Richard Neil Peter Tait (born 2 December 1989) is a Scottish former 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 played as a full-back. He played professionally for

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 ...

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

and St. Mirren. He has also played non-league football for

Curzon Ashton Curzon Ashton Football Club is an association football club based in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1963 and nicknamed "The Nash", the club is affiliated to the Manchester Football Association and currently compete ...

and Tamworth.

Playing career

Early years

Born in

Galashiels Galashiels (; sco, Gallae, gd, An Geal Àth) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive ...

, Tait began his career with

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

side

. In January 2008, Tait was signed on a youth contract by

. On 28 March 2009, Tait joined

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side Tamworth on loan. At the end of the 2008–09 Tait was released by Forest.

Tamworth

Tait was snapped up by

side Tamworth following the successful loan. He appeared regularly for the side, and helped Tamworth gain

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

from the

as champions in the 2008–09 season. He signed a new deal in February 2012.

Cambridge United

On 8 May 2013 Tait joined

. He appeared in 35 league matches during the season, helping the club return to

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

, being a part of the team that won promotion by winning the 2014 Conference Premier play-off final. On 8 August 2014 Tait played in Cambridge's first match back in League Two, starting in a 1–0 home win against

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, ...

. At the end of the 2014–15 season the club did not offer him a new deal when his contract expired.

Grimsby Town

On 30 June 2015, Tait signed for

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side

. Tait played in Grimsby's 3–1 victory over

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 ...

in the 2016 National League play-off final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, seeing Grimsby promoted to

after a six-year absence from

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 ...

Motherwell

On 23 June 2016, Tait signed for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

club

, agreeing a three-year contract. He scored his first goal for Motherwell on 29 October 2016, in a 4–1 win over Ross County. In his last season at Motherwell he helped the Steelmen finish third in the Scottish Premiership which got them into the Europa League qualifiers.

St. Mirren

On 18 June 2020, Tait signed for

club St. Mirren, on a two-year deal. Tait announced his retirement from professional football following the conclusion of the 2022–23 season.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Tamworth *

: 2008–09 ;Cambridge United *

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

play-offs:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

: 2013–14 ;Grimsby Town *

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 ...

play-offs:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

runner-up: 2015–16

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tait, Richard 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Galashiels Footballers from the Scottish Borders Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Curzon Ashton F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Grimsby Town F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players