Micah Richards

Micah Richards
Richards during Manchester City's Premier League victory parade in 2012
Personal information
Full name Micah Lincoln Richards[1]
Date of birth (1988-06-24) 24 June 1988[1]
Place of birth Birmingham, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 Aston Villa
Youth career
Leeds United[2]
2000–2001 Oldham Athletic
2001–2005 Manchester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2015 Manchester City 179 (6)
2014–2015 → Fiorentina (loan) 10 (0)
2015– Aston Villa 26 (1)
National team‡
2003–2004 England U16 2 (0)
2005–2006 England U19 3 (0)
2006–2011 England U21 15 (3)
2006–2012 England 13 (1)
2012 Great Britain 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:27, 30 May 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19:27, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

Micah Lincoln Richards (born 24 June 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Championship club Aston Villa.

He began his career at Manchester City, making 245 appearances across all competitions in ten seasons, winning a Premier League title and an FA Cup. After a season on loan at Fiorentina in Italy's Serie A, he joined Aston Villa.

On making his full England debut in November 2006, Richards became the youngest defender to be called up to the England squad. He won 13 caps for England between 2006 and 2012, and played in the Great Britain squad for the 2012 Olympic football tournament.

Club career

Early career

Richards was born in Birmingham, West Midlands,[1] and played for the Leeds United youth system as a striker, but he was released when he was around eight years old.[2] He also represented Leeds Schools FA (Leeds City Boys) at a young age. He later played for the Oldham Athletic youth system, moving to Manchester City as a 14-year-old,[3] with Oldham reputedly having a 20% sell on clause. In July 2001 Manchester City reportedly tried to buy out the clause, but Oldham refused.[4] He also attended the Brazilian Soccer Schools scheme and retains strong links with the programme, with his father Lincoln actually running a Brazilian Soccer School in Chapeltown, Leeds.[5]

Manchester City

He made his first-team debut on 22 October 2005 against Arsenal, coming on as a substitute for Danny Mills in the 85th minute of a 1–0 defeat at Highbury.[6] His first goal came on 19 February 2006, heading in a last-minute corner to earn a 1–1 draw away to Aston Villa in the fifth round of the FA Cup.[7]

In July 2006, Manchester City rejected a bid of £5 million for Richards from Tottenham Hotspur.[8] On 25 July 2006 he signed a new four-year contract, quashing rumours of a move away from the City of Manchester Stadium.[9] Throughout 2007, Richards was linked with a move away from City, Stuart Pearce said "I am not actively looking to sell Micah because he has a great future here. Whatever offers come in for him, it is going to take a ridiculously big offer to get him out of this football club. I would love to see Micah stay here, captain the club, and maybe be here for 10 years and carry the club on his back if he can. He is good enough to do it. I have not worked with anyone so good and so young."[10] Richards was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award at the end of the 2006–07 season.

He captained the team for the first time on 16 September 2007 against Aston Villa in the absence of teammate Richard Dunne, making Richards the youngest ever City first team captain, beating the 21-year-old Steve Redmond. In February 2008, he signed an improved contract to last until June 2013.[11] On 17 July 2008, Richards played his first full match back from injury in the 2–0 win against EB/Streymur in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.[12] Richards was nominated for a second time for the PFA Young Player of the Year award at the end of the 2007–08 season.

Richards playing for Manchester City in 2010

On 22 March 2009, he scored his first goal of the 2008–09 season with a header in a man of the match performance giving a 1–0 victory over Sunderland at the City of Manchester Stadium. On 11 July 2009, Eurosport reported he had been diagnosed with swine flu while on holiday in Cyprus.[13] He was kept in isolation after his trip to Ayia Napa.[14] Richards started for City as they beat Stoke City 1–0 at Wembley Stadium in the 2011 FA Cup Final.[15]

Manchester City won the Premier League in 2011–12, and Richards was nominated for the club's Player of the Year award.[16] Richards finished the season with five assists – the most of any defender in the Premier League.[17] City won the league again in 2013–14, but with Richards having lost his place in the team to Pablo Zabaleta he made only two league appearances and missed out on a Premier League winner's medal.[18]

On 1 September 2014, Richards signed for Fiorentina on a season-long loan. The loan fee was £3.5m rising to £4.7m should the transfer had made permanent at the end.[19] Seventeen days after signing, Richards made his Fiorentina debut in a UEFA Europa League match against Guingamp, coming on as a substitute for former City teammate Stefan Savić in a 3–0 win.[20] On 28 September, Richards made his first Serie A start for Fiorentina against Torino.[21] Richards chose not to remain at Fiorentina; he only made 10 appearances in the league and a further seven in European competitions as manager Vincenzo Montella switched to a 3–5–2 formation after Richards had arrived.[22]

On 10 June 2015, Richards was released by Manchester City.[23]

Aston Villa

On 17 June 2015, Richards signed for Aston Villa on a free transfer after agreeing a four-year contract.[24] He was named their on-field captain for the upcoming Premier League season on 5 August,[25] and on his debut three days later, Villa won 1–0 away to Bournemouth.[26] On 28 November, he scored his first goal for Villa, heading an equaliser in a 2–3 home loss to Watford.[27]

He made his first start of the 2016–17 Championship season in a 1–1 draw at home to Wolves in October 2016, which was also Steve Bruce's first match in charge of the club, but was sidelined with a knee injury until the new year.[28] He did not make a single appearance in 2017–18, with Bruce attributing that to consistent lack of fitness.[29] Despite speculation that Richards would leave Aston Villa before the transfer deadline for the 2018–19 season,[30] he remained at the club, although he is not being considered for first team selection.[31]

International career

England

In November 2006, Richards received a call-up to the England squad for a friendly against the Netherlands after playing only 28 professional club matches. He had previously won three caps for the England under-21 team, and was chosen to start the match on 15 November 2006 against the Netherlands after regular right back Gary Neville withdrew through injury. It made him England's youngest-ever defender, breaking the record previously held by Rio Ferdinand. He scored his first international goal in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier against Israel on 8 September 2007 at Wembley Stadium. Richards played regularly during Steve McClaren's time as England manager, making 11 appearances.[32] However, following McClaren's sacking in November 2007, Richards fell out of favour. In Fabio Capello's four years in charge of the England team, Richards played only once, as a substitute against France in November 2010.[33] Upon Capello's resignation in February 2012, Richards spoke of his frustration: "To be frozen out of your international side is hard to take sometimes. Everyone wants to play for their international team, especially when you're playing in a team that's doing so well. I didn't get a chance under Capello. I don't know why. I always asked the question, but I never got an answer."[33]

For most of his exile from the senior team, Richards was still young enough to be eligible for the under-21s, and played regularly. He was called up for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship held in Sweden, where he scored the winning goal against Finland as England went through the group stages undefeated.[34] England reached the final of the competition, but lost 4–0 to Germany.[35] Richards played in four of England's five matches, including the final. During qualifying for the 2011 tournament, Richards captained the team.[36] However, he had to withdraw from the squad for the finals due to injury.[37]

Following Capello's resignation in February 2012, Richards gained an immediate recall to the England team. Caretaker coach Stuart Pearce had coached Richards at both Manchester City and for the under-21s, and selected him to play against the Netherlands.[38] However, when new coach Roy Hodgson named his squad for UEFA Euro 2012, Richards was omitted. Hodgson explained his decision by saying "It was going to be one of Phil Jones or Micah Richards and I chose Jones."[39]

Great Britain Olympic football team

On 28 June 2012, Richards was confirmed as one of the three over-aged players selected by manager Stuart Pearce for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics, alongside Craig Bellamy and Ryan Giggs.[40]

Personal life

Micah Richards' father is a Rastafarian who emigrated to the UK from Saint Kitts in the 1960s.[41] His first cousin, Atiba Harris is also a professional footballer and long time captain of the Saint Kitts and Nevis national football team.[42]

Career statistics

Club

As of 10 August 2018
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester City 2005–06[43] Premier League 1303100——161
2006–07[44] Premier League 2815010——341
2007–08[45] Premier League 2502020——290
2008–09[46] Premier League 341100015[lower-alpha 1]0—501
2009–10[47] Premier League 2322040——292
2010–11[48] Premier League 18152008[lower-alpha 1]0—313
2011–12[49] Premier League 29110204[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]0371
2012–13[50] Premier League 7000001[lower-alpha 4]00080
2013–14[51] Premier League 2030203[lower-alpha 4]0—100
2014–15[52] Premier League 00———1[lower-alpha 3]010
Total 1796223110310202459
Fiorentina (loan) 2014–15[53] Serie A 10020—7[lower-alpha 1]0—190
Aston Villa 2015–16[54] Premier League 2413110——282
2016–17[55] Championship 200010——30
2017–18[56] Championship 000000——00
2018–19[57] Championship 000000——00
Total 2613120——312
Career total 21572741303802029511
  1. 1 2 3 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. ↑ One appearance in UEFA Champions League, three UEFA Europa League
  3. 1 2 Appearance in FA Community Shield
  4. 1 2 Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 29 February 2012[58]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
England 200610
2007101
201010
201210
Total131

International goals

As of match played 29 February 2012. England score listed first, score column indicates score after each Richards goal.[58]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 8 September 2007Wembley Stadium, London, England6 Israel3–03–0UEFA Euro 2008 qualification[59]

Honours

Manchester City

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 351. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  2. 1 2 Richards, Micah (12 March 2008). "Micah Richards column". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  3. ↑ Britten, Nick (5 February 2009). "Footballer Micah Richards arrested". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  4. ↑ "City keen to keep hold of Micah". Manchester Evening News. 18 July 2006. Archived from the original on 21 July 2006. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
  5. ↑ "Brazilian Soccer Schools – The boy from Brazil". ICFDS. 13 October 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  6. ↑ "Arsenal 1–0 Man City". BBC Sport. 22 October 2005. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  7. ↑ "Aston Villa 1 City 1". Manchester Evening News. 19 February 2006. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "Hammers in Richards race?". Clubcall.com. 23 July 2006. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2006.
  9. ↑ "Exclusive- Micah signs new deal". Manchester City F.C. 25 July 2006. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2006.
  10. ↑ "Transfer Speculation: Richards to Chelsea". Squarefootball. 26 July 2007. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
  11. ↑ "Richards makes long City commitment". UEFA. 8 February 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  12. ↑ "EB Streymur 0–2 Man City". BBC Sport. 17 July 2008.
  13. ↑ "Yahoo UK & Ireland – Sports News – Live Scores – Results". Yahoo Sports.
  14. ↑ Taylor, Daniel (10 July 2009). "Manchester City's Micah Richards is recovering from swine flu". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  15. 1 2 McNulty, Phil (14 May 2011). "Man City 1–0 Stoke". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  16. ↑ "MCFC Awards 2012 – Etihad Player of the Year". YouTube. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  17. ↑ Featured Columnist (8 March 2014). "Liverpool Transfers: Should Reds Go for Manchester City Defender Micah Richards?". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  18. ↑ Cross, Jeremy (12 May 2014). "Micah Richards ready to quit Manchester City as defender admits disappointment at missing out on Premier League medal". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  19. ↑ "Transfer deadline day: Man City's Micah Richards joins Fiorentina". BBC Sport. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  20. ↑ "Europa League: Micah Richards makes debut in Fiorentina win". BBC Sport. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  21. ↑ "Line-ups: Torino-Fiorentina – Football Italia". football-italia.net.
  22. ↑ "Micah Richards talks about his rollercoaster year on loan at Fiorentina: 'Italy has made me a better player but I'll be moving on'". Daily Mail. London.
  23. ↑ "Arsenal release midfielder Abou Diaby – after nine years and 40 injuries". The Daily Telegraph. London. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  24. ↑ "Micah Richards: Aston Villa sign Man City defender on free transfer". BBC Sport. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  25. ↑ "Micah Richards named as Aston Villa's new captain". Sky Sports. 5 August 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  26. ↑ Reddy, Luke (8 August 2015). "Bournemouth 0–1 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  27. ↑ Chapman, Caroline (28 November 2015). "Aston Villa 2–3 Watford". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  28. ↑ "Micah Richards: Aston Villa defender unlikely to play until New Year after rehab plan". Express & Star. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  29. ↑ Bates, Pearce (12 July 2018). "'He must work harder' - Aston Villa outcast Micah Richards in the words of his managers". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  30. ↑ Karell, Daniel (14 August 2018). "What's next for Micah Richards?". Yahoo/NBC Sports. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  31. ↑ Chapman, Joseph (11 September 2018). "The latest on Aston Villa's search for a defender as Gabby Agbonlahor hints at his dream move". Birmingham MAil. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  32. ↑ "Micah Richards 'hurt' by Fabio Capello's England snub". BBC. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  33. 1 2 Ogden, Mark (23 February 2012). "Micah Richards: Fabio Capello froze me out for his England favourites". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  34. ↑ Mike McGrath (15 June 2009). "Micah Richards gets 10-man England off to a winning start". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  35. ↑ Michael Harrold (29 June 2009). "Germany claim first Under-21 crown". UEFA. Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  36. ↑ "Daniel Sturridge impresses in England Under-21 stroll over Denmark". The Guardian. London. 24 March 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  37. ↑ "Micah Richards withdraws from Under-21s". The Independent. London. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  38. ↑ Owen Gibson (29 February 2012). "England v Holland: five things we learned about Stuart Pearce". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  39. ↑ "Sportsday Live". BBC. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  40. ↑ "David Beckham not selected for London 2012 football squad". BBC Sport. 28 June 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  41. ↑ Taylor, Daniel (17 October 2008). "Big interview: Young star too bright to be lost in Manchester City's growing world galaxy" – via www.theguardian.com.
  42. ↑ FIFA.com (15 April 2015). "Playing for blood in St. Kitts".
  43. ↑ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  44. ↑ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  45. ↑ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  46. ↑ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  47. ↑ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  48. ↑ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  49. ↑ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  50. ↑ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  51. ↑ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  52. ↑ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  53. ↑ "M. Richards: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  54. ↑ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  55. ↑ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  56. ↑ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  57. ↑ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  58. 1 2 "Richards, Micah". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  59. ↑ Sanghera, Mandeep (8 September 2007). "England 3–0 Israel". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  60. 1 2 "Micah Richards: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
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