Neville Crowe

Neville Crowe
Personal information
Date of birth	(1937-06-01)1 June 1937
Date of death	2 September 2016(2016-09-02) (aged 79)
Original team(s)	State Savings Bank
Height / weight	193cm / 95.5kg
Career highlights
Richmond captain 1963-1966 Richmond best and fairest 1963, 1964, 1966 Interstate Games:- 9 All-Australian team 1966 Richmond Hall of Fame inductee 2002
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Neville Crowe (1 June 1937 – 2 September 2016) was an Australian rules footballer who represented Richmond in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1950s and 1960s. He also served as club president from 1987 to 1993, and was at the forefront of the Save Our Skins campaign in 1990, which saved the club from financial ruin.

In the 1967 Second Semi-final, Crowe was reported for allegedly striking Carlton ruckman John Nicholls, and suspended. He subsequently missed Richmond's drought-breaking premiership victory in the 1967 VFL Grand Final, and announced his retirement shortly afterward. Crowe's "phantom punch" is regarded as one of the most unlucky moments in VFL/AFL history.

Crowe retired at the end of 2008 from working at the club, finally ending his involvement that had extended to over 50 years.

In September 2012, it was reported that Crowe had been out riding his bicycle when he suddenly lost control and careered into the Yarra River. A passing jogger, John Greene, who happened to be a lifelong Tigers supporter, dived into the muddy river and pulled Crowe to safety with the help of other passers-by who formed a human chain to get him to the embankment.

Bibliography

• Hogan P: The Tigers Of Old, Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996

External links

• Richmond Football Club - Hall of Fame
• Profile at Australian Football