Matthew Lee Richards (born 26 December 1984) is an English 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Career

Ipswich Town

Matt is a graduate of the

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

academy, and made his debut in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

against

Avenir Beggen Football Club Avenir Beggen is a football club, based in Beggen, a quarter of Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. The club were founded in 1915 as FC Daring Beggen but changed their name to FC Avenir Beggen a year later. In 1940, they we ...

aged just 17. He received his only England under-21 cap for appearing in the

England U21 The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is the national under-21 association football team of England, under the control of the Football Association. It is considered to be the feeder team ...

victory over Ukraine U21 in August 2004. He played a prominent role in

Joe Royle Joseph Royle (born 8 April 1949) is an English football manager and former footballer. In his playing career as a striker, he debuted for Everton at the age of 16 and went on to play for Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the E ...

's Play-off semi-finalist making teams in 2003/04 and 2004/05. When Club Captain

Jim Magilton James Magilton (born 6 May 1969) is a Northern Irish former professional football player and current manager of NIFL Premiership side Cliftonville. As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Southampton, Shef ...

was made manager in 2006–07, Richards found himself out of favour. Originally regarded as a left-back, he is now much more comfortable as a midfielder, either playing on the left or in the centre.

Brighton & Hove Albion (loans)

On 18 September 2007, Richards joined League One side

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

on a provisional one-month loan deal, although the Seagulls had allegedly been tracking the player all through the summer of 2007. Richards' loan deal at Brighton was extended by a further two months, running up until 18 December 2007. He played 14 League games in total during his three-month loan at the

Withdean Withdean is a former village, now part of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. Overview The area was originally named in the 12th century, when it was called Wictedene. The area was historically farm land but has been developed, mainly in the 1920 ...

and ex-Brighton manager Dean Wilkins expressed his interest on loaning the player until the end of the 2007/08 season. On 17 January 2008, it was revealed that Richards had agreed to join Brighton on loan for the remainder of the 2007–08 season. Richards once again rejoined Brighton on loan until the end of December 2008 on 21 July 2008. He scored his first goal for Brighton in a 4-0

Football League 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 ...

win over

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

on 12 August 2008. In the following round he scored the winning penalty as Brighton knocked out

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

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in a shootout.

Return to Ipswich

Richards made his Ipswich return in 2009 under new manager

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, former coach, and former professional player. He is best known for his career in the Premier League, in particular his captaincy of Manchester United. He is the joint most ...

starting against

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

in a 3–0 win at

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a association football, football stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovatio ...

. This would turn out to be his last game for the club as he was released on 14 May 2009.

Walsall

Richards had a trial spell with

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

scoring in a friendly against Ilkeston Town, however following a successful trial at League One side

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 ...

, Richards penned a two-year contract with ''the Saddlers''. Richards stated his desire to sign on at Walsall on Twitter, however, this was not possible.

Shrewsbury Town

Richards impressed during a trial period with Shrewsbury Town and underwent a medical at the Greenhous Meadow on 27 July 2011, with the deal expected to be completed in the following days. He signed a two-year deal with the Shropshire outfit on 28 July 2011, and scored his first goal in Shrewsbury colours on 8 October in a 3–2 home win over

. The season finished with Shrewsbury earning promotion to League One with Richards playing in excess of 30 games and earning players, and fans player of the year awards. Richards was released by Shrewsbury at the end of the 2012–13 season and joined Cheltenham Town on 5 July 2013.

Cheltenham Town

Richard joined League Two side

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

on 5 July 2013. He scored his first goal for Cheltenham in a 3–1 defeat to

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

on 17 August 2013.

Dagenham & Redbridge

In August 2015, he signed for League Two side

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

on a one-year deal after impressing whilst on trial during pre-season. In May 2016 as his contract expired, he was released along with eleven players as Dagenham were relegated to the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

Later years

In November 2017, after a year out of the game, Richards joined Bath City of the

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

. On 23 March 2019, he joined

Banbury United Banbury United Football Club is a football club based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Spencer Stadium. History The club was established in 1931 as Spencer Sports Club, a works team of the Sp ...

in the

Southern Football League Premier Division The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and ...

. He left the club in late May, at the end of the season.

Career statistics

Honours

Shrewsbury Town *

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

: 2011–12 Individual *

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

Player of the Year: 2011–12 *Shrewsbury Town Players' Player of the Year: 2011–12

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Matt 1984 births Living people Footballers from Harlow English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Ipswich Town F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Banbury United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players People with alopecia universalis 21st-century English sportsmen