Michael John Richardson (born 16 March 1959) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

player who played for the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

and the

Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Football Club, nicknamed the Bears, was a professional Australian rules football club based in Queensland on the Gold Coast (relocated to Brisbane in 1993). The club participated in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/A ...

in the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

and

Swan Districts Football Club The Swan Districts Football Club, nicknamed the Swans, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The club is based at Bassendean Oval, in Bassendean, an eastern suburb ...

and

West Perth Football Club The West Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is an Australian rules football club located in Joondalup, Western Australia. West Perth competes in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW) and is the oldest exis ...

in the WAFL throughout the late 1970s and early 1990s.

Early career

Richardson began his career at Swan Districts in 1978 at an age of 19, he was regarded as a highly skilled fast placed roving forward or mid fielder. Richardson played as a rover in the 1982

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

and was among the team's best players. He also topped the goal kicking list at Swan Districts that season with 75 goals.

VFL/AFL career

He was recruited to

in 1983 and played a total of 60 games, kicking 117 goals, before leaving midway through the 1986 season to play for the Essendon football club. He remained at Essendon for the remainder of the 1986 season playing 15 games and kicking 14 goals. Richardson then joined the inaugural Brisbane Bears Team in the 1987 season he played some of his best football at the club and held down many positions. He left at the end of the 1990 season after playing 81 games and kicking 43 goals to return to Swan Districts.

WAFL

He played another two seasons at Swans before leaving to play with West Perth for the 1994 season to bring up his 300th game. Richardson played a total of 141 games and kicked 220 goals for Swans throughout his career. During his career he played over 300 games and kicked 439 goals. He is selected in the Swan Districts

Team of the Century In team sport, team of the century and team of the decade are hypothetical best teams over a given time period. For the century team, it can be either 100 years, or for a century (always the 20th). Similarly the team of the decade can be for 10 ...

on a half-forward flank.

Personal life

He is the twin brother of former Essendon and WAFL player Stephen Richardson.

References

External links

Mike Richardson
player profile page at WAFL FootyFacts {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Mike Swan Districts Football Club players Collingwood Football Club players Essendon Football Club players Brisbane Bears players All-Australians (1953–1988) Living people 1959 births Australian rules footballers from Western Australia West Perth Football Club players Australian twins Twin sportspeople Western Australian State of Origin players Australia international rules football team players