David Matthew Richards (born 31 December 1993) is a Welsh 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 lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for club

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

Club career

Cardiff City

Richards started his career with

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

spending time out on loan to

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

in 2012 and with Chippenham Town in 2013. In October 2013, Richards joined

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

on a loan deal which was made permanent in January 2014.

Bristol City

Richards spent the majority of his career at City on the bench. During this time Bristol City won League One and Richards received a winners medal as an unused substitute as City beat

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

to win the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

Crewe Alexandra

In July 2015, after his release from Bristol City, Richards signed for

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

. Richard spent two years acting as understudy for Ben Garratt before making his senior debut in English football in September 2017 as Crewe lost 1–0 at

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

. In April 2017, Richards signed an extended Crewe Alexandra contract until at least 2019, with a year option. That year option was automatically exercised by Crewe at the end of the 2018–19 season. On 13 August 2019, Richards saved a vital penalty at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

as Crewe beat the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side 4–2 on penalties after a 2–2 draw, earning the Cheshire side an

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

second round home tie against

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. He also saved a penalty in his first league start of the season, at

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

on 7 September 2019, helping Crewe to a 2–0 win. Richards was offered a new contract in June 2020, and agreed a two-year deal. He signed a new deal in May 2022, but missed Crewe's opening games of the following season due to a finger injury and resulting operation, being replaced by

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 ...

loanee keeper Arthur Okonkwo as Crewe won their first two games. Okonkwo made 26 appearances and kept ten clean sheets for Crewe before he was recalled by Arsenal in mid-January, with Richards making his first league appearance of the season in a 1–1 draw at

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

on 14 January 2023. He played in a further eight league games, but was replaced for spells by on-loan

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

keeper James Beadle and then, for the final four games of the season, by Crewe Academy graduate Tom Booth. Richards was made available for transfer by Crewe at the end of the season.

St Johnstone (loan)

On 11 August 2023, Richards joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club St Johnstone on a season-long loan, but made no first-team appearances.

Dundee United

On 7 June 2024, Richards joined Scottish Premiership club

on a two-year deal. He was promoted to first choice for the last two games of the season, as United secured 4th place in dramatic scenes at the new firm derby at Tannadice.

Career statistics

Honours

Bristol City *

: 2014–15

References

External links

Dave Richards profile on the Crewe Alexandra F.C. website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Dave 1993 births Living people Welsh men's footballers 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Men's association football goalkeepers Cardiff City F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players St Johnstone F.C. players Sportspeople from Abergavenny Footballers from Monmouthshire Dundee United F.C. players