Omar Richards
{{short description|English footballer (born 1998)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Omar Richards
| image =
| caption =
| full_name = Omar Tyrell Crawford Richards{{cite news|url=http://www.efl.com/news/article/2016/efl-club-retained-and-released-lists-published-3151313.aspx|publisher=English Football League|access-date=6 August 2017|date=23 June 2016|title=EFL: Club retained and released lists published}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1998|2|15|df=y}}
| birth_place = Lewisham, England
| height = {{convert|1.74|m|order=flip}}{{cite web|title=Omar Richards |url=https://www.nottinghamforest.co.uk/players/omarrichards/|publisher=Nottingham Forest F.C.|access-date=2 August 2022}}
| position = Left-back, wing-back
| currentclub = Rio Ave
(on loan from Nottingham Forest)
| clubnumber = 98
| youthyears1 = 2008–2013
| youthclubs1 = Fulham
| youthyears2 = 2013–2017
| youthclubs2 = Reading
| years1 = 2017–2021
| clubs1 = Reading
| caps1 = 92
| goals1 = 2
| years2 = 2021–2022
| clubs2 = Bayern Munich
| caps2 = 12
| goals2 = 0
| years3 = 2022–
| clubs3 = Nottingham Forest
| caps3 = 0
| goals3 = 0
| years4 = 2023–2024
| clubs4 = → Olympiacos (loan)
| caps4 = 10
| goals4 = 0
| years5 = 2024–
| clubs5 = → Rio Ave (loan)
| caps5 = 14
| goals5 = 0
| nationalyears1 = 2019
| nationalteam1 = England U21
| nationalcaps1 = 1
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| club-update = 14:15, 11 January 2025 (UTC)
}}
Omar Tyrell Crawford Richards (born 15 February 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left back or a wing back for Primeira Liga side Rio Ave on loan from {{English football updater|NottingF}} club Nottingham Forest.
Club career
=Reading=
Richards played for local teams before he joined Fulham at age 10.{{cite web |url=https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2019/february/the-long-read--omar-richards-on-family-football-and-growing-up-on-the-pitch/ |title=The Long Read: Omar Richards on family and 'growing up' on the pitch |website=readingfc.co.uk |date=6 February 2019 }} Following his release from Fulham Under-16, he first played at Kinetic Academy, and then he signed his first professional contract with Reading under academy manager Eamonn Dolan in July 2016.{{cite web|title=Omar Richards|url=https://www.readingfc.co.uk/teams/first-team/defender/omar-richards/|website=readingfc.co.uk|publisher=Reading F.C.|access-date=6 August 2017}}{{cite web|title=15 youngsters sign new pro deals with Reading|url=http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/15-youngsters-sign-new-pro-deals-with-reading-3164112.aspx|website=readingfc.co.uk|publisher=Reading F.C.|access-date=1 July 2016|date=1 July 2016}}{{Cite web |last=White |first=Matt |date=2023-08-18 |title=Kinetic graduate Omar Richards opens up on a tough 12 months - {{!}} Kinetic Foundation |url=https://www.kinetic-foundation.org.uk/kinetic-graduate-omar-richards-opens-up-on-a-tough-12-months/ |access-date=2023-08-25 |language=en-US}} Reading's academy coach, David Dodds, converted him from a left-sided forward into a left-back.{{cite web |url=https://www.dw.com/en/who-is-bayern-munichs-new-english-target-omar-richards/a-56211382 |title=Who is Bayern Munich's new English target Omar Richards? |website=DW |date=13 January 2021 }}
Richards made his debut for Reading under coach Jaap Stam on the opening day of the 2017–18 season, coming on as a 59th minute substitute for Jón Daði Böðvarsson following Tiago Ilori's red card.{{cite web|title=Opening day defeat for ten-man Royals|url=https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2017/august/report-qpr-vs-reading/|website=readingfc.co.uk|publisher=Reading F.C.|access-date=6 August 2017|date=5 August 2017}} On 30 November 2017, Reading announced that Richards had signed a new deal with club until 2021.{{cite web|title=Omar Richards signs until 2021|url=https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2017/november/omar-richards-signs-until-2021/|website=readingfc.co.uk|publisher=Reading F.C.|access-date=30 November 2017|date=30 November 2017}} He scored his first professional goal in a 1–1 draw with Nottingham Forest on 20 February 2018.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43039999|title=Nottingham Forest 1-1 Reading |publisher=BBC Sport|date=20 February 2018|access-date=21 February 2018}}
=Bayern Munich=
On 27 May 2021, Bayern Munich announced the signing of Richards to a four-year contract as a free agent once his Reading contract expired in June 2021.{{cite web |title=Omar Richards signs until 2025 |url=https://fcbayern.com/en/news/2021/05/omar-richards-signs-for-fc-bayern |publisher=FC Bayern Munich |access-date=27 May 2021 |date=27 May 2021}}
=Nottingham Forest=
On 10 July 2022, recently promoted Premier League club Nottingham Forest announced the signing of Richards on a four-year contract for an €8.5 million transfer fee.{{cite news |author=Nottingham Forest Football Club |title=Omar Richards signs for The Reds |url=https://www.nottinghamforest.co.uk/news/2022/july/10/nottingham-forest-bolster-premier-league-return-through-omar-richards-signing/ |date=10 July 2022 |access-date=10 July 2022 |website=Nottingham Forest Football Club}}{{Cite web|url=https://theathletic.com/4693442/2023/07/17/nottingham-forest-omar-richards-injury/|title=Omar Richards, Nottingham Forest and the curious case of a missing season|first=Paul|last=Taylor|website=The Athletic}}
On 20 August 2024, Richards joined Primeira Liga side Rio Ave on a season-long loan.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nottinghamforest.co.uk/news/2024/august/20/richards-joins-rio-ave-on-loan/|title=Richards joins Rio Ave on loan|first=Nottingham Forest Football|last=Club|date=20 August 2024|website=Nottingham Forest Football Club}}
International career
Born in England, Richards is of Jamaican descent and has expressed an interest in representing the Jamaica national team.{{Cite web|url=https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20211215/commitment-number-one|title='Commitment is number one'|date=15 December 2021|website=jamaica-gleaner.com}} On 30 August 2019, Richards received his first international call-up with a place in the England U21 squad.{{cite web|url=http://www.thefa.com/news/2019/aug/30/england-u21s-squad-named-for-turkey-and-kosovo-300819|title= England U21s kick-off a new campaign and Aidy Boothroyd has picked his squad |publisher=The FA|date=30 August 2019 | access-date = 20 October 2021}} He eventually made his U21 debut on 11 October 2019 as a substitute during a 2–2 draw against Slovenia in Maribor.{{cite web |url=http://www.thefa.com/news/2019/oct/11/england-mu21s-slovenia-report-111019 |title= Goals from Eddie Nketiah and Sam Surridge cancelled out as Young Lions tie in Maribor |date=11 October 2019 |publisher=The FA | access-date = 20 October 2021}}
Personal life
Richards was born in Lewisham; where he grew up with his mother, a single parent, and two brothers.
Career statistics
{{updated|match played 4 December 2024}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | ||||||||||||
| rowspan=2|Club
!rowspan=2|Season !colspan=3|League !colspan=2|National cup{{efn|Includes FA Cup, DFB-Pokal, Greek Football Cup, Taça de Portugal}} !colspan=2|League cup{{efn|Includes EFL Cup}} !colspan=2|Europe !colspan=2|Other !colspan=2|Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Reading U23
|2016–17{{soccerbase season|97377|2016|access-date=12 October 2019}} | colspan="3" |— | colspan="2" |— | colspan="2" |— | colspan="2" |— | 2{{efn|name=EFL|Appearances in EFL Trophy}} | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| rowspan=5|Reading
|2017–18{{soccerbase season|97377|2017|access-date=21 January 2019}} | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2" |— | colspan=2|— | 16 | 2 | ||
| 2018–19{{soccerbase season|97377|2018|access-date=21 January 2019}}
|Championship | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2" |— | colspan=2|— | 12 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20{{soccerbase season|97377|2019|access-date=21 January 2019}}
|Championship | 28 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | colspan="2" |— | colspan=2|— | 34 | 1 | ||
| 2020–21{{soccerbase season|97377|2020|access-date=5 September 2020}}
|Championship | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2" |— | colspan=2|— | 42 | 0 | ||
| colspan=2|Total
!92||2||7||1||5||0|| colspan="2" |—||colspan=2|—||104||3 | ||||||||||||
| Bayern Munich
|2021–22{{cite web | url = https://www.kicker.de/omar-richards/spieler/bundesliga/2021-22/fc-bayern-muenchen | title = Omar Richards | language = de | website = Kicker | access-date = 14 May 2022}} |12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan=2|— | 4{{efn|name=UCL|Appearances in UEFA Champions League}} | 0 | 0 | |0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| Nottingham Forest
|0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 0 | 0 | |||
| Olympiacos (loan)
|10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 3{{efn|One appearance in the UEFA Europa League, and two appearance in the UEFA Conference League}} | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 14 | 0 | |||
| Rio Ave (loan)
|9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 11 | 0 | |||
| colspan=3|Career total
!121||2||11||1||5||0||7||0||2||0||148||3 |
{{notelist}}
Honours
Bayern Munich
- Bundesliga: 2021–22
- DFL-Supercup: 2021{{Cite web|title=Robert Lewandowski double as Bayern Munich overcome Borussia Dortmund to win the Supercup|url=https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/borussia-dortmund-bayern-munich-live-supercup-line-ups-stats-haaland-lewandowski-16902|access-date=11 October 2021|website=Bundesliga Official|publisher=Bundesliga}}
Olympiacos
- UEFA Europa Conference League: 2023–24{{cite web |url=https://www.uefa.com/uefaconferenceleague/news/028d-1b01e5ec31a5-144c1f00e4f3-1000--olympiacos-1-0-fiorentina-aet-el-kaabi-swoops-to-secure-g/ |title=El Kaabi swoops to secure Greece's first major European trophy |publisher=UEFA |date=29 May 2024 |access-date=30 May 2024 }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.nottinghamforest.co.uk/players/omarrichards/ Profile] at the Nottingham Forest F.C. website
- {{UEFA player}}
{{Rio Ave F.C. squad}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Omar}}
Category:English men's footballers
Category:England men's under-21 international footballers
Category:English people of Jamaican descent
Category:Sportspeople of Jamaican descent
Category:FC Bayern Munich footballers
Category:Nottingham Forest F.C. players
Category:Olympiacos F.C. players
Category:English Football League players
Category:Primeira Liga players
Category:Footballers from the London Borough of Lewisham
Category:Men's association football defenders
Category:Black British sportsmen
Category:21st-century Black British people
Category:English expatriate men's footballers
Category:English expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
Category:English expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Greece
Category:English expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal
Category:UEFA Conference League–winning players