Richmond’s oldest living player Gerard Tanner has passed awayGerard Tanner, the oldest living player ever to pull on the Richmond guernsey, has passed away at the age of 100.
Jasper Bruce
HeraldSun
January 16, 2022 - 12:56PMRichmond’s oldest living footballer, Gerard Tanner, has died.
The club confirmed on Sunday that Mr. Tanner died on January 10, not long after becoming the third known Richmond player to live to be 100.
A talented country footballer, Tanner played one game for the Tigers in 1941 when the Second World War put regional leagues on hiatus.
Without a place to play, Tanner was invited to travel more than 250km from his home in Cobram to train with the Tigers.
He trained with the club in the 1941 pre-season and later that year, played on the wing in his VFL debut.
Alongside club greats such as Jack Titus and Jack Dyer, the 19-year-old Tanner helped Richmond to victory over Essendon at Punt Road.
“I was only a 19-year-old kid. I think my mother was expecting me to come home with my head under my arm. She was frightened I was going to get injured,” Tanner recalled in a 2019 interview with Richmond historian Rhett Bartlett.
Tanner was soon transferred to Wodonga as part of his job with the state railways, so never had the chance to add to his tally.
Tanner’s son Xavier followed in his footsteps and played 111 VFL games for North Melbourne and then Melbourne between the late 1970s and mid-1980s.
https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/richmonds-oldest-living-player-gerard-tanner-has-passed-away/news-story/2b2bd4e175cbf1eaee686b12f9613f5e
