GREATER players than Matthew Richardson may play at Richmond but no one will leave the club with a greater spirit, club president Gary March said last night.
March was one of several speakers at a special farewell for Richardson, held at his original club Devonport.
"Matthew will probably be rated among the top 10 players to have been at the club but no- one will match his spirit and he is the number one bloke without any doubt," March said.
The Devonport Football Club was packed to capacity for Richardson's farewell last night.
The champion forward was accompanied by a host of Richmond officials including March, chief executive officer Brendon Gale, relations manager Dale Weightman, former teammates Daniel Jackson and Troy Simmonds and former Tasmanian journalist Martin Flanagan who is writing his biography.
March said Richardson had endeared himself to Richmond supporters and the general football public.
He related a story when Essendon and Richmond flew to Mildura for a practice game to honour several young people killed in an horrific road accident.
"We were showered and changed and on the plane after the game when someone said `where's Richo', he was still out signing autographs for all the young fans," he said.
"There's never been a player who meant so much to Richmond and we're rapt that we've got him back in some role," he said.
Gale, originally from Burnie, was already at Richmond when Richardson made his debut in 1993.
"He made an immediate impact, here was a young athlete who was able to do things we marvelled at," he said.
Gale said Richmond had a long history with Tasmanians and said players such as Ray Stokes, Ian Stewart and Royce Hart made their mark at the club.
"I can remember a game in 1998 when we had five players in the team who came from between Wynyard and Devonport.
"We had Chris Bond, Ben Harrison, Matthew Richardson, my brother Michael and myself and I was proud of that," he said.
Gale, who took over as chief executive late last year, had hoped Richardson would extend his career by another season into 2010.
But Richardson said he knew his time was up.
"After two weeks of pre-season I couldn't stretch out properly and I knew it was time to finish," he said.
Richardson's career came to an end after 282 games and 800 goals for the Tigers.
He is predicting a bright future for Richmond under new coach Damien Hardwick and said Jack Riewoldt was capable of filling his spot as the number one forward for the next five to 10 years.
Richardson said he was reluctant to get involved in a biography of his career until he was told of Martin Flanagan's interest.
"Everyone respects Martin's writing and when I knew he was keen I was more than happy to be involved," he said.
BY TERRY MORRIS
06 Feb, 2010 01:00 AM
http://www.examiner.com.au/news/loca...t/1744033.aspx
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