Richard Sylvannus Reynolds (20 June 1915 – 2 September 2002) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL). Reynolds is one of four footballers to have won three

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by t ...

s, the others being

Haydn Bunton Sr. Haydn William Bunton (5 July 1911 – 5 September 1955) was an Australian rules footballer who represented in the Victorian Football League (VFL), in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), and in the South Australian National Football Le ...

Bob Skilton Robert John "Bob" Skilton (born 8 November 1938) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Playing as a rover, Skilton is one of only four players to have won the Brownlow Medal three tim ...

and Ian Stewart. Revered by Essendon supporters, he was often referred to simply as "King Richard".

Family

The son of William Meader Reynolds (1886—1940) and Mary James Reynolds, née Thompson (1885—1941), and one of seven children, Richard Sylvannus Reynolds was born on 20 June 1915. He died on 2 September 2002. He was the brother of Tom Reynolds, the cousin of Richmond champion player and coach

Max Oppy William Maxwell Oppy (14 October 1924 – 25 November 2008) was an Australian rules football player who played in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1942 and 1954 for the Richmond Football Club. He was senior coach of Richmond in 1956. ...

, and the grandfather of

Joel Reynolds Joel Reynolds (born 5 June 1984) is a former Australian rules footballer. Reynolds is the grandson of Bomber legend Dick Reynolds Richard Sylvannus Reynolds (20 June 1915 – 2 September 2002) was an Australian rules footballer who pla ...

Early life and career

Reynolds grew up supporting and sold lollies outside Princes Park on match days. When Reynolds won his first Brownlow Medal in 1934, champion

, whom Reynolds had narrowly beaten to win the award, was the first person to telegraph his congratulations, a sporting gesture that Reynolds deeply appreciated. In June 1947, it was announced that Reynolds would start writing about football for the now-defunct Melbourne newspaper '' The Argus''. Like many footballers, Reynolds was also a noted cricketer. He was a successful medium-fast bowler for

Essendon Cricket Club Essendon Cricket Club is an Australian cricket club competing in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition. The club was first established in 1872. The club trains and plays at Windy Hill, Essendon, former training ground and administrative base ...

but gave up the game when it started to interfere with football. In January 1949, he made a return to district cricket when Essendon batsman

Ken Meuleman Kenneth Douglas Meuleman (5 September 1923 – 10 September 2004) was an Australian cricketer who played in one Test match in 1946. His cricket career started in Victoria, but after moving to Perth, Western Australia, he established himself as ...

was picked for State duty. After being re-elected yet again as player-coach by the Essendon committee in February 1949, Reynolds guided the Bombers to the

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. S ...

against , which they won by 73 points. Reynolds, who was playing his 299th game, described it afterwards as "the best Essendon performance he could remember." Off the field, Reynolds was a shy and private man, noted for his humility about his footballing achievements.

Champions of Essendon

In 2002, an Essendon panel ranked him first in their ''

Champions of Essendon 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 ...

'' list of the 25 greatest players ever to have played for Essendon. Just three days before his death, after being given a standing ovation by the crowd at the announcement dinner, at which he was named the greatest Essendon player of all time, Reynolds was visibly moved and stated: "I don't deserve this honour... Bill Hutchison was the best player I ever saw."

Death

Reynolds' funeral was held at

St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Melbourne, Australia. It is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Melbourne and the seat of the Archbishop of Melbourne, who is also the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Victoria. ...

, on 6 September 2002. After the service, the hearse made its way to Windy Hill, where Essendon fans had gathered to farewell their greatest player one last time. His family's link with Essendon continued when his grandson

was selected by the club in the

2001 AFL Draft The 2001 AFL draft consisted of a state draft, a body draft, a pre-season draft and a trade period. The AFL draft is the annual draft of players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Austra ...

. He made his debut in Round 3, 2002, against

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

at the Gabba, with Dick watching from the stands. A statue in his honour was erected in 2004 at the Parade of Champions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Brownlow Medals

In July 2017, it was announced by Reynolds' family that his three Brownlow Medals were to be auctioned by Mosgreen.

References

Bibliography

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