Micah Richards

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Micah Richards : biography

24 June 1988 –

Richards played for the Leeds United youth system as a striker, but he was released when he was around eight years old. He also represented Leeds Schools FA (Leeds City Boys) at a young age. He later played for the Oldham Athletic youth system, moving to Manchester City as a 14-year-old, with Oldham reputedly having a 20% sell on clause. In July 2001 Manchester City reportedly tried to buy out the clause, but Oldham refused. He also attended the Brazilian Soccer Schools scheme and retains strong links with the programme, with his father Lincoln actually running a Brazilian Soccer School in Chapeltown, Leeds.http://www.icfds.com/content2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=310

Manchester City

First team breakthrough

He made his first team debut on 22 October 2005 against Arsenal, coming on as a substitute and was given his full debut on 12 February 2006 against Charlton Athletic. Since making his first start he has played in the majority of Manchester City’s matches, and was named as the club’s Young Player of the Year for the 2005–06 season.

Richards came to national prominence when his 94th minute headed goal from a Joey Barton corner in a televised FA Cup fixture against Aston Villa at Villa Park subsequently gained City a replay.

During the 2005–06 season, Richards captained the Manchester City youth team which reached the final of the FA Youth Cup. Richards missed the first leg of the final as he was on first team duty, but returned for the second leg. He helped his side to a 2–0 win over Liverpool, but Liverpool youth won the trophy 3–2 on aggregate.

2006–07 season

In July 2006, Manchester City rejected a bid of £5 million for Richards from Tottenham Hotspur. On 25 July 2006 he signed a new four-year contract, quashing rumours of a move away from the City of Manchester Stadium.{&rmasiteinstanceguid=&pagegid=&newsid=349401| publisher = Manchester City F.C.| date = 25 July 2006| accessdate = 2006-11-16 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070313062319/http://www.mcfc.co.uk/default.sps?syndicatorguid=%7b7EB24EFC-E397-48B3-977A-BC40E4795300%7d&rmasiteinstanceguid=%7b5B147D34-2BCF-448D-976C-AE1944ED09F5%7d&pagegid=%7bDBD12D53-8346-431D-A04F-5D0F8664DE80%7d&newsid=349401 |archivedate = 13 March 2007}} Throughout 2007, Richards was linked with a move away from City, Stuart Pearce said "I am not actively looking to sell Micah because he has a great future here. Whatever offers come in for him, it is going to take a ridiculously big offer to get him out of this football club. I would love to see Micah stay here, captain the club, and maybe be here for 10 years and carry the club on his back if he can. He is good enough to do it. I have not worked with anyone so good and so young.".

He was rewarded with the number 2 shirt for the 2006–07 season, a traditional first team number, rather than the number 45 he wore previously. Richards lost his temper with manager Stuart Pearce in front of Sky TV cameras after he was substituted during the Blues’ 1–0 defeat at the Madejski Stadium against Reading on 11 September 2006. The teenage defender had to be calmed down by Paul Dickov after hurling his shirt out of the dug-out and following it up with a volley of abuse.

Richards’ second City goal was also an injury time equalizer, this time in a 1–1 draw with Everton at Goodison Park on 30 September 2006. He started the 2007–08 season playing at centre-back.

2007–08 season

He put in a man of the match performance against Manchester United on 19 August 2007. This prompted extremely high praise not only from the English media, but more importantly from his boss, former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. He was named Premier League Player of the Month for August.

He captained the team for the first time on 16 September 2007 against Aston Villa in the absence of teammate Richard Dunne, making Richards the youngest ever City first team captain, beating the 21-year-old Steve Redmond. In February 2008, he signed an improved contract to last until June 2013. At the end of February, he damaged cartilage in his right knee, putting him out for the rest of the season.