Eliot Richards
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Eliot Allen Richards[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 10 September 1991 | ||
| Place of birth | New Tredegar, Wales | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Tampa Bay Rowdies | ||
| Number | 27 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2009–2014 | Bristol Rovers | 112 | (27) |
| 2014 | → Exeter City (loan) | 17 | (5) |
| 2014–2015 | Tranmere Rovers | 13 | (1) |
| 2015–2016 | Cheltenham Town | 9 | (1) |
| 2016 | → Bath City (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| 2016– | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 0 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 2010 | Wales U19 | 1 | (0) |
| 2012 | Wales U21 | 1 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 April 2016. | |||
Eliot Allen Richards (born 10 September 1991) is a Welsh professional footballer who currently plays as a forward for the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer League.
Club career
Bristol Rovers
A product of the Rovers youth system, Richards joined the professional ranks at the club in the summer of 2009.[2]
He was the first of the group to break into the first team when he made his debut on 20 February 2010, when he came on as a 73rd-minute substitute for Andy Williams in a Football League One match against Gillingham.[3]
He scored his first goal of the 2011–12 season against Leyton Orient at Portman Road on 13 August 2011, which Rovers lost 3–2. On 4 December 2011, he scored 2 goals in Rovers 6–1 FA Cup rout against Totton. On 14 April, Richards scored his first hat-trick against Burton Albion in a match Bristol Rovers won 7–1.
On 29 September 2012, Elliot Richards scored his first goal of the season in a away match at local rivals Exeter City, the goal proved to be the match winner for Bristol Rovers in a 2–1 Victory.[4]
He received his first red card for Bristol Rovers in a 2–1 defeat away against at Rochdale.[5]
On 6 May 2014, after Bristol Rovers were relegated to the Football Conference, he, along with 12 other players at Bristol Rovers were released from the club.
Exeter City (loan)
On 7 February 2014, Richards joined Exeter City on loan for the remainder of the 2013–14 season.[6]
Tranmere Rovers
On 28 May 2014, Richards became new Tranmere Rovers manager Rob Edwards first signing, signing a two-year deal with the club. Richards scored his first Tranmere goal on 23 August against Cheltenham Town. Richards left Tranmere on 2 February 2015 by mutual consent.[7]
Cheltenham Town
Richards signed an 18-month deal with Cheltenham Town on 2 February 2015. He rejoined Rob Edwards, who after being sacked by Tranmere had recently been appointed as Cheltenham assistant manager.[8]
On 28 March 2015, it was announced that Richards had been diagnosed with testicular cancer.[9] On 4 September he has been given the all-clear in his battle with cancer and aimed to return to the pitch at Christmas.[10]
In January 2016, Eliot joined National League South side Bath City on loan for a month.
Richards was released by Cheltenham Town in March 2016.
Tampa Bay Rowdies
On 4 April 2016, Richards signed with the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer League through the end of NASL spring season, with an option for the remainder of the 2016 season and the 2017 full season. [11] During Richards' time with Bristol Rovers, he played with Rowdies head coach Stuart Campbell. Campbell expects Richards to see minutes for both the Rowdies NASL first team as well as its National Premier Soccer League side, Rowdies 2.
International career
Richards was called up to the Wales national under-19 football team in April 2010, for their squad to face Northern Ireland on 5 May.[12]
Richards was called up to the Wales Under 21 squad for the first time in August 2012 for their match against Armenia.
Career statistics
- As of match played 3 May 2015
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Bristol Rovers | 2009–10[13] | League One | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| 2010–11[14] | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 17 | 1 | |||
| 2011–12[15] | League Two | 32 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 37 | 10 | |
| 2012–13[16] | 40 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 42 | 6 | |||
| 2013–14[17] | 22 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 28 | 5 | |||
| Total | 112 | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 129 | 22 | ||
| Exeter City (loan) | 2013–14[17] | League Two | 17 | 5 | — | — | — | 17 | 5 | |||
| Tranmere Rovers | 2014–15[18] | League Two | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 16 | 1 |
| Cheltenham Town | 2014–15[18] | League Two | 9 | 1 | — | — | — | 9 | 1 | |||
| 2015–16[19] | National League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Career total | 151 | 23 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 171 | 29 | ||
- 1 2 3 4 Appearances in Football League Trophy
References
- ↑ "The Football League Limited: Club list of registered players as at 16th May 2015" (PDF). The Football League. 16 May 2015. p. 70. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
- ↑ "Squad numbers announced". Bristol Rovers Football Club. 10 July 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
- ↑ "Gillingham v Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 20 February 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
- ↑ "Exeter 1–2 Bristol Rovers" BBC Sport. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
- ↑ "Rochdale 2–1 Bristol Rovers" BBC Sport. 17 November 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ↑ "Gow and Richards in loan swap". Exeter City FC. 7 February 2014.
- ↑ "Football - Hume in, Richards out at Rovers". Yahoo! Sport. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
- ↑ Young, James (5 February 2015). "Cheltenham Town: Eliot Richards aims to help the youngsters along in relegation scrap". Western Daily Press. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
- ↑ "Eliot Richards: Cheltenham Town player has testicular cancer". BBC Sport. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ↑ "Eliot Richards: Cheltenham Town forward returns after cancer". BBC Sport. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ↑ "Tampa Bay Rowdies Add Forward Eliot Richards". Tampa Bay Rowdies. 4 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ "News – Wales Under 19 Squad v N.Ireland". The Football Association of Wales. 23 April 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ↑ "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
- ↑ "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
- ↑ "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
- ↑ "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
- 1 2 "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
- 1 2 "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- ↑ "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
External links
- Elliot Richard (sic) career statistics at Soccerbase (appearances between 2009 and summer 2011)
- Eliot Richards career statistics at Soccerbase (appearances from the start of the 2011–12 season onward)
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