Richardson’s 150-Match Milestone

Ian Richardson, one of the greatest goalkickers in Claremont’s 90-year history, will become the 31^st player to notch 150 senior matches for the Tigers when he leads the side on to the field for the match against West Perth at Joondalup on Saturday afternoon.

The dynamic 27-year-old left-footer, who has worn the No. 4 jumper with tremendous pride throughout his marvellous career, has thrilled the fans with his flair, fierce attack on the ball, his swerving runs, evasive skills and dazzling goalkicking feats from the moment he made his league debut, coincidentally against West Perth at Claremont Oval on March 22, 2008.

He lined up in a forward pocket and booted 1.3 in that match which Claremont won by 14 points, and he fondly remembers tackling Kepler Bradley, who will be a teammate in the forward line this week. His only current Claremont teammate from that match is Beau Maister.

Richardson kicked four goals in his second league appearance and went on to produce one of the best performances of any player in Western Australia in his opening season of senior football. He scored 7.2 against Peel, another 7.2 against Subiaco and 7.1 against East Fremantle to finish the year as Claremont’s leading goalkicker with a tally of 62.27.

Adding further lustre to his remarkable debut season was his selection in the WA side for the interstate match against Queensland in Townsville where he won the Simpson Medal as the State’s best player. He also was awarded the E. B. Cook Medal as Claremont’s fairest-and-best player, finishing ahead of star players Andrew Browne and Jaxon Crabb.

An illustration of his consistent brilliance is the fact that he represented WA in each of his first six seasons as a league footballer, until he took a year off in 2014 to tour the world and to refresh himself for his return to league football this year.

He and Ryan Neates, Keifer Yu and Tom Ledger are the only men to have played in all of Claremont’s 19 matches this year, during which he has scored 20.29, playing on a half-forward flank and on a wing.

He now has scored 326 goals from his 145 league matches (he also represented Claremont in four Foxtel Cup contests) and sits in fifth place in the list of the club’s list of goalkickers --- behind Warren Ralph (564 goals), George Moloney (555), Wayne Harvey (389) and Chad Jones (364).

It is interesting to note that Richardson’s 100^th senior match was also against West Perth (at Joondalup on July 21, 2012) when he kicked 2.2 and helped his side to crush the Falcons by 119 points, 26.10 to 7.5.

Richardson was an exciting young player as a member of Claremont’s development squads before he lined up for the colts side in 2005 and finished fifth in the fairest-and-best voting. He was captain and won the colts fairest-and-best award in 2006 as well as winning the Jack Clarke Medal as the best player in the WAFL colts competition and being named in the WAFL colts Team of the Year.

For a player who has only infrequently been stationed at full-forward and has generally played on a half-forward flank, his constant flow of goals is testament to his wonderful skill. He has kicked seven goals in a match four times and six goals three times. His six matches for WA have also produced 13 goals.

A dual league premiership player (2011 and 2012), Richardson was chosen in the club’s leadership group this year and as co-vice-captain with Neates. He has led the side several times in the absence of injured captain Jake Murphy and would dearly love to celebrate his 150^th senior match the same way as he did in his league debut and in his 100^th match --- with a victory over West Perth.