Tom Oliver Richards (born 16 October 1994) is an English semi-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 plays as a

left midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. Richards spent his youth career at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and made his senior debut on loan at

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

in 2014. He also spent time on loan at

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area i ...

before a permanent move in 2015. Richards spent five months in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

with fourth division side FC Kitzbühel before joining Walton Casuals in 2017. He joined

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football. History Welling United Foot ...

in February 2017.

Club career

Fulham

Richards joined

after a successful six-week trial in 2011, having been spotted playing Sunday league football. Adapting from a midfield role to full-back in his first season with the club, he lifted the Under-18s national title in 2012 before retaining the title alongside the

Dallas Cup The ''Dallas Cup'', is an annual international Football (soccer), football tournament for invited youth teams. The tournament was established i1980and is held in Dallas, Dallas, Texas, with FC Dallas serving as its host club. Venues used for the t ...

in 2013. On 10 July 2013, Richards signed a one-year deal with an option to extend for a further season. He joined the Under-21 squad ahead of the 2013–14 season, and after sixteen appearances for the youth side was rewarded with a loan spell 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 ...

. On 28 February 2014, Richards joined

on loan for the remainder of the season. He made his professional debut in a 0–0 draw at

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

on 1 March. Richards made ten appearances for the

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 ...

club before his return to

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against M ...

in May. On 21 February 2015, he joined

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 ...

club

on loan for the remainder of the season. Richards made his debut in a 3–1 victory over

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

on 3 March. He made nine appearances for the club during his loan spell.

Aldershot Town

On 6 June 2015, Richards joined

on a permanent basis following his impressive loan spell. Signing a one-year deal at the club, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 victory against

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits in t ...

. With 27 appearances to his name during the 2015–16 campaign, Richards was released after the expiry of his contract and the arrival of new manager

Gary Waddock Gary Patrick Waddock ( ; born 17 March 1962) is a former professional footballer. He is assistant head coach of Cambridge United. A former midfielder, he spent most of his career playing for Queens Park Rangers and Luton Town. He also had stin ...

FC Kitzbühel

In July 2016, Richards joined FC Kitzbühel, an

n fourth-tier club. He scored two goals in 17 appearances prior to the winter break. In December 2016, he agreed to a contract termination allowing him to return to England.

Later career

On 26 January 2017, Richards joined Isthmian Division One South side Walton Casuals. On 28 January, he made his debut in a 3–2 victory against

Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separa ...

. He went on to make four appearances for the club before his departure. Richards played his final game in a 3–7 defeat to

East Grinstead Town East Grinstead Town Football Club is a association football, football club based in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England. They are currently members of the and play at East Court. History The club was established on 8 May 1890 as East Grinstea ...

on 11 February. On 17 February, Richards signed for

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

club

. He made his debut the following day in a 2–2 draw at

Weston Super Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon ...

. On 30 July 2017, Richards joined

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Premier Division side

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leath ...

after not being able to agree a deal with Welling. He transferred to

Dorking Wanderers Dorking Wanderers Football Club is a professional football club based in Dorking, Surrey, England. Affiliated to the Surrey County Football Association, they are currently members of and play at Meadowbank. History The club was formed in 1999 ...

in summer 2018 and later

Kingstonian Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club was founded in 1885 by YMC ...

in July 2020. He signed for

in summer 2021.

Personal life

Richards is a

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

supporter, but would often watch

as a child due to his father and youth coach. As a child, Richards was nicknamed 'Duffer' due to a similarity in appearance to

Damien Duff Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish professional football manager and former player who played predominantly as a winger. He has been the manager of League of Ireland club Shelbourne F.C. since November 2021. He began his prof ...

Career statistics

Honours

Dorking Wanderers *

Premier Division: 2018–19 Horsham *

Alan Turvey Trophy The Alan Turvey Trophy, formerly the Isthmian League Cup is a football knock-out cup competition organised by the Isthmian League in England. History Isthmian League Chairman and President Alan Turvey was among the FA's "150 Grassroots Heroes" ...

: 2021–22

References

External links

*
Walton Casuals FC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Tom 1994 births Living people Footballers from Guildford Fulham F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Aldershot Town F.C. players Walton Casuals F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Leatherhead F.C. players Dorking Wanderers F.C. players Kingstonian F.C. players Horsham F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Austria