Jon Richardson (born 29 August 1975) is a 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 ...

who plays for

Chasetown Chasetown is a village in the town of Burntwood in Staffordshire, England. It is split between the civil parishes of Burntwood and Hammerwich. History Chasetown developed in the mid 19th century as a coal mining village. At first the village wa ...

. A central defender, he was originally a trainee at

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

, making his debut in 1994. He impressed straight away, and went on to make almost 250 league appearances for the Grecians over the next six years, many of which were as club captain. In 2000, after a disappointing season, City manager Noel Blake decided to clear out much of the squad, Richardson was one of the players to go. He got a decent move, though, joining then

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

side

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

for £5,000. He was a first-team regular in his first season at Oxford, but despite personally putting in reasonable performances, Oxford were relegated, adrift at the bottom of the league with only 27 points. The following season, new manager Mark Wright attempted to rebuild the squad, and in doing so brought in a couple of centre-backs ( Phil Bolland and Scott Guyett) from his former club,

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

. This limited Rico's appearances and he found himself on the bench for most games. Even when

Ian Atkins Ian Leslie Atkins (born 16 January 1957) is an English football manager, scout, and former player. Atkins amassed over 300 appearances for Shrewsbury Town, the club where he began his career. He also made appearances in the Football League for ...

replaced Wright after only six-months, he could not find a place in the team, and was released the following summer. At this point he joined

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

, where he remained until May 2006 making well over 100 appearances and having a spell as captain. He was released on a free transfer before linking up with the Grecians once again. He was largely used as a backup during his time at Exeter, which ended after he turned down a new one-year contract offered to him in 2008 and decided to concentrate on his physiotherapy degree. He later signed for Conference South side

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

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