Richard Garfield Flash (born 8 April 1976) 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 le ...

. He made eleven appearances in

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 ...

for

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

, Lincoln City and

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

, before retiring due to injury in 1999.

Early life

Flash was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. As a schoolboy he was scouted by

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

; Manchester United scout Geoff Watson persuaded him to sign schoolboy forms, and he went on to captain United's West Midland youth team, the Manchester Eagles, for three years, winning the Keele Classic at under-14 level. In 1990, he turned down the opportunity to move to the F.A's National School of Excellence at Lilleshall to train locally with Aston Villa and Birmingham City, in addition to Manchester United. However, an injury to his right knee at age 14 hampered his development.

Youth career

In 1992, he joined the ranks at Manchester United with

Michael Appleton Michael Antony Appleton (born 4 December 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of Blackpool. As a player, he operated as a midfielder, in a nine-year career that began in 1994 and e ...

Terry Cooke Terence John Cooke (born 5 August 1976) is an English former professional association football, footballer and youth team coach of the Denver Kickers. As a player he was a midfielder from 1994 to 2011. Born in Marston Green, he began his car ...

, David Johnson and

Jovan Kirovski Jovan Kirovski ( mk, Јован Кировски; born March 18, 1976) is an American former soccer player who is the Technical Director for the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer. Kirovski is the first American to win the UEFA Champions Le ...

. During his seven-year club career, he played at youth team and reserve level. However, another knee injury sustained early in his Manchester United career, this time a dislocated right patella, forced him onto the sidelines for two years.

Senior career

In 1995 Flash was signed by

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...

and moved to reserve team level at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. Graham Taylor re-signed him at

, where he made his senior debut as a substitute on 3 May 1997, but this was his only appearance for the club. After a brief spell on loan at Lincoln City he was injured again and sidelined for 6 months. Graham Taylor released him in 1998 but recommended him to

Kevin Hodges Kevin Hodges (born 12 June 1960) is an English retired football player and manager who played as a midfielder, and now works as assistant manager at Dorchester Town. He spent the majority of his playing career with Plymouth Argyle of the Footb ...

, where he suffered a career-ending dislocation of his left patella in the 1998–99 season.

Personal life

Flash has a master's degree and has been manager of a branch of Goals Soccer Centres, a

five-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. Matches are ...

company; he is head of the academic department at

UCFB UCFB (University Campus of Football Business) is a higher education institution offering undergraduate and postgraduate university degrees and executive education in the football business, sport and events industries. UCFB is a college of the Univ ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flash, Richard 1976 births Living people Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English footballers Association football midfielders English Football League players Aston Villa F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Watford F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players English people of Jamaican descent