Eliot Richards

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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 (age 32)
Place of birth New Tredegar, Wales
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Penybont
Number 11
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2014 Bristol Rovers 112 (16)
2014 → Exeter City (loan) 17 (5)
2014–2015 Tranmere Rovers 13 (1)
2015–2016 Cheltenham Town 9 (1)
2016 → Bath City (loan) 9 (1)
2016 Tampa Bay Rowdies 0 (0)
2016 Weston-super-Mare 11 (0)
2016 →
Merthyr Town
(loan)
2017
Merthyr Town
2017–2019 Hereford 61 (5)
2019–2020
Merthyr Town
 21 (5)
2020–2021 Barnet 3 (1)
2021–2022
Merthyr Town
 10 (2)
2022–2023
Pontypridd United
 14 (1)
2023– Penybont 19 (2)
International career
2010 Wales U19 1 (0)
2012 Wales U21 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 April 2024

Eliot Allen Richards (born 10 September 1991) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cymru Premier club Penybont.

Club career

Bristol Rovers

A product of the Rovers youth system, Richards joined the professional ranks at the club in the summer of 2009.[2]

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

Football League One match against Gillingham.[3]

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.[4]

He received his first red card for Bristol Rovers in a 2–1 defeat away against at Rochdale.[5]

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 with Alan Gow joining Bristol Rovers on loan in the opposite direction.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8]

On 28 March 2015, it was announced that Richards had been diagnosed with testicular cancer.[9] On 4 September he has been given the all-clear in his battle with cancer and aimed to return to the pitch at Christmas.[10]

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,[11] linking up with former Bristol Rovers team-mate and Rowdies head coach Stuart Campbell. However, Richards did not play any games in the US before returning to the UK.

Non-league

Richards joined

Merthyr Town on loan until 31 December,[13] before signing permanently in January.[14] After ten goals in 52 appearances for the Martyrs, Richards joined league rivals Hereford in November 2017,[15] winning promotion at the end of the season. Richards left the Bulls in August 2019 after deciding to join a new club permanently rather than play temporarily elsewhere to earn a new deal.[16] He then re-joined Merthyr for the 2019-20 season.[17] In July 2020, Richards agreed to remain with Merthyr for the 2020-21 season, however on 10 September 2020, Richards moved up two divisions to join National League side Barnet.[18] In November, Richards sustained multiple injuries in Barnet's FA Cup win over Burton Albion, including tears of his anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus.[19] He was released at the end of the season.[20] After 13 months out injured Richards re-joined Merthyr in December 2021.[21]

In October 2023, Richards joined

Pontypridd United.[22]

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.[23]

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 end of 25 November 2023
Club statistics
Club Season League FA Cup
League Cup
 Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bristol Rovers 2009–10[24]
League One
 5 0 — — — 5 0
2010–11[25] League One 13 1 1 0 — 3[a] 0 17 1
2011–12[26]
League Two
 32 7 3 2 1 1 1[a] 0 37 10
2012–13[27] League Two 40 6 1 0 — 1[a] 0 42 6
2013–14[28] League Two 22 2 5 2 1 1 — 28 5
Total 112 16 10 4 2 2 5 0 129 22
Exeter City (loan) 2013–14[28] League Two 17 5 — — — 17 5
Tranmere Rovers 2014–15[29] League Two 13 1 1 0 1 0 1[a] 0 16 1
Cheltenham Town 2014–15[29] League Two 9 1 — — — 9 1
2015–16[30] National League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bath City (loan) 2015–16[31] National League South 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1
Tampa Bay Rowdies 2016[32] North American Soccer League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Weston-super-Mare 2016–17[31] National League South 11 0 1 1 0 0 1[b] 3 13 4
Merthyr Town
(loan) 		2016–17 SFL Premier Division No data currently available
Merthyr Town 2016–17 SFL Premier Division No data currently available
2017–18 No data currently available
Hereford 2017–18 SFL Premier Division 27 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 2
2018–19[31] National League North 34 3 0 0 0 0 1[c] 0 35 3
Total 61 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 62 5
Merthyr Town 2019–20[33] SFL Premier Division South 21 5 1 0 0 0 2[c] 1 24 6
Barnet 2020–21[31] National League 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
Merthyr Town 2021–22 SFL Premier Division South 10 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 2
Pontypridd United
 2022–23 Cymru Premier 14 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 15 1
Penybont 2023–24 Cymru Premier 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Career total 285 38 16 5 3 2 10 4 314 49
  1. ^
    Football League Trophy
  2. ^ One appearance and three goals in Somerset Premier Cup
  3. ^ a b Appearances in FA Trophy

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. ^ "Squad numbers announced". Bristol Rovers Football Club. 10 July 2009. Archived from the original on 12 January 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  3. ^ "Gillingham v Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 20 February 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  4. ^ "Exeter 1–2 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  5. ^ "Rochdale 2–1 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 17 November 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  6. ^ "Gow and Richards in loan swap". Exeter City FC. 7 February 2014.
  7. ^ "Football - Hume in, Richards out at Rovers". Yahoo! Sport. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "Eliot Richards: Cheltenham Town player has testicular cancer". BBC Sport. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Eliot Richards: Cheltenham Town forward returns after cancer". BBC Sport. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ Sloane, Richard (12 August 2016). "Eliot Richards cleared for weekend". westonsmareafc.co.uk. Weston-super-mare A.F.C. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  13. ^ "Eliot Richards joins the Martyrs on loan". www.merthyrtownfc.co.uk. Merthyr Town F.C. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  14. ^ Cooper, Alan (3 January 2017). "Eliot Richards signs permanent deal for Merthyr". westonsmareafc.co.uk. Weston-super-mare A.F.C. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  15. ^ "Bulls Pounce To Bring In Richards". 20 November 2017.
  16. ^ "Confirmation of Eliot Richards Departure". www.herefordfc.co.uk. Hereford F.C. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  17. ^ "Eliot Richards returns". www.merthyrtownfc.co.uk. Merthyr Town F.C. 20 August 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  18. ^ "Welcome to Barnet Eliot Richards". www.barnetfc.com. 10 September 2020.
  19. ^ @BarnetFC (11 November 2020). "We're with you all the way, @Eliot_Richards 👊 The road to recovery starts now! 💪 #BarnetFC 🐝" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ^ "Club announces released/retained list following conclusion of season". Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  21. ^ NEWS| ELIOT RICHARDS RETURNS
  22. ^ "Former Bristol Rovers, Exeter City, Hereford, and Tranmere Rovers star joins new club at 32". clwbpeldroed.org. 29 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  23. ^ "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.
  24. ^ "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  25. ^ "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  26. ^ "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  27. ^ "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  28. ^ a b "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  29. ^ a b "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  30. ^ "Games played by Elliot Richards in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  31. ^ a b c d Eliot Richards at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  32. ^ "Eliot Richards". www.nasl.com. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  33. ^ "Eliot Richards". www.aylesburyunitedfc.co.uk. Aylesbury United F.C. Retrieved 19 September 2020.

External links

Media related to Eliot Richards at Wikimedia Commons

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