Eliot Allen Richards (born 10 September 1991) 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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Cymru Premier club Pontypridd United.

Club career

Bristol Rovers

A product of the Rovers youth system, Richards joined the professional ranks at the club in the summer of 2009. He was the first of the group to break into the first team when he made his debut on 20 February 2010, when he came on as a 73rd-minute substitute for

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

in a

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

match against Gillingham. He scored his first goal of the 2011–12 season against Leyton Orient at Portman Road on 13 August 2011, which Rovers lost 3–2. On 4 December 2011, he scored 2 goals in Rovers 6–1

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

rout against Totton. On 14 April, Richards scored his first hat-trick against Burton Albion in a match Bristol Rovers won 7–1. On 29 September 2012, Elliot Richards scored his first goal of the season in a away match at local rivals Exeter City, the goal proved to be the match winner for Bristol Rovers in a 2–1 Victory. He received his first red card for Bristol Rovers in a 2–1 defeat away against at

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. On 6 May 2014, after Bristol Rovers were relegated to the Football Conference, he, along with 12 other players at Bristol Rovers were released from the club.

Exeter City (loan)

On 7 February 2014, Richards joined Exeter City on loan for the remainder of the 2013–14 season with

Alan Gow Alan Gow (born 9 October 1982) is a Scottish former footballer. As a player he played as either a striker or an attacking midfielder. Gow started his senior career with his hometown club Clydebank, and continued with Airdrie United after th ...

joining Bristol Rovers on loan in the opposite direction.

Tranmere Rovers

On 28 May 2014, Richards became new Tranmere Rovers manager Rob Edwards first signing, signing a two-year deal with the club. Richards scored his first Tranmere goal on 23 August against

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

. Richards left Tranmere on 2 February 2015 by mutual consent.

Cheltenham Town

Richards signed an 18-month deal with

on 2 February 2015. He rejoined Rob Edwards, who after being sacked by Tranmere had recently been appointed as Cheltenham assistant manager. On 28 March 2015, it was announced that Richards had been diagnosed with

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle, or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an u ...

. On 4 September he has been given the all-clear in his battle with cancer and aimed to return to the pitch at Christmas. In January 2016, Eliot joined

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side Bath City on loan for a month. Richards was released by Cheltenham Town in March 2016.

Tampa Bay Rowdies

On 4 April 2016, Richards signed with the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

through the end of NASL spring season, with an option for the remainder of the 2016 season and the 2017 full season, linking up with former Bristol Rovers team-mate and Rowdies head coach Stuart Campbell. However, Richards did not play any games in the US before returning to the UK.

Non-league

Richards joined Weston-super-Mare in August 2016 after obtaining international clearance. Two months later he joined

Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...

club

Merthyr Town Merthyr Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Tref Merthyr) is a Welsh semi-professional association football, football club based in Merthyr Tydfil, currently playing in the , in the seventh tier of the English football league system. The ...

on loan until 31 December, before signing permanently in January. After ten goals in 52 appearances for the Martyrs, Richards joined league rivals

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

in November 2017, winning promotion at the end of the season. Richards left the Bulls in August 2019 after deciding to join a new club permanently rather than play temporarily elsewhere to earn a new deal. He then re-joined Merthyr for the 2019-20 season. In July 2020, Richards agreed to remain with Merthyr for the 2020-21 season, however on 10 September 2020, Richards moved up two divisions to join

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

side

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

. In November, Richards sustained multiple injuries in Barnet's

win over Burton Albion, including tears of his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

and

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) The meniscus (plural: ''menisci'', from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface ...

. He was released at the end of the season. After 13 months out injured Richards re-joined Merthyr in December 2021.

International career

Richards was called up to the Wales national under-19 football team in April 2010, for their squad to face Northern Ireland on 5 May. Richards was called up to the Wales Under 21 squad for the first time in August 2012 for their match against Armenia.

Career statistics

References

External links

* (appearances between 2009 and summer 2011) * (appearances from the start of the 2011–12 season onward) {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Eliot 1991 births Living people People from New Tredegar Sportspeople from Caerphilly County Borough Welsh men's footballers Wales men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards Bristol Rovers F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Tampa Bay Rowdies players Weston-super-Mare A.F.C. players Merthyr Town F.C. players Hereford F.C. players Barnet F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players Cymru Premier players Welsh expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Welsh expatriate men's footballers