Premiership Tiger and four-club journeyman Jacob Townsend has signed with local football team St Albans Saints for the 2025 season.
Townsend trekked to three different states in his 10-year career, playing 62 games at AFL level. Never playing more than 12 games in a single season, the 31-year-old still managed to be included in Richmond's 2017 premiership team, the first triumph of Richmond's dynasty.
Townsend featured in the 2017 grand final after just five games at AFL level that year, winning the VFL's J.J. Liston Medal as a result of his time spent in the reserves.
The forward only entered the side in Round 22, but would not be dropped for the rest of the season after kicking 11 goals in his first two matches, before playing a crucial role in the Tigers' finals campaign and tallying a further five majors.
Townsend was also a member of Richmond's 2019 VFL premiership side.
His career began at Greater Western Sydney, where he would play for four years before seeking a trade to Richmond.
He was handed an AFL lifeline after the 2019 season to play for Essendon after being signed in the Supplemental Selection Period, where he would then feature 12 more times at AFL level in 2020.
Gold Coast then signed Townsend as a delisted free agent in 2021, before they delisted the forward themselves 12 months later after the premiership Tiger played just two games for the Suns.
In 2025, Townsend will play in the Essendon District Football League for St Albans, who welcomed the signing via social media.
St Albans is in Division 1 of the EDFL, and is currently 2-0 in 2025.
