Brent Anthony Richards (born May 20, 1990) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player.

Career

High school

Richards played for Camas High School of Camas, WA all four years of his high school career. His most notable year was his fourth and final year, where he led the team to a victory in the WIAA 3A state championship game, alongside future

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

teammate Quinton Beasley.

College and amateur

Richards was one of the Pac-10/Pac-12's top scorers during his collegiate career at the

. In 72 games for the Huskies, Richards finished with 31 goals, 15 assists and led the Huskies in goals and game-winning goals in each of his four seasons. Following his senior season, Richards was named First-Team Capital One Academic All-American, 2011 Pac-12 Men's Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year and named to the All-West Region first team. Richards also spent three seasons with Portland Timbers U23s in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

. In 2010, Richards led the Timbers U23s to a perfect 16–0 record on the way to the club's first ever USL PDL title. Richards went on to be named the league's Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year that same season.

Professional

On January 4, 2012, Richards signed with

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

club

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

as their first homegrown player. On May 30, Richards made his professional debut in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match which saw Cal FC upset the Timbers 1–0 in extra time. He made his league debut on July 14 against the

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

. Richards spent four seasons with

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

side

Reno 1868 FC Reno 1868 FC was an American professional soccer team based in Reno, Nevada. Founded in 2015, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in March 2017 and ceased operations after the 2020 season. History Previously, northern Nevada has ...

, before Reno folded their team on November 6, 2020, due to the financial impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On December 17, 2020, Richards joined USL Championship side

Orange County SC Orange County Soccer Club is an American soccer team based in the Orange County, California city of Irvine. Founded in 2010 as the Los Angeles Blues, the team currently plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier ...

ahead of their 2021 season. On Wednesday November 22, 2023 via Instagram Brent announced his retirement with a heartfelt message.

Honors

Portland Timbers U23s

Championship (1):

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Individual

MVP (1):

Rookie of the Year:

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Brent 1990 births Living people American men's soccer players Washington Huskies men's soccer players Capital FC players Portland Timbers players Portland Timbers 2 players Reno 1868 FC players Men's association football forwards Soccer players from Oregon University of Washington alumni USL League Two players Major League Soccer players USL Championship players Homegrown Players (MLS) Orange County SC players 21st-century American sportsmen