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Collingwood legend Lou Richards dies at 94

Lou Richards was a premiership captain for Collingwood.

Lou Richards was a premiership captain for Collingwood. Photo: Getty

Collingwood legend and media personality Lou Richards has died at the age of 94.

The former Magpies star passed away on Monday afternoon in a nursing home.

Richards played 250 VFL matches for Collingwood from 1941 to 1955, kicking 423 goals in the process.

He played in four preliminary final defeats with the Magpies, and one grand final loss, before finally achieving the ultimate glory in 1953 when Collingwood beat Geelong by two goals in the season decider.

Richards, who captained Collingwood on that day, was one of the first footballers to move into the media once he retired.

He began as a journalist with The Argus, and was a popular television figure on the Seven Network on shows like World Of Sport and League Teams.

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Richards (centre) in a World of Sport photoshoot. Photo: Getty

Richards moved to the Nine Network in 1987 and was a key figure on Wide World of Sports and then The Sunday Footy Show. He was also inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame in 1996.

In 2014, Collingwood unveiled a statue of Richards at the club’s training base in Richmond.

Richards known for his witty, cheeky game commentary

Richards spent years calling “ring-a-ding” games for Channel Seven in a witty and often cheeky style.

He had a knack for dispensing player nicknames like the ‘Galloping Gasometer’ and the ‘Flying Doormat’.

When ‘Lethal’ Leigh Matthews ploughed into a behind post and snapped it in two, Richards cried “Oh, what a he-man!”, a line now etched in football folklore.

He was even credited with coining the phrase “colliwobbles” after the Magpies’ heartbreaking grand final defeat to Carlton in 1970.

After the demise of World of Sport, Richards continued to work on television with Channel Nine on shows such as Wide World of Sport and the Footy Show.

Richards also ran the Phoenix Hotel on Flinders Street, which was frequented by many football and media personalities.

He was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Collingwood Hall of Fame in 2004 and his statue stands outside the club’s Olympic Park training base in Melbourne.

He also received the inaugural John Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014, which recognises a person’s extraordinary contribution to football.

His wife Edna, with whom he had two daughters, passed away in 2008.

-with ABC

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