It was on this day 60 years ago – May 1, 1965 – that revered Richmond ‘Immortal’ Kevin Bartlett made his senior debut with the Tigers, against St Kilda at the MCG.

To mark this special occasion in the Club’s history, today is all about KB on richmondfc.com.au.

We are celebrating the magnificent Tigerland life and times of a true icon of the game, through a variety of articles, photos, video highlights and statistics.

Thanks to KB’s son and Richmond’s historian, Rhett Bartlett, who provided the brilliant highlights and the photos. Rhett also got KB to rank his favourite games and goals, which was no easy task out of a total of 403 games and 778 goals.

I was fortunate enough to watch KB in action right from the outset of his League football career six decades ago.

He showed plenty of promise across his first couple of seasons, and by 1967, when the Tigers ended their 24-year premiership drought, Bartlett was the team’s first rover – and a very good one already!

KB was Richmond’s first rover again in its 1969, 1973 and 1974 premierships, and played an enormous role in all those glorious Tiger triumphs.

Then, in 1980, when Richmond destroyed Collingwood by 81 points in the Grand Final, Bartlett again exerted a huge influence, although this time it was in a different role.

Bartlett turned football’s traditional graveyard – the half-forward flank – into a Yellow and Black oasis, kicking 84 goals for the 1980 season, including 21 goals in that year’s finals series, with seven of them coming in a breathtaking performance on Grand Final day, which earned him the Norm Smith Medal for best afield.

Electrifying pace, brilliant anticipation, enormous stamina, an insatiable ball-winning appetite, superb goal sense, and a fierce desire to succeed, combined to make Kevin Bartlett one of the greatest players in League football history.

The awards, accolades and acknowledgments for KB during, and after, his incredible playing career, just kept coming...five Best and Fairest awards, Tigers’ Team of the Century rover, Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend, Richmond Immortal status, etc.

In Round 19 of the 1983 season, Kevin Bartlett became the first player in the competition’s history to reach the 400-game milestone.

Three weeks later, it was all over for KB after 403 games in 19 seasons, and so much success along the way.

Bartlett subsequently returned to Richmond as the Club’s senior coach from 1988-91, and during his four-year reign he introduced talented, young players such as Matthew Knights, Brendon Gale, Wayne Campbell, Tony Free, Craig Lambert, Stuart Maxfield and Chris Naish into the Tigers’ line-up.

For those Yellow and Black barrackers who were too young to have seen KB produce his on-field brilliance, or those old enough to have revelled in it, enjoy KB Day.

And to KB, thanks for all the wonderful memories.