Player Profile

A vastly experienced striker who joined Town in January 2018 after leaving Northampton Town, Richards mobility and ability to hold up the ball were exemplary for a man who was already 35 and had played more than 500 professional games in an eighteen-year professional career. Brought in to compete with Luke Norris and Paul Mullin as Town’s focal point, he soon established himself as a key player in Town’s push for the playoffs.

Richards made his first appearance as a 63rd minute substitute at Coventry, and made his full debut a week later, scoring a brace in a 4-3 win over Crewe. That sparked an incredible goalscoring run for Richards, who scored nine goals in his first two months in red and white, including another pair away at Cambridge United. Off the back of that form, he was named the EFL League Two Player of the Month for February. Both Town and Richards’ form tailed off after David Flitcroft jumped ship to Mansfield, scoring only twice in his final nine games as Town missed out on the playoffs.

Richards’ second season in Town colours was much more disappointing. He suffered a shoulder injury which kept him out of much of pre-season, a lack of fitness which showed as he completed 90 minutes in only four of the thirty games he was involved in - compared to 15 of 20 the season before. Whilst he scored on his first appearance - in the third league game against Tranmere, he would only score three more times that season and didn’t start a game after a proposed mid-January move to Port Vale fell through.

Richards made his last appearance for Town as a substitute in Town’s traditional defeat away at Cheltenham in the penultimate game of the season, and was released that summer. He continued his career with Colin Calderwood’s Cambridge.

Playing Record

Senior

Career details

Club	Details
Hednesford Town Hednesford	(youth)
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn	(trainee) July 12th, 1999 (signed professional contract); released (2002/3)
Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra	August 10th, 2001 (loan); expired (rptd August 11th, 2001)
Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic	October 12th, 2001 (loan); expired (rptd November 12th, 2001)
Halifax Town Halifax Town	February 12th, 2002 (loan); expired (rptd April 21st, 2002)
Swansea City Swansea City	November 22nd, 2002 (loan); expired (2002/3)
Northampton Town Northampton Town	July 7th, 2003 (announced June 17th, 2003) (unattached)
Rochdale Rochdale	March 24th, 2005 (loan); expired (2004/5)
Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers	July 2005 (trial)
Barnsley Barnsley	August 31st, 2005 (unattached); released (rptd May 10th, 2007)
Port Vale Port Vale	August 8th, 2007 (announced May 11th, 2007) (unattached); released (2011/2)
Chesterfield Chesterfield	July 1st, 2012 (announced May 24th, 2012) (unattached); released (2013/4)
Northampton Town Northampton Town	July 1st, 2014 (announced May 14th, 2014) (unattached); released (rptd January 15th, 2018)
Swindon Town Swindon	January 15th, 2018 (unattached); released (rptd May 8th, 2019)
Northampton Town Northampton Town	rptd June 7th, 2018 (appointed youth coach) rptd September 15th, 2020 (assistant development phase coach) rptd May 15th, 2021 (coach)
Cambridge United Cambridge United	August 5th, 2019 (unattached)
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town	rptd January 16th, 2020 ; released (2019/0)
St. Ives Town St. Ives	rptd August 22nd, 2020