| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kevin Richardson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1962-12-04)4 December 1962 (age 62)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Newcastle upon Tyne, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[3] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Montagu and North Fenham BC | |||
| 1978–1980 | Everton | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1980–1986 | Everton | 109 | (16) |
| 1986–1987 | Watford | 39 | (2) |
| 1987–1990 | Arsenal | 96 | (5) |
| 1990–1991 | Real Sociedad | 37 | (0) |
| 1991–1995 | Aston Villa | 141 | (13) |
| 1995–1997 | Coventry City | 78 | (0) |
| 1997–1998 | Southampton | 28 | (0) |
| 1998–2000 | Barnsley | 30 | (0) |
| 2000 | →Blackpool (loan) | 11 | (1) |
| 2000 | Blackpool | 9 | (0) |
| Total | 578 | (40) | |
| International career | |||
| 1994 | England | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Kevin Richardson (born 4 December 1962) is an English formerfootballer who made more than 500 appearances inthe Football League andPremier League, playing forEverton,Watford,Arsenal,Aston Villa,Coventry City,Southampton,Barnsley andBlackpool, and also spent a season inLa Liga withReal Sociedad. He wascapped once forEngland.[4][5]
Since retiring, Richardson has worked on the coaching staff ofSunderland,Stockport County,Darlington and Newcastle United in a variety of roles.
Richardson was born inNewcastle upon Tyne[4] where he played football for Montagu and North Fenham Boys club.[6] He joinedEverton as a schoolboy in 1978 and turned professional in 1980. A versatilemidfielder, the young Richardson often had to be content with deputising for the likes ofPaul Bracewell,Peter Reid andKevin Sheedy. However, he still carved out a semi-regular place, and played in the Everton teams that lost the1984 League Cup final toLiverpool after a replay[7] and won theFA Cup in 1984. He picked up aFirst Division title medal and aCup Winners' Cup medal in May 1985. However, he did not make the squad for the FA Cup final, which Everton lost 1–0 toManchester United.
In1985–86, he made 18 First Division appearances for the Toffees and scored three goals as they finished runners-up toLiverpool in the league. A week after the title slipped out of Everton's grasp, they lost the FA Cup final 3–1 to Liverpool, but Richardson was not in the squad.
He made 113 appearances in all for the Toffees, scoring 16 goals.[8]
After making one appearance for Everton early in the1986–87 season, he was sold toWatford for £225,000, helping the Hornets finish ninth in the First Division and reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup.[9]
After one season atVicarage Road, Richardson was sold toArsenal for £200,000.[10] Richardson succeededGraham Rix on the Arsenal left wing, and played in the1988 League Cup final as Arsenal lost toLuton Town,[7] before moving over to play as a central midfielder for Arsenal's1988–89 title-winning season to replacePaul Davis.[11][12] Most notably, Richardson played inArsenal's dramatic victory atAnfield where they won the title in the last minute of the last game of the season. Now a Championship winner at two different clubs, Richardson continued to be a regular the following season at Arsenal; however, he never totally got on with Gunners managerGeorge Graham[13] and he was transferred toReal Sociedad for £750,000 in the summer of 1990, where he was paired up with new signingDalian Atkinson and former Liverpool strikerJohn Aldridge.[14] He had made a total of 121 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal, and scored eight goals.[15]
Richardson spent one season inBasque Country before returning to England in the summer of 1991, signing forRon Atkinson'sAston Villa for £450,000, and was an ever-present in his first two seasons at the club.[16] Richardson became Villa's captain, and led the club to runners-up spot in theinaugural season of thePremier League and victory overManchester United in the1994 League Cup final,[7] in which he won the Man of the Match award.[17] In May 1994, when at the height of his success with Villa, he also won his one and only cap forEngland, in a 5–0 friendly victory overGreece on 17 May 1994.[1]
Atkinson was sacked as Villa manager in November 1994, with the club struggling near the foot of the Premier League, and his successorBrian Little signed midfielderIan Taylor the following month. Atkinson was appointed manager ofCoventry City three months later, and swiftly made Richardson one of his first signings in a £300,000 deal.
Richardson spent the next two and a half years at the Sky Blues repeatedly fending off relegation under both Atkinson and his successor,Gordon Strachan.[18] He left Coventry in September 1997, having scored once in the League Cup againstHull City,[19] and had spells atSouthampton,Barnsley[20] and finallyBlackpool.[4] Richardson retired from playing in 2000, his career finishing on a low after Blackpool were relegated toDivision Three in his final game.
After retirement, Richardson took up coaching. He became youth team manager atSunderland, and thenCarlton Palmer's assistant atStockport County in 2001. He returned to Sunderland as reserve team coach in 2004[21] and became first team coach following the club's takeover by a consortium headed byNiall Quinn.[22] Incoming managerRoy Keane initially retained Richardson in this capacity before replacing him with formerManchester United coachNeil Bailey.[21] Richardson then went toNewcastle United's Academy as a team coach. In October 2009 he was appointed as assistant manager toSteve Staunton atDarlington.[23] He was reappointed as a youth team coach at Newcastle, where he coaches the club's under-17 outfit.[24][25]
Everton
Arsenal
Aston Villa
