Lou Richards
Australian rules footballer and commentator (1923-2017)
Lewis Thomas Charles "Lou" Richards (15 March 1923 – 8 May 2017) was an Australian rules footballer who played 250 games for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1941 and 1955. He captained the team from 1952 to 1955, including a premiership win in 1953. He later became a hotel manager and a highly prominent sports journalist in print, radio and television for more than 50 years, and he was known for his wit and vivacity.
Playing career
Born in Collingwood, Victoria, Richards' passion for Collingwood grew out of family connections—he followed in the footsteps of his grandfather Charlie Pannam and uncles Charles and Alby Pannam, both former Magpie players. His brother Ron Richards also played for the club. The Richards–Pannam dynasty made Collingwood the only club to have been captained by three generations of the one family. As a family, they played over 1,200 games between them.
Recognised for his skill and toughness, Richards played as a rover, resting in the forward pocket.
He was captain of the club for four years, including Collingwood's 1953 premiership team. Additionally, he represented Victoria on three occasions in State of Origin matches.
The public source identifies “Lou Richards” as australian rules footballer and commentator (1923-2017). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Richards, Australian and rules.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15499702. VIAF identifies the subject as 40709634. The Library of Congress control number is n82007790. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1923, 2017, 1941 and 1955.
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This entry incorporates text from “Lou Richards” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.