Marc Richards

Marc John Richards (born 8 July 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker and is now, upon retiring, a first-team coach at Northampton Town.

A youth team player at Hednesford Town, he turned professional at Blackburn Rovers in 2000.

He made his Rovers debut under manager Graeme Souness in a 2–0 defeat to West Ham United at Upton Park in the League Cup on 31 October 2000; he was replaced by David Dunn after 68 minutes.

He spent the 2001–02 season on loan at Crewe Alexandra, Oldham Athletic, and Halifax Town.

He was taken on a one-month loan by Dario Gradi at First Division side Crewe Alexandra at the start of the 2001–02 season.

There he scored his first career goal, in a League Cup victory against York City at Bootham Crescent on 21 August; his headed goal levelled the tie at 2–2 in extra time, and he was subsequently booked for 'over celebrating', though this did not stop him going on to score the winning goal in the penalty shoot-out.

He left Gresty Road with one goal in five games, and in October 2001 joined Andy Ritchie's Second Division Oldham Athletic in another one-month spell.

He played six games for Oldham, scoring once against Tranmere Rovers in the Football League Trophy, again with a header.

He then spent much of the 2002–03 season on loan at Swansea City, before he was allowed to join Northampton Town in summer 2003.

He spent two months on loan at Alan Little's Halifax Town from February 2002, but remained goalless in his five games for the struggling Third Division club.

In November 2002, he went out to Swansea City on loan for the rest of the season.

Brian Flynn's "Swans" avoided relegation out of the English Football League by just a single point, though Richards managed a respectable tally of seven goals in 17 games.

He got his first league goal at Vetch Field on 30 November, again with a header, to wrap up a 2–0 victory over Shrewsbury Town.

On 15 February, he scored twice against Cambridge United, and also had a goal disallowed for offside.

He received his first sending off a week later, after reacting badly to a foul by Hartlepool United captain Michael Barron.

He scored eleven goals for the club in 2003–04, though was sent out on loan to Rochdale in the latter half of the 2004–05 campaign after he found himself struggling with injury.

After discovering he was released from his contract at Blackburn in April 2003, Richards aimed to sign with Swansea permanently, but instead signed a two-year deal with Northampton Town.

Though he scored twice at Sixfields in the FA Cup victory over non-League Weston-super-Mare, it took 27 games before he bagged his first league goal for the "Cobblers".

He ended the 2003–04 campaign with 11 goals in 52 games.

His second season at Sixfields was one blighted by injury.

The goal finally came on 17 February 2004, in a 2–1 win at Darlington.

He then had one of the best games of his career on 27 March, when he scored all four goals of the game against Macclesfield Town within the opening 39 minutes.

Struggling with illness, he scored in the play-off semi-finals against Mansfield Town, though his side crashed out on penalties.

Picking up a knee injury in September 2004, he had recovered by November, but after making his return he ruptured his knee ligament, keeping him out of action for a further three months.

He joined Barnsley in August 2005, and went on to score twelve goals in 2005–06, helping the club win promotion to the Championship via the play-offs.

In March 2005 he was returning to fitness, and so was loaned out to Steve Parkin's Rochdale to aid with his recovery.

After two goals in five games he returned to the "Cobblers".

Finding out he had no future at Northampton under Colin Calderwood, he had a trial with Bristol Rovers, before joining Barnsley in August 2005.

Described as "a young Neil Shipperley" by manager Andy Ritchie, his initial deal was short-term, so after fitting in well at the club he was offered an extension to his contract in December 2005.

In 2005–06, Barnsley were promoted to the Championship through the play-offs.

He started the play-off final victory over Swansea City at the Millennium Stadium, before being taken off for Tommy Wright after 70 minutes.

Released at the end of the 2006–07 season, he signed with Port Vale in June 2007.

After five goals in 2007–08, he became the club's top-scorer for four seasons running with 11 goals in 2008–09, 22 goals in 2009–10, 20 goals in 2010–11, and 17 goals in 2011–12.

He signed with Chesterfield in May 2012, and played for the club in the 2014 final of the Football League Trophy, before helping them to win the League Two title in 2013–14.

He returned to Northampton Town in May 2014, and finished as the club's top-scorer for two consecutive seasons, helping Northampton to win the League Two title in 2015–16.

He signed with Swindon Town in January 2018 and after one-and-a-half seasons with Swindon moved on to Cambridge United in August 2019.

He joined non-League side Yeovil Town in January 2020 and moved on to St Ives Town seven months later.

Overall, he has scored more than 200 goals in around 700 professional appearances.

He has also represented England at under-18 and under-20 levels.

Richards started his professional career at Blackburn Rovers, but was on the books of Conference side Hednesford Town before moving to Ewood Park.