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To ensure our players are as well prepared for the rigours of elite football and be a competitive force on field, it is critical the Club provides its teams with the best possible facilities to help encourage and foster peak performance. At present, the dimensions of Punt Road Oval, which has been compressed and realigned over the years, do not match the dimensions of the MCG. It also does not meet the AFL’s safety requirements criteria for an official AFLW playing ground, and the Club must apply for an exemption each AFLW season to play games at Punt Road. 

It is apparent from a review of new major sporting facilities across Melbourne that Clubs are striving for the MCG dimensions as a response to ensure a competitive advantage. Geelong, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Collingwood, Essendon, and the Western Bulldogs either have or are developing a training oval of MCG sizing currently.

The playing surface of Punt Road Oval needs to be re-sized to ensure we can properly prepare our athletes to give them the best chance of success on-field. We can’t accommodate that change and  retain the current Jack Dyer Stand. 

Beyond that, the cost of re-furbishing the existing structure to make it fit-for-purpose is simply not viable. The Club need to use every inch of its existing footprint as efficiently as possible to ensure Richmond Football Club can remain in Richmond.   

The current land used for carparking behind the existing grandstand and alongside the MCG wicket nursery sits within Yarra Park and is covered by a registration in the Victorian Heritage Register.  In consultation with the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning we have successfully obtained a permit for the proposed works from Heritage Victoria.

The site is recognised as being located within an Area of Cultural Heritage Sensitivity and there is a strong and ongoing recognition of the Yarra Park land as an important cultural location. The Club have liaised with the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation and their discussions in relation to the proposal have been positive. 

Whilst the Club is not obliged to undertake a Cultural Heritage Management Plan, RFC has committed to the preparation of voluntary Cultural Heritage Management Plan, consistent with the values expressed in their Reconciliation Action Plan.

The William Cooper Centre will be the name given to community space within the new Jack Dyer Stand, not the facility itself. We are a purpose-based Club, and this component is central to the new development. 

Given our commitment to Indigenous Australia and Reconciliation we feel it is appropriate to honour William Cooper - an aboriginal man that did so much to fight injustice. The family are thrilled with the decision – particularly our former player Nathan Drummond as William Cooper was his great, great grandfather. 

The Club is very proud of its history and conscious of the need to acknowledge that in the new facility. We are contemplating a number of options – one being the presentation of our history throughout the facility with a particular focus on the point of entry to the Club that will be accessible to members and visitors.

The Punt Road Oval redevelopment is a significant project for Richmond Football Club, and we are more excited than ever about the future we are building in Richmond. The Club has been engaged in a quiet fundraising phase since 2019 and has raised a significant amount of the funding required, including investing its own capital into the project.  

We are excited to launch the Brick by Brick campaign to allow our members and supporters be a part of this moment in our history by supporting our fundraising efforts and closing the gap required to complete this build.

Brick donations will be acknowledged on our Brick by Brick digital honour board at Tigerland, not physically marked on the bricks. This reduces any further risk of damage to salvageable bricks for repurposing, as well as ensuring the funds from donations are directed into the redevelopment and costs are kept to a minimum.

The Club will be forever grateful for your gift towards this significant project. Everyone who contributes to the Brick by Brick campaign will receive a tax-deductible receipt from the Australian Sports Foundation. An email confirmation from Richmond Football Club will be sent within one week of your donation. 

Recognition certificates and items based on donation levels will be distributed in late 2024.

For tax receipt purposes, we encourage you to use your own name on the donor form if you are seeking to claim the gift as a tax-deductible donation. 

Email correspondence will later be sent to all those who have contributed $200 and above to the Brick by Brick campaign seeking confirmation on who should be recognised. You are welcome to make your gift in another name or on behalf of a group.