Paul Richardson (born 25 October 1949) is an English former

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 played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for Blackpool, Chester,

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, Swansea City,

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

and Stoke City.

Career

Richardson was born in Selston and began his career with

where he quickly established himself as a ball playing midfielder. He became a regular member Forest's squad until

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engl ...

took over as manager in January 1975. With Clough wanting to bring in his own players Richardson was sold to Third Division Chester having made 249 appearances scoring 21 goals for Forest. He spent just one season at Chester, helping them reach the

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 ...

fifth round for the first time, before

George Eastham George Edward Eastham, OBE (born 23 September 1936) is an English former footballer. He is known for playing for Newcastle United, Arsenal and Stoke City, as well as a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad. However, he is also nota ...

signed him for Stoke City in the summer of 1977. He became a key player for Stoke in the

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 ...

playing 34 times in 1977–78. Under new manager

Alan Durban William Alan Durban (born 7 July 1941) is a Welsh former international footballer and manager, whose career was at its peak between the 1970s and 1990s. He played in the Football League for Cardiff City, Derby County and was player-manager of ...

Richardson played 46 games in 1978–79 scoring seven goals including the goal which clinched promotion. Stoke needed to beat

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

on the final day of the season to confirm promotion but with 88 minutes gone the score was still 0–0, until Richardson headed Stoke to a 1–0 victory and a dramatic promotion. He played 40 matches in 1979–80 and 22 in 1980–81 before leaving for

in August 1981. He helped the Blades win the Fourth Division title in 1981–82. He later enjoyed short spells at Blackpool,

and Swansea City. He later worked for the

BT Group BT Group plc ( trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, bro ...

and also managed non-league side Fairford Town.

Career statistics

Source:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Paul 1949 births Living people English footballers Stoke City F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Gloucester City A.F.C. players Gloucester City A.F.C. managers Nottingham Forest F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players English Football League players People from Selston Footballers from Nottinghamshire English football managers Fairford Town F.C. managers Swindon Town F.C. non-playing staff Association football midfielders