Eliot Richards

Eliot Allen Richards (born 10 September 1991) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfield for Merthyr Town.

Eliot Richards
Richards playing for Bristol Rovers in 2014
Personal information
Full name Eliot Allen Richards[1]
Date of birth (1991-09-10) 10 September 1991
Place of birth New Tredegar, Wales
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Merthyr Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2014 Bristol Rovers 112 (46)
2014 → Exeter City (loan) 17 (5)
2014–2015 Tranmere Rovers 13 (4)
2015–2016 Cheltenham Town 9 (4)
2016 → Bath City (loan) 9 (4)
2016 Tampa Bay Rowdies 0 (0)
2016 Weston-super-Mare 11 (3)
2016–2017 Merthyr Town
2017–2019 Hereford [2] 61 (5)
2019- Merthyr Town
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 01:13, 25 November 2019 (UTC)

Club career

Bristol Rovers

A product of the Rovers youth system, Richards joined the professional ranks at the club in the summer of 2009.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

He received his first red card for Bristol Rovers in a 2–1 defeat away against at Rochdale.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

On 28 March 2015, it was announced that Richards had been diagnosed with testicular cancer.[10] On 4 September he has been given the all-clear in his battle with cancer and aimed to return to the pitch at Christmas.[11]

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.[12] 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.[13]

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 statistics
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bristol Rovers 2009–10[14] League One 50———50
2010–11[15] 13110—3[lower-alpha 1]0171
2011–12[16] League Two 32732111[lower-alpha 1]03710
2012–13[17] 40610—1[lower-alpha 1]0426
2013–14[18] 2225211—285
Total 11216104225012922
Exeter City (loan) 2013–14[18] League Two 175———175
Tranmere Rovers 2014–15[19] League Two 13110101[lower-alpha 1]0161
Cheltenham Town 2014–15[19] League Two 91———91
2015–16[20] National League 0000000000
Career total 15123114326017129
  1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
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References
  1. "The Football League Limited: Club list of registered players as at 16th May 2015" (PDF). The Football League. 16 May 2015. p. 70. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  2. https://www.herefordfc.co.uk/news-bulls-complete-signing-of-richards/
  3. "Squad numbers announced". Bristol Rovers Football Club. 10 July 2009. Archived from the original on 12 January 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  4. "Gillingham v Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 20 February 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  5. "Exeter 1–2 Bristol Rovers" BBC Sport. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  6. "Rochdale 2–1 Bristol Rovers" BBC Sport. 17 November 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  7. "Gow and Richards in loan swap". Exeter City FC. 7 February 2014.
  8. "Football - Hume in, Richards out at Rovers". Yahoo! Sport. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  9. Young, James (5 February 2015). "Cheltenham Town: Eliot Richards aims to help the youngsters along in relegation scrap". Western Daily Press. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  10. "Eliot Richards: Cheltenham Town player has testicular cancer". BBC Sport. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  11. "Eliot Richards: Cheltenham Town forward returns after cancer". BBC Sport. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  12. "Tampa Bay Rowdies Add Forward Eliot Richards". Tampa Bay Rowdies. 4 April 2016. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  13. "News – Wales Under 19 Squad v N.Ireland". The Football Association of Wales. 23 April 2010. Archived from the original on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  14. "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  15. "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  16. "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  17. "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  18. "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  19. "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  20. "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
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