Richmond has been granted an AFLW licence and will enter the competition in 2020.

The AFL today announced the Tigers are one of four clubs – including St Kilda, West Coast and Gold Coast – who will enter the competition in 2020, while Geelong and North Melbourne were granted licenses for 2019.

Richmond was granted a provisional licence in 2016 and also appointed Kate Sheahan to the role of Women's Football Operations Manager.

“It is fantastic news for the Club, our members and supporters, and all our stakeholders,” said Richmond CEO Brendon Gale.

“Our young female supporters can now potentially live the dream of playing for the Tigers.

“We were disappointed that we were not part of the inaugural AFLW season but we have continued to work hard to promote female football and support participation pathways. While we would have preferred to be entering the competition in 2019, today’s announcement is testament that work. 

“To have a Richmond team participating in the AFLW builds on the industry-leading commitment the Club has made to the promotion of gender equity in our game.

“From a football perspective, we have established an alignment with the Bendigo Thunder women’s team, who coincidentally won the Premiership recently. We have also committed to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander pathways with the recently announced Boorimul program.

“We will also be pursuing a VFLW licence for the 2018 season and beyond this will be launching a RFC Female Football Acadmey. All of the above is designed to ensure we can hit the ground running in 2020.”