Kevin Bartlett (Australian rules footballer)

The substitution system was in use without interchange players for a large part of Bartletts 400 games, just the 19th and 20th man until the 3 Interchange player system was Introduced.

Bartlett's total of senior career matches (using the VFL/AFL's total) ranks third in elite Victorian football behind Tuck (437) and Brent Harvey (445), and seventh in elite Australian rules football.

If his pre-season/night series matches are included, then Bartlett's total of 435 or 439 senior career matches (depending on whether or not International Rules matches are included) either ranks third in elite Victorian football behind Tuck (466) and Harvey (480 or 491) and eighth in elite Australian rules football, or fourth in elite Victorian football behind Dustin Fletcher (441), Tuck and Harvey, and ninth in elite Australian rules football.

The Kevin Bartlett Medal is awarded each season to the player who finishes fifth in the Richmond Football Club's best and fairest count, with places one to four being the Jack Dyer, Jack Titus, Maurie Fleming, and Fred Swift Medals respectively.

Kevin Charles Bartlett AM (born 6 March 1947) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Nicknamed "KB" or "Hungry" due to his appetite for kicking goals and apparent reluctance to handpass, Bartlett is a Legend of the Australian Football Hall of Fame and is the first VFL/AFL player to have reached the 400-game milestone, a feat since achieved by four other players as of 2023; he has played the third-most games of any player in VFL/AFL history.

He is a key member of a golden era in Richmond's history, playing in five premiership teams and winning five Jack Dyer Medals, equalling Jack Dyer's own personal tally.

Short and slender in stature, Bartlett possessed tremendous stamina, determination and a seemingly sixth sense to evade opposition players intent on negating his influence.

He supported as a young boy and was a spectator at the 1954 Grand Final triumph.

As a teenager, he walked from his home in Lennox St., Richmond, to the Punt Road Oval, where he was greeted by the Richmond Fourths' coach Bill Boromeo.

It was this chance meeting that set in motion Bartlett's path towards playing for Richmond.

He began his career with the under-17s side, where he won the goalkicking and the best and fairest in 1962.

In 1963, he won the best and fairest in the under-19s, and Richmond made the under 19s final series.

Bartlett, however, was injured seconds into the first final against Geelong, which resulted him being taken to the Prince Henry Hospital, where it was revealed that a cyst was embedded in his hip.

It was while waiting for the ambulance to collect him in the MCG change rooms that he first met Jack Dyer.

Dyer had appeared at the match, on the advice of Richmond under-19s coach Ray Jordon, and visited Bartlett in the rooms to tell him he will be okay.

The following year for Bartlett (1964) involved rehabilitation, as he still experienced pain around his hip area.

Bartlett was also the first player in elite Australian rules football to play 400 premiership games, with only six others achieving the feat as of 2023: four in the VFL/AFL (Hawthorn's Michael Tuck, North Melbourne's Brent Harvey, Essendon's Dustin Fletcher and Port Adelaide and Hawthorn's Shaun Burgoyne), one in the SANFL (Glenelg's Peter Carey), and one in both leagues (Port Adelaide and Carlton's Craig Bradley; Burgoyne also played 26 SANFL games for Port Adelaide prior to his AFL career).

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1965

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1966

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 1967

Bartlett also played 20 matches for Victoria in interstate football, 12 pre-season/night series matches (which are recognised as senior by the SANFL and WAFL but not the VFL/AFL), and four International Rules matches on the 1968 Australian Football World Tour (which are counted as senior by the VFL/AFL).

If these are included, Bartlett played a total of 439 career senior matches.

The VFL/AFL record Bartlett's total as 427 career senior games, excluding his pre-season/night series matches.

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1968

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 1969

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1970

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1971

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1972

He played much of his best football as Richmond's starting rover, but adapted superbly when moved to the half-forward flank towards the end of his career, as demonstrated in the 1980 VFL finals series.

Despite the differing viewpoints, Bartlett was the first player to play 400 senior career games in elite Victorian football, which he achieved in either of Round 19 of 1982 (using the VFL/AFL's total), Round 9 of 1982 (excluding his International Rules matches) or Round 5 of 1982 (using his overall total).

Depending on the viewpoint taken:

When Bartlett returned to the Tigers in 1988 as senior coach, the club were in a shambles as a result of a bitter trade feud with.

Although his record as coach appears disappointing, he nonetheless achieved some surprise results with very limited resources.

His 403 premiership games remained an elite Australian rules football record until broken by Carey in Round 7 of the 1988 SANFL season, and an elite Victorian football record until broken by Tuck in Round 22 of the 1990 AFL season.

After being sacked at the end of 1991, he distanced himself from Richmond for nearly two decades.

Following his retirement as a player, Bartlett developed a successful career as a sports commentator and broadcaster on both television and radio, currently working as a match caller for 3AW.

In 2008, Bartlett was listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as the ninth-greatest player of all time in the AFL-commissioned book The Australian Game of Football.

Bartlett was born in the inner-northern Melbourne suburb of Carlton, the only son of Charles Bartlett, and grew up in Richmond.

He was a member of the AFL's rules committee for many years—until he retired on 4 March 2014 —as well as the selection panel for the All-Australian Team and AFL Rising Star awards.