Michael has barracked for Richmond his entire life.
But, up until 2025, he wasn't a member. It wasn't until his 19-year-old son began to show a love for the yellow and black, that he made the decision to sign up for life.
And after his first season as a proper member, he's never looking back.
The road back to Punt Road as a supporter was one that never wavered, with Michael growing up idolising the likes of Royce Hart, Francis Bourke and Kevin Bartlett, in an era he dubbed one of the Club's most powerful.
"Footy was always a presence. During the 1970s, Richmond was a real power team. They were winning premierships and playing finals and I just got hooked on them," Michael told Richmond Media.
"I was 16 in 1980 when Richmond won their last premiership before 2017. I was at that perfect age to appreciate it. It was the perfect era."
37 years later, it was his own son, who is now 19, who felt the premiership joy his father did, all those years ago.
"My son, when he was young, never showed much interest in football or any sport, for many years. But he sat with me and watched the 2017 Grand Final and then started to have an interest," he said.
"From 2018, I started taking him to games, which was a challenge at first. My son was diagnosed on the autism spectrum and one of the thing he used to find very difficult when he was little, was the noise of the crowd.
"But he's 19 now and he just wants to go to the footy as often as possible, which is why I ended up getting the memberships for us both."
The connection to the yellow and black is bound tightly within an autograph book, which, until this year, Michael had only ever used for one season.
"It got signed that year, 1977, and I never used it again, until this year," he said.
"I got these autographs from people like Royce Hart, a photo with Francis Bourke, Kevin Barlett, Mick Malthouse."
Almost 48 years on from the time he used that book, Michael felt it right to bring it out in 2025, to add some pretty impressive new heroes to the book.
"I'll never forget the look on Tom Lynch's face when I opened the autograph book, deliberately to the page with Royce Hart's signature," Michael recounted.
"I said, 'I'd like you to sign on this particular page, next to another handy forward, back in the day'. He looked at it and saw Royce Hart's name and was in shock."
For the first time in nearly 50 years, Michael was instantly reconnected with his boyhood Club. This time, as a member.
"If you're not a member, you can say you barrack for the team, but you're not really a supporter. When you become a member, you are actually supporting that team," Michael said.
"It's alright to think that teams have bucketloads of money during the good times, but there's time when things are not necessarily going well and if people jump off during those times, you can spend years down the bottom.
"I'm old enough to have lived through those times, where Richmond were tin-rattling at one point. We were in big trouble prior to the golden era of 2017 to 2020.
"I was guilty. My excuse was that I wasn't getting to games and had other commitments. I thought now, I've got every opportunity to be a member. I'm retired, I can live comfortably. I thought now was the time to support the team that I've barracked for all my life.
"Without that, the Club doesn't exist."
Like Michael, start your Richmond membership Journey, today.
