Micah Richards is a professional footballer who was born on June 24, 1988 in Birmingham, England. His parents lived in Leeds and his dad Lincoln ran a Brazilian Soccer School in Chapeltown. In the same district, Micah Richards attended Archbishop Cranmer CofE Primary School and later went to Wetherby High School. He also attended the Brazilian Soccer Schools (BSS) scheme and retains strong links with this program.
Micah Richards has won four international caps for the England U-21 side and has scored one goal for them. On November 15, 2006, he made his debut for the senior national side in a friendly game against Netherlands and also became the youngest ever defender for England by breaking the record, which was previously held by Rio Ferdinand. Micah Richards scored his first international goal in the qualifying-round match of Euro 2008 against Israel on September 8, 2007. As of 2008, he has made eleven appearances for them, which also includes a goal-scoring game.
At the age of seven, his true potential was identified by his school’s football coach David Moore, who took him into the school football team. A few years later, Micah Richards played for the Leeds City Boys, following which he was signed on schoolboy terms by Oldham Athletic in 2000. During his stint at the club, he made a short move to Manchester City in 2001 and later he signed with a contract with the same club.
On October 22, 2005, Micah Richards made his first appearance for Manchester City in a game against Arsenal, where he came in as a substitute, which also made him the first BSS player to play in the premiership. In the following month, he won the Reserve Player of the Month award for October 2005. In July 2005, he played as a striker in friendly pre-season game, where he scored three goals for the first team and was given the jersey number 45. His first start came for the club on February 12, 2006, in a match against Charlton Athletic. Since then Micah Richards has been regular in the side and also won the Young Player of the Year for the 2005-06 season. During the same season, Micah Richards captained the Manchester City youth team, which reached the final of the Football Association (FA) Youth Cup and was also the captain of the reserve team.
Micah Richards started the 2007-08 season and played at the centre-back position for the club. On August 19, 2007, he delivered a man of the match performance in a game against Manchester United. This impressive performance got him appreciations from the English media as well as his boss former England manager, Sven-Göran Eriksson.
Micah Richards captained the first team for the first time in a game against Aston Villa on September 16, 2007 in the absence of his teammate Richard Dunne. This also made him the first youngest team captain for Manchester City. In February 2008, he signed a new contract with Manchester City that keeps him at the club until summer 2013.
Micah Richards is a specialist defender who can also switch to central mid-field but is best known as a right-back. During his childhood, his favorite team was Arsenal and his all-time favorite players are Ian Wright and Patrick Vieira.
