David Matthew Richards (born 31 December 1993) is a Welsh professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

club

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

, on loan from club Crewe Alexandra.

Early life

Richards was born in

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wi ...

in Wales. Richards is a self-professed Leeds United fan, following the club as he has family in the Leeds area.

Club career

Cardiff City

Richards started his career with

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

spending time out on loan to

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

in 2012 and with

Chippenham Town Chippenham Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club club based in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England. They are currently members of and play their games at Hardenhuish Park. History The club states it was established in 1873,

in 2013. In October 2013, Richards joined

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

on a loan deal which was made permanent in January 2014.

Bristol City

Richards spent the majority of his career at City on the bench. During this time Bristol City won League One and Richards received a winners medal as an unused substitute as City beat

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

to win the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

Crewe Alexandra

In July 2015, after his release from Bristol City, Richards signed for Crewe Alexandra. Richard spent two years acting as understudy for

Ben Garratt Benjamin Jack Garratt (born 25 April 1994) is an English professional football goalkeeper who is currently a free agent. He began his career at Crewe Alexandra, making his senior debut in April 2013, shortly after finishing a loan spell at S ...

before making his senior debut in English football in September 2017 as Crewe lost 1–0 at

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

. In April 2017, Richards signed an extended Crewe Alexandra contract until at least 2019, with a year option. That year option was automatically exercised by Crewe at the end of the 2018–19 season. On 13 August 2019, Richards saved a vital penalty at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

as Crewe beat the Championship side 4–2 on penalties after a 2–2 draw, earning the Cheshire side an

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

second round home tie against

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 ...

side

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. He also saved a penalty in his first league start of the season, at Grimsby Town on 7 September 2019, helping Crewe to a 2–0 win. Richards was offered a new contract in June 2020, and agreed a two-year deal. He signed a new deal in May 2022, but missed Crewe's opening games of the following season due to a finger injury and resulting operation, being replaced by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

loanee keeper

Arthur Okonkwo Arthur Chukwuezugo Okonkwo (born 9 September 2001) is an English professional football player who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL League Two club Wrexham, on loan from Premier League club Arsenal. Early life Born in London, Okonkwo began his care ...

as Crewe won their first two games. Okonkwo made 26 appearances and kept ten clean sheets for Crewe before he was recalled by Arsenal in mid-January, with Richards making his first league appearance of the season in a 1–1 draw at

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

on 14 January 2023. He played in a further eight league games, but was replaced for spells by on-loan

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

keeper James Beadle and then, for the final four games of the season, by Crewe Academy graduate Tom Booth. Richards was made available for transfer by Crewe at the end of the season.

St Johnstone (loan)

On 11 August 2023, Richards joined

club

on a season-long loan.

Career statistics

Honours

;Bristol City *

(1):

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

References

External links

Dave Richards profile on the Crewe Alexandra F.C. website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Dave 1993 births Living people Welsh men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Cardiff City F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players St Johnstone F.C. players