Sir David Gerald Richards (born 3 October 1943) was the chairman of the
FA Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
, member of
the Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
's (FA) Board, chairman of the FA's international committee, president of the
European Professional Football Leagues
European Leagues (EL) is a sports organization within association football created for growth of professional football in Europe.
Its members are the professional football leagues organisations of 29 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark ...
organisation, chairman of
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
's Professional Football Committee, and former chairman of
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
Richards was a director of companies involved in engineering, telecommunications and water and waste treatment, several of which entered administrative receivership or were dissolved.
He became a director of
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
in October 1989 and chairman five months later,
[ following the departure of the long serving Bert McGee.
Richards was made chairman of the Premier League in 1999, and left Sheffield Wednesday shortly afterwards, with the club facing relegation from the Premiership. He succeeded Lord Pendry as chairman of the Football Foundation in March 2003, and left the post in October 2008. In March 2009, Richards was made Deputy Chairman of the England 2018 FIFA World Cup bid, a position he resigned that November.
In the ]2006 Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours 2006 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 17 June 2006, to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2006.Antigua & Barbuda list:
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and ...
, Richards was knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
for services to sport.[UK list: ]
Controversies
2012 Qatar comments
At a conference in Qatar in March 2012, Richards accused FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
and UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
of stealing football from the English.[ Richards said that "England gave the world football. Then, fifty years later, some guy came along and said, you're liars, and they actually stole it. It was called FIFA... Fifty years later, another gang came along called UEFA and stole a bit more." Richards later claimed his comments were "light hearted" and said he would write to UEFA and FIFA.]
Richards also dismissed suggestions were that the game of football could have originated in China, stating that "It started in Sheffield 150 years ago...The Chinese may say they own it, but the British own it, and we gave it to the rest of the world."[
Richards also said FIFA allowed the FA to waste money on their 2018 World Cup bid when, he said, they had little chance of winning it, saying that "Why couldn't FIFA have said, we want to take it to the Gulf...We spent £19m on that bid...When we went for it everybody believed we had a chance. But as we went through it a pattern emerged that suggested maybe we didn't."][ Richards also warned fans may boycott the ]2022 FIFA World Cup
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...
in Qatar unless alcohol is made freely available.
The Football Association and the Premier League distanced themselves from Richards remarks, stressing that he was attending the conference in a personal capacity.
2012 Hillsborough Independent Panel Enquiry
It emerged from the Hillsborough Independent Panel enquiry in September 2012 that Richards, who was the Chairman of Sheffield Wednesday from March 1990 to February 2000, had refused to put up a memorial at Hillsborough, on legal advice, for the 96 Liverpool supporters that died on 15 April 1989, in the disaster in Hillsborough. (David Conn at ''The Guardian'')
References
*David Conn (19 September 2012) ''Hillsborough families call for Sheffield Wednesday manslaughter inquiry''. ''The Guardian''. Guardian News and Media Limited.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Dave
1943 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Sheffield
The Football Association
English football chairmen and investors
Sheffield Wednesday F.C. directors and chairmen
Knights Bachelor
Association football people awarded knighthoods