Back in the nineties life was different, footy was different, and Richmond was different. Cheryl Critchley was a rabid Tiges fan and budding journalist. She and her small team put together six issues of this substantial, professional zine which they sold outside games for $2. Cheryl says their costs were about $1 per copy, and they donated the other dollar to the club. They raised $5000 this way.
Cheryl was pregnant with her first child Jess during the 1998 season, and carried her in a pouch while selling copies outside Punt Rd oval in 1999.
The club was great. They gave us access to players and even Jeff Gieschen, whom I managed to get in a dog leash for the headline “We leash the Giesch!”
Have a browse through these covers and selected highlights Cheryl scanned for us.
Thank you Chris and Cheryl for sharing this.
So, they sold at least 10,000 copies – this is incredible and shows that there was an appetite for light-hearted, humorous Richmond-related stories. I guess the Club would have invested less in branding and marketing back then, so, they would have no doubt been happy to have this work outsourced, especially if they profited from it.
When did the Club officially launch its website? Would be great to see some shots of this too. Would be great if we could create a time line of various Richmond related websites, blogs, podcasts.
Was there any particular reason why the fanzine stopped its production? I wonder what the AFL’s policy was towards fans selling Roar at Richmond games.
They only sold 5000, that’s how I interpreted Cheryl’s notes. Production cost $1 per copy and the other $1 of the cover price was donated to the club; hence $5000.
Did they create the Richo as Christ the Redeemer T-shirt?