Micah Richards

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Micah Richards
Micah Richards.jpg
Richards playing for Manchester City in November 2010
Personal information
Full name Micah Lincoln Richards[1]
Date of birth (1988-06-24) 24 June 1988 (age 24)[1]
Place of birth Birmingham, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2]
Playing position Right back / Centre back
Club information
Current club Manchester City
Number 2
Youth career
–1997 Leeds United[3]
2000–2001 Oldham Athletic
2001–2005 Manchester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2005– Manchester City 177 (7)
National team‡
2003–2004 England U16 2 (0)
2005–2006 England U19 3 (0)
2006–2010 England U21 14 (3)
2006– England 13 (1)
2012 Great Britain 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:45, 19 May 2013 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of July 2012 (UTC)

Micah Lincoln Richards (born 24 June 1988) is an English footballer who plays for Manchester City. A powerful right back, on making his full England debut in November 2006, he was the youngest defender ever to be called up to the England squad. Richards has won 13 caps for England and played in the Great Britain squad for the 2012 Olympic football tournament.

Contents

Club career [edit]

Early career [edit]

Though his parents lived in Leeds, Richards was born in Birmingham as his parents were visiting relatives in the area at the time.[4] Richards grew up in the Chapeltown district of Leeds, where he attended Archbishop Cranmer CofE Primary School and later Wetherby High School. He was an Arsenal supporter growing up.

Richards played for the Leeds United youth system as a striker, but he was released when he was around eight years old.[3] 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,[5] with Oldham reputedly having a 20% sell on clause. In July 2001 Manchester City reportedly tried to buy out the clause, but Oldham refused.[6] 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.[7]

Manchester City [edit]

First team breakthrough [edit]

He made his first team debut on 22 October 2005 against Arsenal, coming on as a substitute[8] and was given his full debut on 12 February 2006 against Charlton Athletic. Since making his first start he has played in the majority of Manchester City's matches, and was named as the club's Young Player of the Year for the 2005–06 season.[citation needed]

Richards came to national prominence when his 94th minute headed goal from a Joey Barton corner in a televised FA Cup fixture against Aston Villa at Villa Park subsequently gained City a replay.

During the 2005–06 season, Richards captained the Manchester City youth team which reached the final of the FA Youth Cup. Richards missed the first leg of the final as he was on first team duty, but returned for the second leg. He helped his side to a 2–0 win over Liverpool, but Liverpool youth won the trophy 3–2 on aggregate.

2006–07 season [edit]

In July 2006, Manchester City rejected a bid of £5 million for Richards from Tottenham Hotspur.[9] On 25 July 2006 he signed a new four-year contract, quashing rumours of a move away from the City of Manchester Stadium.[10] 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.".[11]

He was rewarded with the number 2 shirt for the 2006–07 season, a traditional first team number, rather than the number 45 he wore previously. Richards lost his temper with manager Stuart Pearce in front of Sky TV cameras after he was substituted during the Blues' 1–0 defeat at the Madejski Stadium against Reading on 11 September 2006. The teenage defender had to be calmed down by Paul Dickov after hurling his shirt out of the dug-out and following it up with a volley of abuse.[citation needed]

Richards' second City goal was also an injury time equalizer, this time in a 1–1 draw with Everton at Goodison Park on 30 September 2006. He started the 2007–08 season playing at centre-back.

2007–08 season [edit]

He put in a man of the match performance against Manchester United on 19 August 2007. This prompted extremely high praise not only from the English media, but more importantly from his boss, former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. He was named Premier League Player of the Month for August.

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.[citation needed] In February 2008, he signed an improved contract to last until June 2013.[12] At the end of February, he damaged cartilage in his right knee, putting him out for the rest of the season.

Richards during Manchester City's Premier League victory parade, May 2012.

2008–09 season [edit]

On 17 July 2008, Richards played his first full match back from injury in the 2–0[13] win against EB/Streymur in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. On 24 August 2008, he was knocked unconscious after a clash of heads with teammate Tal Ben Haim. The match was stopped for eight minutes while he received treatment on the pitch. He was later given the all clear after a scan and he left hospital on the same day as the incident. He returned for the second-round UEFA Qualifying clash against FC Midtjylland on 28 August 2008, playing in a new holding midfield role.

On 22 March 2009, Richards netted his first 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.[14] He was kept in isolation after his trip to Ayia Napa,[15] but has now made a full recovery.

2009–10 season [edit]

In the 2009–10 season, Micah Richards had two disallowed goals against Portsmouth and Fulham respectively. In Manchester City's 4–2 win over Arsenal, Micah Richards headed in a goal from a Craig Bellamy free-kick. The ball hit the post, then went in off Gunners goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and into the net. The goal was initially given as an own goal, however the goal was later given to Richards. He then found the net once again with Manchester City's 3–3 draw with Bolton Wanderers. In the 4–1 Victory over Blackburn Rovers at the City of Manchester Stadium, Richards stormed past five Rovers players before laying to striker Benjani, who hit the post, only for Richards to follow up and score.

2010–11 season [edit]

On 11 September 2010, he started at right-back in the Premier League against Blackburn Rovers at the City of Manchester Stadium and completed the full 90 minutes in a 1-1 draw. Richards made a star-studded performance in the FA Cup against Notts County, he set up their only goal in a 1-1 draw were he crossed the ball across the six-yard box for Edin Dzeko to blast it into the net.

On 20 February 2011, Richards scored an impressive volley in a 5-0 thrashing against Notts County, which carried city to the last 16 of the FA Cup. Also on 13 March 2011 he got Manchester City a place in the semi-finals of the FA cup, scoring a 74th minute header against Reading at the City of Manchester Stadium in the quarter-finals to bring the tight game to 1-0, which was also the final result. At the end of the 2010-11 season, Richards made a total of 31 appearances and scored three goals in all competitions for City, including playing in 18 Premier League games, scoring once.

2011–12 & Premier League title [edit]

On Saturday 27 August 2011, he signed a new four-year deal with Manchester City, tying him to the club until the summer of 2015. A day later, City beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 at White Hart Lane in a Premier League fixture, in which Richards played for thirty minutes after coming on as a substitute. Richards was given the Man Of The Match award in Manchester City's 6-1 drubbing of bitter rivals Manchehster United at Old Trafford. He also captained the team in Vincent Kompany's absence due to suspension. At the end of the 2011-12 season, Richards was celebrating a title victory over rivals Manchester United, despite being an unused substitute when City won 3-2 against Queens Park Rangers at the City of Manchester Stadium thanks to a stoppage time winner from Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero on the final day of the Premier League campaign. Richards ended the season with the joint most assists for any defender in the Premier League.

International career [edit]

England [edit]

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 game 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 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.[16] 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.[17] 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."[17]

2009 European Under-21 Championships [edit]

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 UEFA Under-21 Championship held in Sweden, where he scored the winning goal against Finland as England went through the group stages undefeated.[18] England reached the final of the competition, but lost 4–0 to Germany.[19] Richards played in four of England's five matches, including the final. During qualifying for the 2011 tournament, Richards captained the side.[20] However, he had to withdraw from the squad for the finals due to injury.[21]

After Capello [edit]

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.[22] However, when new coach Roy Hodgson named his squad for 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."[23] It has been further revealed that Richards refused the chance to be on the standby list for the tournament, which resulted in his exclusion from any other possible replacements for injured players.

Great Britain Olympic football team [edit]

On 28 June 2012, Richards was confirmed as one of the three over-aged players selected for Great Britain to compete at 2012 Summer Olympics alongside Craig Bellamy and Ryan Giggs by manager Stuart Pearce.[24] In his first match for Great Britain, a friendly against Brazil, he brought down Hulk in the box and gave away a penalty which Neymar converted.

International goals [edit]

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 8 September 2007 Wembley Stadium, London, England  Israel 2 – 0 3–0 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying

Club statistics [edit]

As of 19 May 2013.
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
Manchester City 2005–06 13 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 1 1
2006–07 28 1 0 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 34 0 0
2007–08 25 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 0 0
2008–09 34 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 47 1 1
2009–10 23 3 1 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 29 3 1
2010–11 18 1 1 5 2 1 0 0 0 8 0 0 31 3 2
2011–12 29 1 6 1 0 0 2 0 0 5 0 0 37 1 6
2012–13 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 8 0 0
Career total 177 7 11 19 3 1 7 0 0 29 0 0 232 10 12

Honours [edit]

Manchester City

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Mainstream Publishing. p. 351. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0. 
  2. ^ [1]. Manchester City F.C. Retrieved on 2009-02-21.
  3. ^ a b Richards, Micah (12 March 2008). "Micah Richards column". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2009-10-20. 
  4. ^ "Profile: Micah Richards". Manchester City v Middlesbrough match programme. 2 April 2006. , p29
  5. ^ Britten, Nick (5 February 2009). "Footballer Micah Richards arrested". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-10-20. [dead link]
  6. ^ "City keen to keep hold of Micah". Manchester Evening News. 18 July 2006. Archived from the original on 21 July 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-11. 
  7. ^ http://www.icfds.com/content2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=310
  8. ^ "Arsenal 1–0 Man City". BBC Sport. 22 October 2005. Retrieved 16 August 2009. 
  9. ^ "Hammers in Richards race?". Clubcall.com. 23 July 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-20. 
  10. ^ "Exclusive- Micah signs new deal". Manchester City F.C. 25 July 2006. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007. Retrieved 2006-11-16. 
  11. ^ "Transfer Speculation: Richards to Chelsea". Squarefootball. 26 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-26. 
  12. ^ "Richards makes long City commitment". UEFA. 8 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  13. ^ "EB Streymur 0-2 Man City". BBC News. 17 July 2008. 
  14. ^ http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/11072009/58/premier-league-stranded-richards-swine-flu.html Premier League – Stranded Richards has swine flu
  15. ^ Taylor, Daniel (10 July 2009). "Manchester City's Micah Richards is recovering from swine flu". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2009. 
  16. ^ "Micah Richards 'hurt' by Fabio Capello's England snub". BBC. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-16. 
  17. ^ a b Mark Ogden (23 February 2012). "Micah Richards: Fabio Capello froze me out for his England favourites". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-05-16. 
  18. ^ Mike McGrath (15 June 2009). "Micah Richards gets 10-man England off to a winning start". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-05-16. 
  19. ^ Michael Harrold (29 June 2009). "Germany claim first Under-21 crown". UEFA. Retrieved 2012-05-16. 
  20. ^ "Daniel Sturridge impresses in England Under-21 stroll over Denmark". The Guardian. 24 March 2011. Retrieved 2012-05-16. 
  21. ^ "Micah Richards withdraws from Under-21s". Independent. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 2012-05-16. 
  22. ^ Owen Gibson (29 February 2012). "England v Holland: five things we learned about Stuart Pearce". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-05-16. 
  23. ^ "Sportsday Live". BBC. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-16. 
  24. ^ "David Beckham not selected for London 2012 football squad". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 28 June 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012. 

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Micah Richards
England squad – 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship
England
Great Britain men's football squad – 2012 Summer Olympics
United Kingdom
Manchester City F.C. – current squad
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Micah_Richards&oldid=555894052"