Richard Sylvannus Reynolds (20 June 1915 – 2 September 2002) was an

Australian rules football 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(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 the f ...

s, with the others being Haydn Bunton Sr., Bob Skilton 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, and the grandfather of Joel Reynolds.

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 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

, champion Haydn Bunton Sr., whom Reynolds had narrowly beaten to win the award, was the first person to telegraph his congratulations, a sporting gesture that Reynolds deeply appreciated. Reynolds would normally wear the number three

guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

throughout his playing career with Essendon, but had to wear the number four guernsey during one match of the

1937 VFL season The 1937 VFL season was the 41st season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 24 April until 25 September, and comprised an ...

when he left his uniform at home. In July 1944 Reynolds surpassed

Billy Griffith Stewart Cathie Griffith, (16 June 1914 – 7 April 1993), known as Billy Griffith, was an English cricketer and cricket administrator. He played in three Test matches for England in 1948 and 1949. He played first-class cricket for Cambridg ...

club record of 187 games. 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 Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. 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 ba ...

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 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 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. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

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." 1950 was a big year for Reynolds, first he played his 300th game in round one, then later on he passed the 311 game record of Richmond champion

Jack Dyer John Raymond Dyer Sr. OAM (15 November 1913 – 23 August 2003), nicknamed Captain Blood, was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1931 and 1949. One of the ga ...

. Finally he lead his team to victory in the 1950 VFL Grand Final. In the lead up to the 1951 VFL Grand Final a raft of injuries caused the selectors to include Reynolds into the side as 19th man. With the game slipping away from Essendon, Reynolds came on for the final quarter. He was instrumental in helping score two goals but Geelong won by 11 points. It was the last and game number 320 for champion. He held the record until 1971 when

Ted Whitten Edward James Whitten Sr. Order of Australia, OAM (27 July 1933 – 17 August 1995) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Footscray Football Club in the Victorian Football League (1897–1989), Victorian Football League (VFL). Bo ...

played his 321st game. In 1961 he handed over the coaching duties to John Coleman. He would move to Adelaide and for three years coach West Torrens 1961 to 1963. 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'' 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." His family's link with Essendon continued when his grandson Joel Reynolds 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 Austr ...

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

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

at the Gabba, with Dick watching from the stands.

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. A statue in his honour was erected in 2004 at the Parade of Champions at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

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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