“It would be a disgrace to the Richmond Football Club if they ever thought of leaving their own home ground.” So wrote the founder of the club, James Charles, in 1924.
Charles lived in Richmond for 60+ years, and knew first-hand the importance of the Punt Road Ground (aka Richmond Cricket Ground) as the heartbeat of the community.
It had been the home of the Richmond Cricket Club since November 18 1855, and hosted its first football match in 1860.
Since 1879 there has been an uninterrupted football presence at the ground.
The current Richmond Football Club was formed in 1885 to help alleviate a £140 pound debt the cricket club owed – footy in winter would increase patronage at the ground you see.
Over the next 140+ years the look of the ground would change dramatically - pavilions would be raised and razed, the playing field extended and narrow, goalposts re-orientated, terracing installed, and even the famous big gumtree which stood since 1710 was cut down in 1910 to afford more accommodation for spectators.
The ground has embraced all sports from the community - hosting athletics carnivals, baseball games, cycling events, hockey, gridiron, rugby, soccer, softball, the Federal Tax Department’s tennis competition and was the staging area for all participants in the 1956 Olympic Games opening ceremony.
The first time a Richmond women’s team took the field was on this oval in 1923, the same arena now hosting our AFLW team.
Soldiers played football matches here, the American Independence Day sports meeting was held in front of 35,000 spectators, with a display of unarmed combat by Australian soldiers trained in jungle combat enthralling the crowd.
And in 1915 at the height of World War I, the RCC offered their newly built grandstand to the Defence Department to house 50 returning wounded soldiers.
“Electric light, hot and cold baths and other conveniences make the building particularly well suited as a convalescent hospital.”
James Charles was right, even 100 years on. To leave our home ground would be a disgrace.
