (the Liberals didn't even bother standing). Then in 1955, when the seat was finally won by a non ALP candidate, it was by a candidate from what would become the fiercly anti-communist (but Catholic) Democratic Labor Party. Fear amongst Labor circles that the DLP would snatch the federal seat at a subsequent by-election led to consideration of Jack Dyer as a candidate, before they finally settled on a young academic, Dr Jim Cairns.

Meanwhile, Robert Menzies was allowed to watch his beloved blues at Princes Park from a special platform made to accommodate his chauffeur-driven Bentleigh. If he tried to do the same at Punt Road or Victoria Park, I doubt if his car would have made it out without it being wrecked. Later, Carlton became, as it still is, the personal property of a cabal of billionaires, which is why the club's administration has always felt it didn't need to worry about ordinary members.

 

[silence ofthe Robert]

Great write up by mighty tiges. As an addendum while in the VFA we forfeited a grand final in 1904 after being minor premiers because we wouldn't play if a certain umpire umpired.

So the umpire conspiracy against us has a long history as well as our anti authoritarian streak.

 

[Royce Hafey]

Great write up by mighty tiges. As an addendum while in the VFA we forfeited a grand final in 1904 after being minor premiers because we wouldn't play if a certain umpire umpired.

So the umpire conspiracy against us has a long history as well as our anti authoritarian streak.

One of the little nuggets I remember from the aforementioned book, "Struggletown", was how, back in the day, women at Punt Road used to pierce the umpires as they ran up the race with their hatpins.

 

[fleabitten]

This is a great thread. The combination of personal anecdotes and club history is really hitting the spot.

I think I've related some of this before in various threads but I became a Tiger in 1980, shortly after our flag. I was six and hadn't really given much thought to footy until we were visiting cousins and my favourite cousin was a Tiger fanatic. By the end of those school holidays, so was I. I don't remember much about 81, but in 82 I was the only Tiger in a class dominated by Blues and in the lead up to the GF, I got my face rubbed into the sandpit because I refused to say that Carlton would win. And then again on the Monday after Carlton won.

I listened to most games on the radio and remember always going in hopeful, and still thinking we might come back and win from 5, 10, 15 goals down right up to the point where it was physically impossible. The clearest memory of listening to those games is just the knot under my ribcage. A little ball of frustration, despair and anxiety about school on Monday. I reckon I was on the verge of tears through most of our games in the 80s.

I remember having dinner at the house of a girl I liked and being a nervous wreck until I realised her dad was a Tiger. We got flogged by the Crows that night and I left their place at half time. It didn't work out romantically with the girl, but we're still facebook friends and she posts pics of her dad at the footy sometimes. It's been good to see the looks on his face lately. We haven't spoken in 25 years and barely spoke when I was interested in his daughter, but sharing that half of shite against the Crows was enough for me to hold a soft spot for him all these years later.

I moved to Melbourne in 92 and went to most games through until 98 when I went overseas. The Richmond song drowning out the Geelong after the prelim loss was one of the most amazing experiences I've had at the footy, certainly in a losing match. My housemate during most of that time was another Tiger and we were always out on the town after games, losing scarves and beanies (along with the usual wallets and keys).

I came back to Australia with two daughters in 04 and took them to most of our home games for the next 10 years. When they were 6 and 3 years old, we'd play footy at the park. I'd be Richo and they were Lids and Foley. The Tigers were mostly terrible still, but they loved the colours, the song, the mascot and the crowds. They outgrew the losing in their teens, but they still come along to a couple of games a year and they're happy for me when we win, sympathetic when we don't. They hate Essendon, Carlton and Collingwood like they should.

My son was born last year and this will be his first Grand Final. My first was a Richmond flag. Here's hoping his goes the same way, followed by plenty more that he'll actually get to remember and enjoy. I'll make sure he doesn't rub anyone's face in the sandpit though.

 

[craig643]

First-time poster:

I'm an American who discovered footy in 2015 (during Finals season). I spent the offseason watching replays of games of several different teams, as well as lurking on different forums here. (I also mentioned to my Australian colleagues from work that I had become interested in the sport; the only advice I got was to avoid Collingwood.)

I think it was the combination of what seemed to be a strong team culture on the field and a passionate and knowledgeable fan base that tipped me to Richmond. Last year (the first year I followed the sport in real time) was a disappointment, but it's made this year all the more enjoyable as a result.

 

[gaelictiogar]

First-time poster:

I'm an American who discovered footy in 2015 (during Finals season). I spent the offseason watching replays of games of several different teams, as well as lurking on different forums here. (I also mentioned to my Australian colleagues from work that I had become interested in the sport; the only advice I got was to avoid Collingwood.)

I think it was the combination of what seemed to be a strong team culture on the field and a passionate and knowledgeable fan base that tipped me to Richmond. Last year (the first year I followed the sport in real time) was a disappointment, but it's made this year all the more enjoyable as a result.

Welcome aboard the Tiger Train Craig.

This is maybe the most exciting week for us in over 30 years. The welcome the team get when they run out next weekend will be literally unprecedented and if we win......

Do you get to see the games in real time in the US?

 

[tora tora tora]

My first footy jumper had a No. 4 on it. When I started playing footy in the backyard, I was pretending to be this great centre half forward, Darryl Baldock CHF for the Aints. It was 1966 and it was black, red & white. The old man was a tigers man though and only games I went to were the Tiges at the G. So my allegiance swung around to Richmond over the next couple of years ~ the golden years.
Richmond had a No 4, name of Royce, wasn't too shabby a footballer either. What a mark!!
In those days the youngest age division in our area was U13. The ground was literally across the road and I virtually lived there. I've loved local sport ever since.
Cos I hung around so much one time, when numbers were down 10 year old me and Tim T. got named as reserves, but never played. My first time playing football was the a newly formed U11s. I was centre half forward and took No. 4 of course. We had a good year made the finals.
The Tiges were never out of grand finals in those days and I saw the shoot out loss of 72, and back to back wins in 73, 74. I loved the free wheeling Clay, Bourke and Barrot. And tough guys Balme, McGhie. By the time I was 15 I had stopped growing so I was now rover size but with no pace. So my playing days came to an end. Going to the footy changing into something to do with the mates. Go and stand in the outer at suburban grounds and over indulge in Carlton Draught. Fear and Loathing at Windy Hill!!
Through the late 70s and 80s football was off the radar. I was surfing and travelling the world. When I started in the housing market it was in Footscray in the very early 90s. I'd check Whitten Oval, you could get in for free at 3 qtr time, and see the dogs and later the Lions, in their dying days, play there. I saw Lockett kick a bag. Akermanis carve it up. The Tiges started improving, Lambert was wearing No. 4. I became a member for a few years. '95 was a great year to be a fan. Matty Rogers wore the No 4 well.
By the late 90s I was up in northern NSW. 1.5 hours from the nearest ground. We'd drive up to Brizzy and see the boys play, fortunately we go well at the Gabba! Or I'd try get to a game when visiting Melbourne or Sydney. The Gold Coast starting up has been great for footy here, I thought about trying to support them but its just inconceivable that, as an adult, you can change clubs. What I did do is join RFC again, as an interstate membership so been doing that for the last few years.
Dusty Martin is wearing the No 4 as well as anyone.

 

[craig643]

Welcome aboard the Tiger Train Craig.

This is maybe the most exciting week for us in over 30 years. The welcome the team get when they run out next weekend will be literally unprecedented and if we win......

Do you get to see the games in real time in the US?

I subscribe to the international video service ("watch AFL"); I mostly watch after-the-fact (except for afternoon games, which air in late evenings - I live in California). I did happen to wake up a little before 5:00 am last week, so crept downstairs and watched the 4th quarter vs. the Cats live.

PS - I should have noted that probably the final reason I went with the Tigers was the microwave.

 

[mattt]

To truly understand, begin with an excellent book called "Struggletown" - an oral history of Richmond. Frank Hardy's "Power Without Glory" will also give you some context. The Irish-Catholic/working class dynamic is important. Just to add a few details: in the campaign for the 1917 2nd conscription referendum the official head of the "No" campaign was the leader of the Labor Party, Frank Tudor, who'd taken over from the expelled Billy Hughes. (The unofficial leader of the "no" campaign was the fiery Irish/Nationalist and Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix). Tudor was also the member for Melbourne Ports, the federal seat that included Richmond, and the President of the Richmond football club.

During that campaign an attempt was made to hold a monster rally for the Yes vote at the MCG. It was wrecked by a mob of hostile interlopers who gathered at the Punt Road End heckling and throwing stuff at the speakers, nearly surging through police lines at one stage to invade the pitch. Eventually the meeting was ended after a large stone narrowly missed the Prime Minister.

Note that in the 1943 state election the Communist candidate got 31.6% of the vote in Richmond in a two horse race with the ALP (the Liberals didn't even bother standing). Then in 1955, when the seat was finally won by a non ALP candidate, it was by a candidate from what would become the fiercly anti-communist (but Catholic) Democratic Labor Party. Fear amongst Labor circles that the DLP would snatch the federal seat at a subsequent by-election led to consideration of Jack Dyer as a candidate, before they finally settled on a young academic, Dr Jim Cairns.

Meanwhile, Robert Menzies was allowed to watch his beloved blues at Princes Park from a special platform made to accommodate his chauffeur-driven Bentleigh. If he tried to do the same at Punt Road or Victoria Park, I doubt if his car would have made it out without it being wrecked. Later, Carlton became, as it still is, the personal property of a cabal of billionaires, which is why the club's administration has always felt it didn't need to worry about ordinary members.

Great stuff. My dad is also named Frank Tudor. Mad tiger for life.
No relation, but the amount of times he's been asked if he is...

 

[Berlin]

I think a fair amount of the stature is due to anticipation for greatness, at least those people that are under 40.

As disgusting as this sounds, there will be a small part of me that is disappointed if we win the flag this year. Only for the fact I've always and only known and loved the chase and anticipation of winning a grand final. Also I loath the tacky bandwagoner approach that success brings (I love an underdog).

Having said that, the large part of me will be thrilled if the flag is won this season, I just think it will take some time to sink in honestly. It's all a bit of a blur of positivity at the moment.

 

[sregit]

I think a fair amount of the stature is due to anticipation for greatness, at least those people that are under 40.

As disgusting as this sounds, there will be a small part of me that is disappointed if we win the flag this year. Only for the fact I've always and only known and loved the chase and anticipation of winning a grand final. Also I loath the tacky bandwagoner approach that success brings (I love an underdog).

Having said that, the large part of me will be thrilled if the flag is won this season, I just think it will take some time to sink in honestly. It's all a bit of a blur of positivity at the moment.

Don't worry about losing anticipation of winning as you'll just replace that with winning and arrogance. Even better!

 

[Berlin]

Don't worry about losing anticipation of winning as you'll just replace that with winning and arrogance. Even better!

Interestingly, as much as winning the ultimate prize in any sport is amazing and should be cherished...I've always thought that going back to back is seriously elite and amazing, knowing that you are the hunted and having to adapt to changes to strategise the upcoming season against the pack would be harsh. But still, one step at a time.

 

[Tygrys]

It's a combination of timing (our success in the 70s), loyalty (you can not ever change your team if you are Australian), the best home ground (and PRO), the best song and we are not #LOLnorf


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

I would also add having far and away the most visible home ground (punt road) of any club in Melbourne. You travel by train anywhere from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and it hits you right in the face. Also in terms of marketing, especially for kids, there would be no emblem better than the tiger. It's aggressive, it's colourful, but paradoxically can be very cuddly and cute. It just translates brilliantly when merchandising to all ages. Likewise the colours I would argue are equal best in the league along with Essendon for clothing etc and apart from Collingwood are the only ones that really correspond and associate with it's emblem. This kind of stuff gives Richmond a head start in recruiting new supporters.

Plus there is a tribalism and a sense of size and power that the media helps reinforce including constant references to the Tiger Army etc. We are all made to feel like part something much bigger and intimidating.

For someone looking for a club, someone new to Melbourne with no previous allegiances or just a kid growing up exposed to all of this you'd certainly take these things into account (as I did as a child when I chose Richmond), when looking for a club to support.