The family of Richmond champion Jack Dyer has vowed to fight the club's decision to remove his 1932 best and fairest from its honour board.

A two-year investigation into historical best and fairests by Tigers premiership player and former Victoria Police assistant commissioner Emmett Dunne found several of the honours weren't awarded at the time.

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That includes what has long been thought to be Dyer's first of six wins, a collection that led to the award being named the Jack Dyer Medal.

Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale says club officials retrospectively and erroneously awarded a number of best and fairests in the 1980s.

Dunne, the club's vice president, tells 7NEWS that the awards didn't become popular across all clubs until the 1930s and 1940s.

"What we were able to find is some years, we just could not identify that the club actually awarded a best and fairest for those particular years," he says.

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"A summation was made that prior, when the records were changed, that players were assumed to have won the best and fairest but clearly we couldn't find that."

Researching the club's records and local and state media reports before working closely with families of past players, Dunne confirmed the findings to the club's board.

"I don't think we had any choice but to respect that. The integrity of our history and our historical records is critical," Gale says.

"It's been a hard process but it's been a very robust process and one we stand by."

Jack Dyer became known as 'Captain Blood'. Credit: Getty

The change has pushed Dyer back to five best and fairests, level with 403-game hero Kevin Bartlett.

Gale said the club had "gone to great pains to ensure (the families) are treated with great respect" but the development has left the Dyers frustrated and "hurt terribly" at the slight.

"For what my dad's put into the Richmond football club, for this to come up after all these years – very, very disappointed, the Dyer family are," Jack Dyer Jr says.

"I've spoken to my sister, she's very disappointed, and all my nephews and nieces. They can't believe it."

Chevron Right Icon 'We just could not identify that the club actually awarded a best and fairest for those particular years'

Dyer Jr says his father, a two-time premiership player and captain-coach of the 1943 flag, deserved the benefit of the doubt for all he did for the club across the decades.

He points to the 1932 Hoyts Theatre award – "the big award Richmond were getting in those years" – as evidence that Dyer's season deserved the best and fairest accolade.

Dunne and Gale do not dispute Dyer's impact on the season or on the club as a whole.

"We all hear the stories about Jack being a pretty robust player but he must've been very talented," Dunne says.

Kevin Bartlett became Richmond's new hero in the 1970s. Credit: Getty

"He had a knee injury, it's his second year in the VFL. He had hurt his knee about halfway through the season and he missed out on the '32 premiership.

"But he finished the equal highest Richmond player in the Brownlow that year. He must've been a wonderful player."

Dunne admits making the final call was "tough because it's so personal" and, while the club will accept his findings into its records, he would welcome any new evidence.

"Our door's always open. If the family members come forward with some records, we'll gladly receive them and revisit where we are," he says.

Kevin Bartlett speaks at the funeral of his great mate Jack Dyer in August 2003. Credit: Getty

"They'll always be in Richmond's history as being great players, fantastic players and their contribution to the club is always there and we recognise that. This is in an administrative process, really."

Dyer Jr promised the family will continue to seek proof. He believes there is no doubt Dyer holds the club record for best and fairests.

"It hurts the family terribly. One thing a lot of people don't know, during the war years Dad was in the police force," Dyer Jr says.

"Him and (Richmond Hall of Fame inductee) Dicky Harris stood in front of the board and did not want to take any votes in the best and fairest at Richmond during the war years. He could've won more if he had've taken votes in the best and fairest during the war."

This iconic photograph of Jack Dyer became the basis for a statue of the legend at Punt Road Oval. Credit: Supplied

While the Tigers' records will be adjusted Gale confirmed there are no plans to rename the award the Dyer-Bartlett Medal – something welcomed by an old friend.

"It doesn't diminish Jack Dyer's contribution to the Richmond football club because Jack is the most iconic figure, so I'm pretty proud to be alongside Jack," Bartlett says.

"I think we just leave (the medal) as the Jack Dyer, he is the man. Jack Dyer is Richmond."