Kieran Richardson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the English actor, see Kieron Richardson
| Kieran Richardson | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kieran Edward Richardson | |
| Date of birth | October 21, 1984 | |
| Place of birth | London, England  |
|
| Height | 5 ft 9 in / 1.75 m | |
| Nickname | KR23, Richie, The K Man, Keers | |
| Playing position | Left Winger | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Manchester United | |
| Number | 23 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| West Ham United Manchester United |
||
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2001- 2005 |
Manchester United → West Bromwich Albion (loan) |
35 (1) 12 (3) |
| National team2 | ||
| England U21 England |
8 (0) 4 (2) |
|
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Kieran Richardson (born 21 October 1984 in Greenwich, London) is an English football player with Manchester United.
He is a left-sided midfield player who is also comfortable in the middle. He was schooled at the private and non-selective Riverston Independent Day School in Lee, London.
Richardson first began playing football at Parkwood Primary School and his talent was very apparent at this young age, he was made captain of his school team and was invited along with another young player to train with Arsenal F.C.
His father would then move to West Ham United F.C. where he would begin training professionally and later move to Manchester United.
He made his first appearance for Manchester United on 23 October 2002 against Olympiakos and scored his first goal on 5 November 2002 against Leicester City F.C. in the League Cup, although he had yet to make his Premiership debut for the club.
He was loaned to West Bromwich Albion F.C. on 29 January 2005. Richardson made a great impact at the Midlands club, scoring three goals and playing a major role in their improbable escape from relegation.
He was a late call-up for England's 2005 trip to the United States, and scored twice against the hosts on his England debut, including one direct from a free-kick. Prior to this, he had gained 4 Under-21 caps for England.
For season 2005-06 Richardson declined a further loan spell at West Brom in an attempt to win a regular place at Old Trafford. He has been in initial first team squads and has also appeared further for England.
Richardson also returned to the Under-21 squad for his fifth and sixth caps, coming in both legs of the England U-21s' crucial European Championships qualification playoff against France, which they lost 3-2 on aggregate. The decisive goal came in the 85th minute of the second leg, when Richardson brought down Chelsea F.C.'s Lassana Diarra in the box and the resulting penalty was converted.
Richardson has not staked a convincing claim for a regular place in United's starting XI. He occasionally filled in on the left of defence during the 2005-06 season, in place of the then-injured Gabriel Heinze, or as a midfielder when the team were short on numbers in that department. During the 2006-07 season, Richarson's chances to prove his mettle mainly came in the League Cup. However, Richardson felt Sir Alex Ferguson's wrath as the youngster shouldered some of the blame for United's below-par performance against Crewe Alexandra. Ferguson publicly declared that Richardson and others would benefit from spending some time in United's reserve team. However, despite not playing much first team football, England manager Steve McClaren has chosen to pick the midfielder in his squad on a regular basis.
On Saturday the 7th of April he was selected to start in an important league match against Portsmouth away at Fratton Park. As this was his tenth league appearance he became eligible for a Premier League winners medal should Manchester United prove successful in their quest to win the title in the 06/07 season. Unfortunately Richardson was withdrawn at half-time with United trailing 1-0, his performance being especially lacklustre. He was heavily targeted by the United boo-boys and it is unlikely that he will be considered a likely successor to Ryan Giggs.
[edit] External links
| Manchester United F.C. - Current Squad |
|---|
|
1 van der Sar | 2 Neville | 3 Evra | 4 Heinze | 5 Ferdinand | 6 Brown | 7 Ronaldo | 8 Rooney | 9 Saha | 11 Giggs | 13 Park | 14 Smith | 15 Vidić | 16 Carrick | 18 Scholes | 20 Solskjær | 21 Dong | 22 O'Shea | 23 Richardson | 24 Fletcher | 27 Silvestre | 29 Kuszczak | 32 Cathcart | 33 Eagles | 38 Heaton | Manager: Ferguson |
Categories: 1984 births | England international footballers | England under-21 international footballers | English footballers | FA Premier League players | Football (soccer) wingers | Living people | Manchester United F.C. players | People of Irish descent in Great Britain | West Bromwich Albion F.C. players | West Ham United F.C. players
