Ray Richards (footballer)

Raymond Richards (born 18 May 1946) is an Australian former football (soccer) midfielder. He was a member of the Australian 1974 World Cup squad in West Germany and represented the country 31 times in total for 5 goals between 1967 and 1975 as well as representing Queensland and New South Wales.[1]

Ray Richards
Personal information
Full name Raymond Richards
Date of birth (1946-05-18) 18 May 1946
Place of birth Croydon, England
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Croydon
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1963–1967 Latrobe Soccer Club
1968 Hollandia
1969 Sydney Croatia
1969–1977 Marconi
1979 APIA Leichhardt 4 (0)
National team
1967–1975 Australia 31 (5)
1967–1974 Australia B 29 (5)
Teams managed
1974–1976 Marconi
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Club career

Richards started his football career at the semi-professional club Croydon F.C. in London, England. At the age of 16 in 1963, he was offered a professional contract with Leyton Orient F.C., but decided to emigrate to Australia, to play with the Latrobe Soccer Club, based in Brisbane. In 1968, he moved to Hollandia Soccer Club, also in Brisbane, then in 1969 he moved to Sydney to play for Sydney Croatia in Division 1 (at that time, the top tier in the New South Wales competition), before moving to the Marconi club in Division 2 for the rest of that season. Marconi was then promoted to Division 1 after winning the Division 2 premiership in 1969.[2] Richards continued playing for the club, up to and including the first year of the National Soccer League in 1977. In 1979 Richards played four matches for Sydney club APIA Leichhardt.[3]

International career

In all Richards played 31 times for the Australian national team and scored 5 times from 1967–1975.[4]

1974 World Cup

Richards played in Australia's three matches at the 1974 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Richards has the dubious honour of being the first Australian to be sent off in a World Cup match, being sent off in the game against Chile in 1974. He actually received two yellow cards but no red card. It wasn't until the reserve official, Clive Thomas, informed the linesman of the mistake four minutes after the second yellow card that the referee, Jafar Namdar, realised his mistake and ordered him off the field.[5][6][7]

Coaching career

Between 1974 and 1976 Richards acted as a player/coach at Marconi Stallions.[3]

Honours

Richards has been designated as Socceroo #199 and has been inducted as a member of the Football Federation Australia Football Hall of Fame.[8]

References
  1. Match report, including date of birth
  3. "Australian Player Database - R". ozfootball.net. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
  4. The Australian National Men's Football Team: Caps And Captains. Football Federation Australia.
  5. Motson, John (2006). "Two Yellows Does Not Necessarily Equal A Red". Motson's World Cup Extravaganza. Robson. p. 133. ISBN 1-86105-936-1.
  6. "Just the card". The Age. 7 July 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
  7. Ashdown, John; Dart, James; Smyth, Rob (5 July 2006). "World Cup Knowledge: part five". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
  8. "Ray Richards". Football Hall of Fame. Football Federation Australia. Archived from the original on 7 January 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
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