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Micah Richards
Richards during Manchester City's Premier League victory parade in May 2012
Personal information
Full name Micah Lincoln Richards[1]
Date of birth (1988-06-24) 24 June 1988 (age 36)[1]
Place of birth Birmingham, England
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Right back / Centre back
Team information
Current team
 Aston Villa
Number 4
Youth career
Leeds United[3]
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 21 (1)
International career‡
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)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:33, 17 February 2016 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:48, 30 June 2015 (UTC)

Micah Lincoln Richards (born 24 June 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender and captain for English club Aston Villa. He also plays for the England national team.

He began his career at Manchester City, making 245 appearances across all competitions in ten seasons. His honours at the club included a Premier League title, an FA Cup and the League Cup.

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

Club career

Early career

Richards was born in Birmingham, West Midlands to Barbadian parents,[4] and 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

Richards playing for Manchester City in November 2010

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.[8] His first goal came on 19 February 2006, heading in a last-minute corner to earn a 1–1 draw at Aston Villa in the fifth round of the FA Cup.[9]

In July 2006, Manchester City rejected a bid of £5 million for Richards from Tottenham Hotspur.[10] On 25 July 2006 he signed a new four-year contract, quashing rumours of a move away from the City of Manchester Stadium.[11] 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."[12] 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.[citation needed] In February 2008, he signed an improved contract to last until June 2013.[13] 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.[14] Richards was nominated for a second time for the PFA Young Player of the Year Award at the end of the 2007–08 season.

On 22 March 2009, he netted 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.[15] He was kept in isolation after his trip to Ayia Napa.[16]

Manchester City won the Premier League in 2011–12, and Richards was nominated for the club's internal player of the year award.[17] Richards finished the season with five assists – the most of any defender in the Premier League.[18] City won the league again in 2013–14, but with Richards having lost his place in the side to Pablo Zabaleta he made only two league appearances and missed out on a Premier League winner's medal.[19] On 10 June 2015, Richards was released by Manchester City.[20]

ACF Fiorentina

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 be made permanent at the end of the loan.[21] Seventeen days after signing, Richards made his Fiorentina debut in a Europa League match against Guingamp, coming on as a substitute for former City teammate Stefan Savić in a 3–0 win.[22] On 28 September, Richards made his first Serie A start for Fiorentina against Torino.[23] 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.[24]

Aston Villa

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

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 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.[29] 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.[30] 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."[30]

2009 European Under-21 Championships

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.[31] England reached the final of the competition, but lost 4–0 to Germany.[32] Richards played in four of England's five matches, including the final. During qualifying for the 2011 tournament, Richards captained the side.[33] However, he had to withdraw from the squad for the finals due to injury.[34]

After Capello

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.[35] 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."[36]

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.[37]

Career statistics

Club

As of matches played 9 January 2015.
Club statistics
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Manchester City 2005–06[38] FA Premier League 13 0 3 1 0 0 — — 16 1
2006–07[39] FA Premier League 28 1 5 0 1 0 — — 34 1
2007–08[40] Premier League 25 0 2 0 2 0 — — 29 0
2008–09[41] Premier League 34 1 1 0 0 0 15[a] 0 — 50 1
2009–10[42] Premier League 23 2 2 0 4 0 — — 29 2
2010–11[43] Premier League 18 1 5 2 0 0 8[a] 0 — 31 3
2011–12[44] Premier League 29 1 1 0 2 0 4[b] 0 1[c] 0 37 1
2012–13[45] Premier League 7 0 0 0 0 0 1[d] 0 0 0 8 0
2013–14[46] Premier League 2 0 3 0 2 0 3[d] 0 — 10 0
2014–15[47] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1[c] 0 1 0
Total 179 6 22 3 11 0 31 0 2 0 245 9
Fiorentina (loan) 2014–15[47] Serie A 10 0 — 2 0 7[a] 0 — 19 0
Aston Villa 2015–16 Premier League 19 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 — 23 2
Career total 208 7 25 4 14 0 38 0 2 0 285 11
  1. ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ One appearance in UEFA Champions League, three UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ a b Appearance in FA Community Shield
  4. ^ a b Appearance in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 9 February 2012.[48]
International statistics
National team Year Apps Goals
England 2006 1 0
2007 10 1
2010 1 0
2012 1 0
Total 13 1

References

  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 20 October 2009.
  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. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ "Brazilian Soccer Schools - The boy from Brazil". ICFDS. 13 October 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  8. ^ "Arsenal 1–0 Man City". BBC Sport. 22 October 2005. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  9. ^ "Aston Villa 1 City 1". Manchester Evening News. 19 February 2006. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  10. ^ "Hammers in Richards race?". Clubcall.com. 23 July 2006. Retrieved 20 August 2006.
  11. ^ "Exclusive- Micah signs new deal". Manchester City F.C. 25 July 2006. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2006.
  12. ^ "Transfer Speculation: Richards to Chelsea". Squarefootball. 26 July 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
  13. ^ "Richards makes long City commitment". UEFA. 8 February 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  14. ^ "EB Streymur 0–2 Man City". BBC News. 17 July 2008.
  15. ^ Premier League – Stranded Richards has swine flu
  16. ^ Taylor, Daniel (10 July 2009). "Manchester City's Micah Richards is recovering from swine flu". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "MCFC Awards 2012 – Etihad Player of the Year". YouTube. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  18. ^ Featured Columnist (8 March 2014). "Liverpool Transfers: Should Reds Go for Manchester City Defender Micah Richards?". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  19. ^ Cross, Jeremy (12 May 2014). "Micah Richards ready to quit Manchester City as defender admits disappointment at missing out on Premier League medal". Mail Online. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  20. ^ "Arsenal release midfielder Abou Diaby - after nine years and 40 injuries". The Telegraph. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  21. ^ "Transfer deadline day: Man City's Micah Richards joins Fiorentina". BBC Sport. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  22. ^ "Europa League: Micah Richards makes debut in Fiorentina win". BBC Sport. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  23. ^ "Line-ups: Torino-Fiorentina - Football Italia". football-italia.net.
  24. ^ "Micah Richards talks about his rollercoaster year on loan at Fiorentina: 'Italy has made me a better player but I'll be moving on'". Mail Online.
  25. ^ "Micah Richards: Aston Villa sign Man City defender on free transfer". BBC Sport. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  26. ^ "Micah Richards named as Aston Villa's new captain". Sky Sports. 5 August 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  27. ^ Reddy, Luke (8 August 2015). "Bournemouth 0-1 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  28. ^ Chapman, Caroline (28 November 2015). "Aston Villa 2-3 Watford". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  29. ^ "Micah Richards 'hurt' by Fabio Capello's England snub". BBC. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  30. ^ a b Mark Ogden (23 February 2012). "Micah Richards: Fabio Capello froze me out for his England favourites". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  31. ^ Mike McGrath (15 June 2009). "Micah Richards gets 10-man England off to a winning start". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  32. ^ Michael Harrold (29 June 2009). "Germany claim first Under-21 crown". UEFA. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  33. ^ "Daniel Sturridge impresses in England Under-21 stroll over Denmark". The Guardian. 24 March 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  34. ^ "Micah Richards withdraws from Under-21s". Independent. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  35. ^ Owen Gibson (29 February 2012). "England v Holland: five things we learned about Stuart Pearce". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  36. ^ "Sportsday Live". BBC. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  37. ^ "David Beckham not selected for London 2012 football squad". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 28 June 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  38. ^ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  39. ^ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  40. ^ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  41. ^ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  42. ^ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  43. ^ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  44. ^ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  45. ^ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  46. ^ "Games played by Micah Richards in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  47. ^ a b "Games played by Micah Richards in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  48. ^ Richards.html "Micah Richards". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 19 April 2014. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Micah Richards.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Aston Villa captain
2015–present 		Incumbent
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