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Leam Nathan Richardson (born 19 November 1979) is an English professional
football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...
and former
player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...
who was most recently the head coach of Rotherham United. As a player, Richardson played for
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
,
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...
,
Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...
,
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
and Accrington Stanley, whilst he has held coaching roles previously at Accrington Stanley, and Chesterfield.


Playing career


Blackburn Rovers

Born in
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
, West Yorkshire, Richardson started his career at
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
. He made his debut in a 1–0 loss against his boyhood side
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
in the
Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...
on 13 October 1999.


Bolton Wanderers and loan moves

On 13 July 2000, Richardson moved to
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...
for a fee of £50,000. He made his debut in a 1–1 draw against
Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...
in the
Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...
on 12 August 2000, and was part of the team which earned a return to the
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
via the play-offs, when they defeated Preston North End in the final at the
Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...
in
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
. In the 2001–02 season, he made his Premier League debut, playing the final eight minutes of Bolton's 0–0 draw at Leeds; later, he moved on loan to
Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...
, where he made seventeen league appearances in the Second Division. In 2002, Richardson was loaned out again, this time to
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
. He made his debut in a 3–0 win against Peterborough United in the
Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...
on 21 December 2002. While at Blackpool, he received the first red card of his career, being sent off against
Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...
on 1 January 2003.


Blackpool

On 23 June 2003, Richardson made a permanent move to Blackpool, joining on a free transfer. He made his debut in a 5–0 loss against
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...
on 9 August 2003, and scored his first goal for the club against
Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...
in the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
on 6 December 2003. On 21 March 2004, he appeared as a 90th-minute substitute in the 2004 Football League Trophy final, in which Blackpool defeated Southend United 2–0. On 10 May 2005, he was released from the club along with Robert Clare.


Accrington Stanley

After three months without a club, Richardson joined Accrington Stanley on a free transfer on non-contract terms. He made his debut against
Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames Estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ...
in the
Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...
on 13 August 2005, and was a regular fixture in the team which won promotion to
the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...
in the 2005–06 season. In League Two, he continued to be an important player at Accrington, playing 43 times in all competitions during the 2006-07 season and 40 times the following campaign; he scored his first goal for the club against
Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...
on 26 February 2008. During the 2008-09 season, Richardson found his playing time limited, making fourteen appearances in all competitions, and in the following season he played only twice in the league and once in the
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
. He scored his second career league goal in a 2–1 win over
Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...
on 15 January 2011, in a season in which he made thirteen league appearances, but the 2–1 victory at
Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...
on 26 December 2011 - where he appeared as a 79th-minute substitute - would be his last appearance for the club.


Managerial career


Accrington Stanley and assistant manager roles

In January 2012, Richardson became the
caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...
of Accrington Stanley, after John Coleman departed to join
Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...
. Richardson's first match as manager was at home to Gillingham, which Accrington Stanley won 4–3. Accrington appointed
Paul Cook Paul Thomas Cook (born 20 July 1956) is an English musician, best known as the drummer and a founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He is nicknamed "Cookie" by friends in the punk music scene. Early life and career Cook was ...
as their new permanent manager the following month, before Richardson was re-appointed as manager after Cook left to become manager of Chesterfield in October. Originally employed as caretaker manager for a second spell, he was appointed as the manager of the club on a permanent basis from 1 November, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal. On 30 April 2013, it was announced that Richardson had left Accrington in order to re-unite with
Paul Cook Paul Thomas Cook (born 20 July 1956) is an English musician, best known as the drummer and a founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He is nicknamed "Cookie" by friends in the punk music scene. Early life and career Cook was ...
, becoming his new assistant manager at Chesterfield. The two later moved to manage
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
in 2015, winning promotion to League One in 2017.


Wigan Athletic

On 31 May 2017, Richardson once again followed Cook to
Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...
, once again acting as his assistant manager. He and Cook oversaw Wigan's promotion to the Championship in their first season in charge, and kept them there for two seasons. Following a takeover in mid-2020, Wigan collapsed into administration and were relegated after being punished with a 12 point deduction. Cook resigned as manager on 4 August 2020 and Richardson was appointed to take charge of training duties until further notice. John Sheridan was appointed as the club's new permanent manager, but he left after just 15 games to join
Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...
, and Richardson was named caretaker manager. Following Wigan's takeover in March 2021, the new owners stated that Richardson would continue in his caretaker manager role until the end of the season. Despite this, Richardson was appointed as the permanent manager of the club on 21 April 2021 with three games still remaining. Richardson confirmed that Cook, who had recently been appointed manager of Ipswich Town, had asked him to join him in Suffolk as his assistant again, but he declined so he could remain at Wigan. He insisted however that there was no ill-will on either side and that they remain on good terms. He was able to keep Wigan up, avoiding relegation to League Two. In November 2021 Wigan striker
Charlie Wyke Charles Thomas Wyke (born 6 December 1992) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward and captains club Carlisle United F.C., Carlisle United. Career Middlesbrough Wyk ...
collapsed during training after suffering a cardiac arrest. Following his discharge from hospital Wyke praised Richardson's swift initiation of CPR saying: "...''my life has been saved by the actions of the gaffer eam Richardsonand the club doctor Jonathan Tobin..."'' On 24 April 2022, Richardson was named the 2021–22 EFL League One Manager of the Season at the league's annual award ceremony. Later that month Richardson led Wigan to promotion into the Championship as they finished the season as League One champions. On 10 November 2022, Richardson was sacked as Wigan manager after a run of six losses in seven matches that saw the club fall into the Championship relegation zone. The sacking came just sixteen days after Richardson had signed a new three-year contract with the club.


Rotherham United

On 11 December 2023, Richardson was appointed head coach of Championship bottom club Rotherham United on a three-and-a-half-year deal. On 17 April 2024, two weeks on from relegation having been confirmed, Richardson was sacked having won just two of his twenty-four matches in charge.


Career statistics

Source:


Managerial statistics

:''As of 13 April 2024''


Honours


As a player

Blackpool *
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
: 2003–04


As a manager

Wigan Athletic *
EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...
: 2021–22 Individual * EFL League One Manager of the Season: 2021–22


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Leam 1979 births Footballers from Leeds Living people Men's association football fullbacks English men's footballers Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players Accrington Stanley F.C. managers Wigan Athletic F.C. managers Rotherham United F.C. managers English Football League managers