Football > Memorable Moments
RFC Memorable Moments #1: the "Save Our Skins" campaign
one-eyed:
Part One: TIGER CRISIS
On Wednesday, 15th August, 1990, it was revealed that 10 weeks to raise $1 million was what stood between the Club from being no more.
Then Club president Neville Crowe announced the beginning of the "Endangered species" or as it became known "Save our Skin" campaign to save the club with full page advertisements in the papers: Click here for the Advertisement Poster
Richmond appeal seeks $1 million
The Sun
Wednesday, August 15, 1990
by Tony De Bolfo
RICHMOND Football Club is to make an appeal for $1 million in what may be a last-ditch bid to save the club from extinction.
A desperate call for funds will be made through an appeal labelling the Tigers an "Endangered Species".
The call for support will be made through a series of TV, press and radio advertisements.
It Is believed the club faces debts of $1.2 million, with the problems intensifying due to current high interest rates.
Richmond is obviously hoping to stir a ground-swell of support like that of last year when Footscray raised over $1.5 mllIion to save the club.
The club will announce the appeal at Punt Road this afternoon.
Last night influential club supporters were briefed by club administrators.
Puma managing director Herb Elliott and club No.1 ticket-holder Lindsay Thompson, refused to comment as they left club headquarters last night. They said any comment would have to come from club president Neville Crowe.
An agitated Crowe refused to elaborate on plans to fight Richmond's economic plight and said the details would be outlined at today's press conference.
General manager Cameron Schwab also refused to make any comment.
Richmond's woes increased with the recent collapse of the Estate Mortgage Group, which is believed to have contributed $30,000 to the club earlier this season.
Richmond was believed to be negotiating a major on-going sponsorship with the defunct group before it folded. Richmond's major sponsor since 1988 has been the Transport Accident Commission, with sponsorship for 1988-89 totalling $325.000. This year's sponsorship is believed to be $200,000 but the agreemen is to be reviewed on an annual basis so the Tigers have no guarantee of on-going financial backing.
It is the second time in less than a year Richmond has had to go to its members for financial support. In October last year a rally at the MCG raised $180,000.
Crowe's involvement with Richmond goes back to 1957 when he was a player and later as an administrator. He was captain from 1963-66 and won the best and fairest three times. He became the club's third president in the one season in 1987 when he succeeded Bm Durham who took over from Alan Bond.
When he took over as president he said his main aim was to get the club back into a winning frame which he felt "is just a whisker away".
"And secondly, of course, to absolutely ensure our long-term existence in the football competition as it is at the moment."
"I've played in sides when I've felt the pain just like the RIchmond supporters out there have felt the pain - of losing and the heartache that goes with it.
"It's the old cliche of winners make it happen and losers let it happen ... and I can assure you that at Richmond we don't intend to let anything more of this losing strain take place."
one-eyed:
TIGERS ARE CORNERED
The Sun
By Tony De Bolfo
Thursday, 16 August, 1990.
IN 10 weeks, the 106-year-old Richmond Football Club could be dead.
If the club does not raise $1 million between now and October 31, it faces three options - merging, relocation or liquidation.
At Punt Road yesterday, Richmond president Neville Crowe, flanked by general manager Cameron Schwah and coach Kevln Bartlett, said the Tigers' major problems were:
* Richmond's current deficit of $1.25 million, with interest costs to service tbe club's bank overdraft currently at $285,000 per annum, or $5000 per week.
* The Social Club's shutdown, which has cost the club thousands of dollars.
* Unforseen legal obligations governing the social club problems, as well as inherited settlements to past coaches and players.
Crowe warned of the consequences facing the club and its directors if Richmond failed to satisfy its bankers.
"Unless we come up with that million dollars in the next couple of months, the alternatives are totally abhorrent, bnt we've got to look at them." Crowe said.
"It's an uphill battle. I guess you could call it 'catch-up footy' in today's terminology if you like."
But the AFL immediately dismissed one of the options when it said it would not allow a merger.
Crowe did not regard it as unreasonable or unfair that his club should again seek financial SOS from its supporters, this time to the tune of $1 million - six times the $165,000 acquired from those supporters following a rally at the MCG last October.
During yesterday's press conference in the committee room at the old Punt Road Oval, Crowe ta1ked of Richmond's catastrophic demise in the eight years since it last played off for what would have been its 11th premiership, brought about through indiscriminate chequebook recruiting.
He said that Richmond, which recorded profits of $7,032 in 1988 and $261,630 last year, first became aware of the problems back in 1987 through the investigations of its financial director Michael Humphris.
Titanic
"What a tragedy it would be if Richmond supporters (and quite frankly all football fans) ignored our desperate plea for help and let the club do a 'Titanic' and slip rapidly to its grave," Crowe said.
"We do not want to be forced into the same position that Footscxay found itself in late last year before our supporters shake off their aparthy and make a decision.
"That decision should be: 'They will not take my footbal1 club away from me. No way! Under no circumstances!'
"I can promise you while I've got breath in my body no-one's going to take my football club away from me.
"We're not giving up, that's one thing that is for sure. We're going to fight on like you've never seen before."
He also voiced his club's total opposition to the Port Adelaide-AFL proposal in its current form, regardless of the financial inducement offered.
He said he could understand the AFL's intention to include Port Adelaide as the 15th league team."but meanwhile the Richmonds and the Fitzoys and the North Melbournes are sitting on the razor's edge ready to be tipped over".
"And no-one's going to do anything about it, except the Richmond supporters I hope and football supporters generally," Crowe said.
Crowe revealed that registered membership figures had dropped from 12,000 in Richmond's premiership year of 1980 to 5000 in 1990.
"There are 7000 people out there who claim to be Richmond supporters but somehow they don't make a financial contribution by buying a membership ticket." he said.
"So I hope those pretenders, if you like, will stand up and be counted."
Crowe added that an apparent apathy towards Richmond was what required urgent and immediate attention.
"You know, it's that 'I don't care'. 'I don't really care enough', 'she'll be right mate' attitude." Crowe said.
Prepared
"Well I can assure you she won't be bloody alright mate, unIess people are prepared to come and do what we believe they ought to do."
Richmond's last ditch "Save our Skin Fund", will be extensively advertised through newspapers, television and radio.
Though there is an obvious doubt as to where the finances to cover such advertising will eminate, Crowe suggested they might come from donations.
one-eyed:
TIGERS RALLY
By TONY DE BOLFO
The Sun
Thursday, August 16, 1990
RICHMOND coach Kevin Bartlett, arguably Punt Road's greatest player, has called on his players to rally behind the club in its last-ditch bid for survival.
Bartlett, the AFL games record-holder with 403, five-time Richmond hest and fairest winner, five time premiership player, and Richmond coach of the past three seasons, said player response had been positive during Tuesday night's urgent briefing.
"I think they were very concemed and at the same very supportive of the club," he said yesterday.
".__.__, they've certainly pledged their support.
"I know players are talking about ways they can get together to help the club.
"Like everyone else, they're extremely keen to see the club survive and survive in a manner that wi1l make it competitive."
Bartlett warned that while Richmond had never asked its players to take pay cuts, "that's something the club may have to look at if we don't have enough support".
And would he be prepared to take a pay cut?
"I think we've said before that whatever sacrifices have to be made for the Richmond Football Club to survive have to be made," Bartlett said.
Though Bartlett, club president Nevllle Crowe and general manager Cameron Schwab refused to level the blame at anybody for Richmond's financial plight, Bartlett made his feelings clear on what he believed were gung-ho activities of previous administrations.
"Most people know that in days gone by clubs tried to win premierships with large sums of money spent on players who proved to be duds. No good.
"And therefore there was a lot of money spent on getting players to the club, with no success.
"Certainly since I've been here and Neville's been here as president we inherited a debt which has made it difficult for us to he competitive in the market of gaining players.
"Now we've had a youth policy and that's been very very successful ... at the same time it would he nice if we could have run, in conjunction with that, a senior policy."
Bartlett said it would have been easy to have gone into that marketplace and been irresponsible.
"But over the past three years we've been as responsible as any person could possibly be in not being in that marketplace," Bartlett said.
Richmond's player salary cap is $950.000, compared with the AFL's level of $1.4 million.
one-eyed:
WEIGHTMAN LEADS PLAYERS' RESPONSE
The Sun
Thursday, August 16, 1990
As the football world last night wondered what would become of Richmond, one man was clear where the Tigers were headed.
It was business-as-usual for Richmond skipper, and veteran of 232 games, Dale Weightman at training and he had a message - Richmond will not die.
But while he was confident the club would survive, he did concede the problem was the most serious ever to confront Richmond.
Weightman said the players' contribution to the 'endangered species" drive could start on Saturday.
"What we can do for a start, is to win a few games. The last three games are very important and the players realise they're mutually playing for their livelihood." he said
The Richmond team was called to a meeting on Tuesday night, where Tiger President Neville Crowe gave the players full details of the club's plight.
From the outset, the players were 100 percent behind the administration.
"They told us up front what's happening and we're an behind them and ready to get into it this week," Weightman said.
And plans are underway for the players' own, different money-raising effort.
"There's a few talented blokes out there and a few funny men, so you never know what we might organise," he said.
Weightman was adamant the players were firmly behind the administration under Neville Crowe. "They've done a great job. We came fourth last in 1988 and last year, and both times we've made a profit. Everyone to do with Richmond - supporters, trainers, players - they're all part of the club," he said.
The team will use the events of the past 48 hours as a morale booster for on-field success. "We're fighting for our club. If it goes, a lot of us will go too," he said.
He said Richmond had one of the league's biggest followings, which could join together and save the club.
"I remember in 1980, we were the first club ever to pull in a million people in a season." he said.
He agreed sacrifices bad to be made, and the players would be prepared to discuss pay cuts. "If it comes to that we'd be prepared to sit down and talk about it."
After 14 years at Richmond, his only club, Weightman said he was confident the loyalty of players and supporters would keep them alive.
There's thousands of people behind this club that won't sit down and let us die. We'll survive."
one-eyed:
PLEA TO YOUNG AT HART
By Bruce Matthews
The Sun
Thursday, August 16, 1990
RICHMOND'S legendary centre half-forward Royce Hart last night targeted the youngsters of his playing days as the group to help pull his old club out of its financial mire.
Hart appealed to those hero-worshippers, now young family men, to recall the good times in the Tigers' fight for survival.
"There were hundreds of kids running around in Richmond jumpers when I was playing," Hart said.
"Richmond was the popular team to follow in the 60s, the 70s and the early 80s. Those young supporters are now grown up and in the workforce and community.
This is the time to show their loyalty to the club they followed through the good years. They are the people who could be the key to it (survival)," he said.
Hart played 204 games for the Tigers from 1967 to 1977. He was a key member of 1967, '69, '73 and '74 premiership teams, skipper in '73 and '74.
"It's not as if Richmond has been down and out, it's not a club which has been struggling for 50 years. It won its last premiership only 10 years ago." Hart said.
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