Richmond Won the 1932 Premiership at the MCG. How Did the Flag Come Home to the Suburb?

Richmond’s 13.14 (92) to 12.11 (83) victory over Carlton ended an eleven-year premiership wait and four runner-up finishes in five seasons. But the final siren only tells us where the football match ended.

What happened next belonged to more than the twenty Richmond players on the ground. Supporters pressed toward the rooms. President Barney Herbert appeared in the guernsey from Richmond’s 1921 premiership. Dan Minogue congratulated Percy Bentley. A premiership flag went up over Richmond Town Hall. The celebrations continued into the night.

Those details raise a different historical question. How did a football club and its suburb absorb a premiership after spending more than a decade living with the memory of the last one — and after becoming accustomed to getting close without finishing?

The member feature follows the flag beyond the MCG and into the rooms, the streets and the civic rituals around Richmond, asking what the celebrations reveal about who believed the premiership belonged to them.

Read the full RTSSG investigation here.

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