Richard W. Bray, known as Richie Bray, was an Aboriginal

Australian rules 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 ...

footballer who played for the

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed ...

. As a child, Bray was a resident of

St Francis House St Francis House was a home for inland Aboriginal Australian boys from 1946 to 1959 at Glanville Hall in Semaphore South, Adelaide, South Australia. Father Percy Smith purchased Glanville Hall on behalf of the Anglican Church to provide accommo ...

, a home for inland

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

boys from 1946 to 1959 in the

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

suburb of

Semaphore South Semaphore South is a beachside suburb of Adelaide, in the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. The Semaphore South Post Office opened on 3 November 1947 and closed in 1978. Politics Semaphore South is located in the state electoral district of Lee ...

. Bray played a single game for Port Adelaide F.C. in 1959, then moved to

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

for a few years. In 1962 Bray played in his first premiership for the club, and also played in the 1963 and 1965 premiership sides under coach Fos Williams. Over the eight years he spent at the club, he played 77 games. He mostly played half forward flank, and kicked 65 goals, but in the 1962 Grand Final (when Port Adelaide won the Grand Final against West Adelaide), he played on the wing. He also coached locally at the Semaphore Football Club. He died in November 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bray, Richie Australian rules footballers from South Australia Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football Port Adelaide Football Club (SANFL) players Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions) Year of birth missing