Richardson had initially been listed at North Melbourne, where he played at reserves level, but was let go by the club without being able to break into the seniors. A half back, he was given a second chance by Collingwood and made his league debut a week before his 22nd birthday, in 1987. It was not until 1990 that he became a regular fixture in the Collingwood side and he participated in both qualifying finals against West Coast, after the first was drawn. He also played in the semi final win over Essendon, which saw Collingwood make the grand final, but cracked his collarbone when he collided with Adrian Burns. On the Thursday before the premiership decider, Richardson failed a fitness test after being bumped by his coach Leigh Matthews while walking off the ground. He was replaced by Shane Kerrison, a surprise inclusion ahead of Ron McKeown who had missed the semi final.
Coaching career
When his playing career ended, Richardson became a coach and was put in charge of his original club, East Burwood, in the Eastern Football League. He coached the seniors to premierships in 1999 and 2000. He was the senior coach of VFL club Coburg for the next two years and in 2003 joined the Western Bulldogs as an assistant coach. After three seasons at the Bulldogs, Richardson was appointed to Mick Malthouse's coaching staff at Collingwood and given the role of development manager. From 2008 to 2010 he was an assistant coach with Essendon. He joined the Carlton Football Club as an assistant in 2011 but was released at the end of the 2012 season because of the departure of senior coach Brett Ratten who was replaced by Mick Malthouse. He then joined the Port Adelaide Football Club as a senior assistant and director of coaching for the 2013 season. On 4 May 2013, Richardson coached his first official AFL game in place of senior coach Ken Hinkley, who was unavailable due to a virus. Port Adelaide lost that game to North Melbourne. Richardson was appointed to the vacant St Kilda coaching position on 14 November 2013, despite criticism by Port Adelaide over the late timing of the decision, being made only one week before the national draft. Richardson's coaching career at St Kilda started well with three wins from their first five games, however, the club would win only one game for the remainder of the season and crash to its first wooden spoon since 2000. After coaching the team to the brink of finals in 2016 and 2017, the Saints fell to 16th place in 2018. In 2018, the Herald Sun noted that Alan Richardson had the third worst 100-game coaching record in history. The 2019 season saw considerable scrutiny applied to Richardson and his coaching tenure. Although the Saints won four of their first five games, their subsequent poor record saw Richardson resign on 16 July. On 23 August Richardson returned to coaching joining the Melbourne Football Club in an assistant coach role in preparation for the 2020 season.
Personal life
Richardson is married to Jo and they have two sons. He lives in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
