Francis Haden Richards (9 July 1869 – 30 August 1944) was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager and administrator. He served as secretary-manager of Birmingham,

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

and

Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as Bo ...

. Richards' son Sam also became secretary of the Birmingham club, and joined their

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

during the Second World War.

Life and career

Richards was born in 1869 in

Amblecote Amblecote is an urban village and one of the most affluent areas in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. It lies immediately north of the historic town of Stourbridge, extending about one and a half miles from it, an ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, the son of Charles Richards, a wharfman who became a coal agent, and his wife, Emma ''née'' Haden. By 1891, the family had moved to Handsworth, in what is now Birmingham, and Richards was working as a commercial traveller. They had a lodger:

George Ramsay George Burrell Ramsay (4 March 1855 – 7 October 1935) was a Scottish footballer and manager. Ramsay was the secretary and manager of Aston Villa Football Club during the club's 'Golden Age'. As a player he was the first Aston Villa captain ...

, manager of

Aston Villa F.C. Aston Villa Football Club is a professional Association football, 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 ho ...

Richards married Lilian Ann Baynes in 1893. The 1901 Census finds the couple and two sons living in Grove Lane, Handsworth; Richards was working as a commission agent selling jewellery, pianos and furniture. Richards joined the St Andrew's office staff in 1907. The

1911 Census The United Kingdom Census 1911 of 2 April 1911 was the 12th nationwide census conducted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The total population of the United Kingdom was approximately 45,221,000, with 36,070,000 recorded in England ...

records him as assistant secretary, living in Fourth Avenue, Small Heath; his 15-year-old son Sam was also on the office staff. Richards was appointed club secretary later that year, and took over responsibility for team affairs in 1915 when the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

was suspended because of the First World War. He oversaw the signing of a number of players who went on to give excellent service to Birmingham, including record goalscorer

Joe Bradford Joseph Bradford (22 January 1901 – 6 September 1980) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre forward. Born in Peggs Green, near Coalville, Leicestershire, Bradford made nearly 450 appearances for Birmingham in all comp ...

, playmaker

Johnny Crosbie John Crosbie (9 October 1895 – 1 February 1982) was a Scottish professional association football, footballer who played as an inside forward in the Scottish Football League for Ayr United F.C., Ayr United and made more than 400 appearances in ...

, future manager

George Liddell George Liddell (14 July 1895 – after 1962) was an English professional association football player and manager. Life and career Liddell was born in Murton, County Durham, the youngest of five siblings. Upon marrying Charlotte Anderson he chan ...

and England international goalkeeper

Dan Tremelling Richard Daniel Tremelling (12 November 1897 – 15 August 1970) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made nearly 450 appearances in the Football League for Birmingham and Bury, including more than 300 in the Fir ...

; those four between them made over 1,500 Football League appearances for the club. In 1920–21 he led Birmingham to the championship of the Second Division. They failed to enter the

1921–22 FA Cup The 1921–22 FA Cup was the 47th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). Huddersfield Town won the competition, beating Preston North End 1–0 in ...

after Richards forgot to send in the forms in time to be exempt from qualifying, and the Football Association proved impervious to appeals for clemency; although that did not preclude their entering the competition in the qualifying rounds, the directors chose not to. In 1923, after two years in the top flight, Richards handed over responsibility for playing matters to former player

Billy Beer Billy Beer is a brand of beer first made in the United States in July 1977, by the Falls City Brewing Company. It was promoted by Billy Carter, whose older brother Jimmy was then the President of the United States. In October 1978, Falls City an ...

, remaining as club secretary for a further two years. In May 1925, Richards became secretary-manager of

. He hired former Birmingham and England centre-forward

Harry Hampton Harry Hampton VC (14 December 1870 – 2 November 1922) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Details Hampton was bo ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, and was responsible for bringing Alex James to the club. He held the post for two seasons, and from June 1928 he spent a further two years as secretary-manager of

. Richards died in Birmingham in August 1944 at the age of 75.

References

Sources

* *

External links

* 1869 births 1944 deaths Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley English football managers Birmingham City F.C. managers Preston North End F.C. managers AFC Bournemouth managers {{England-footy-manager-stub