The time is 12.04pm, and Micah Richards is apologising profusely. He really doesn’t need to. Over the years, FourFourTwo has been kept waiting by many a footballer – on one occasion, we sat at a training ground for three hours past the scheduled interview time, most of it spent staring at a door in case our interviewee walked through it at any moment. Today, the delay is a mere four minutes: no drama whatsoever, but enough for Richards to tell us, “I’m never late – I’m so sorry!”
We tell him not to worry; after all, he’s a busy man. When he isn’t winding up Roy Keane on Sky Sports, he’s entertaining fans on Match of the Day or Five Live, jetting to Singapore to drive cars around an F1 track for A League Of Their Own, or releasing his new book, The Game, which charts some of the stories from a playing career that saw him become England’s youngest ever defender, then win the Premier League with Manchester City.
He does it all with an infectious laugh that appears immediately as we begin our chat. He has a lesser-seen serious side as well, however, and no shortage of frustrations about the way his playing days came to a premature end. Richards is still only 34, yet he is more than ready to speak candidly about the past two decades…
Is it true you started out as a striker in Leeds United’s youth system?
Theo Taylor, Bingley
Of course I did! [Laughs] I was too good up front, so the teacher put me in net sometimes to make it fairer! I scored goals upon goals for Leeds City Boys, but then I went to Leeds United, it was a level above, and I couldn’t cut it. I was released quite early but thought, ‘Leeds don’t want me; I’ll play for someone who does’. Oldham came in and I thought, ‘Yes, too right!’ I was playing No.10 – technical ability – then a coach came in and said, “Your best position is defensive midfield”. I was like, “What?!” But people started to call me Patrick Vieira and as an Arsenal fan I thought, ‘I’ll take that!’ When I got scouted by Man City, everyone was so much better than me there that I was like, ‘To be honest, defensive mid – I’ll take it!’ The step up was so big. After that, I became a defender.
Your dad reportedly ran a Brazilian soccer school – how much did that help your development?
Alistair Jordan, Wilmslow
This is the biggest myth ever! Everyone was like, “Oh my God, your dad was a football coach, he’s got that Brazilian influence”. No! Let me get this straight. Simon Clifford brought the soccer school concept to Leeds. Because he knew one of my dad’s]
