Twelve years ago today, West Bromwich Albion completed what is still regarded by many as the greatest great escape in Premier League history, becoming the first ever club to stave off relegation after being bottom at Christmas.
The significance of this cannot be understated; before West Brom, it was deemed impossible to survive if you’d spent December 25th in bottom place. Since their great escape, however, the feat has been repeated twice by Sunderland and Leicester City. Although it’s proved too big a challenge on the most-part to get on the right side of the dropline before the end of the season, West Brom disproved the old adage and completely changed the mindset of inevitability. There’s no longer such thing as impossible in the Premier League.
Crucial to that was Kieran Richardson, who arrived from Manchester United on loan in January to inject life, unpredictability and flair into an otherwise workaday West Brom side. He scored three goals in twelve appearances but the prodigious winger’s performances went much further than that; he was their catalyst for not only new-found attacking verve but also a positive shift in mentality, and was duly held aloft by fans as they invaded the pitch on the final day of the season.
Aged just 20 upon his temporary move to the Hawthorns, Richardson’s illustrious loan spell hinted at a huge future at the very top of the game – most likely with United. But now 32, Richardson’s without a club after being released by Cardiff City in January, where he managed just six appearances in three months, and is seen as a bit of a joke figure in England. People poke fun at his role in Aston Villa’s demise, and how limited output forced the one-time winger to reinvent himself as a defender.
Those twelve games for West Brom proved to be the pinnacle of his career, yet they were no fluke either. Talent has never been the problem with Richardson and it could have all been very, very different; instead of becoming a mid-table, then relegation, then Championship journeyman, he could have been one of England’s best of his generation – perhaps even one of Europe’s, if not the world’s.
Before Richardson had turned out for West Brom, I’d crossed paths with him twice, somewhat inadvertently. The first time I saw him play was two years previous, when the Red Devils’ Under 18s breezed past Charlton Athletic in the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup. Richardson could’ve netted in the most spectacular of fashions; keepy-upping the ball just outside the penalty area, moving it around two defenders in the process, before unleashing a thunderous half-volley that looked destined to crash into the onion bag.
Alas, it did not – Richardson netted in the second leg instead – but at that point it was one of the most impressive flashes of individual quality I’d seen at The Valley. My beloved Addicks lost 3-1 on aggregate, but all I could talk about on the drive home with my dad was the United midfielder who’d ran the show. He looked like something truly special – a world-beater in the making.
The second instance of Richardson path-crossing I only realised several years later, when one of my tutors revealed they’d taught Richardson at a previous school. They painted a picture of an exceptionally talented and smart kid, but one that was all too aware of it. He’d been moved to a new school – along with infamous cousin and future Big Brother contestant Charley – to better accommodate his gift for the game.
They say your formative years decide your future, and you have to wonder whether it all came a bit too easy for Richardson when he was younger, leaving him lacking the natural hunger needed to step up to the next level by the time first-team football at Manchester United came around.
That is not to say Richardson’s career never progressed; in addition to his flurry of fine form at the Hawthorns, he was a key player at Sunderland for four straight seasons and enjoyed two decent years with Fulham as well. Yet, for a player who had already picked up eight England caps by the time he was 21, who had the world at his feet at Manchester United and had once been dubbed a natural heir to Ryan Giggs, Richardson’s career smacks of potential unfulfilled.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment is that Richardson was given every chance. We often bemoan limited opportunities for young English players these days, but Richardson was allowed to showcase his abilities in a West Brom side fighting for survival and made 22 Premier League appearances for United the season after. By the time he left Old Trafford in 2007, he’d featured 81 times for United across all competitions and was still being considered for England squads by Steve McClaren.
It would be disingenuous to speculate what exactly went wrong, whether it simply didn’t click for Richardson at first-team level, whether he became lost in the many distractions of the glamorous footballing lifestyle, whether he lacked that drive because of how gifted he was. But whilst some look at Richardson and laugh as he struggles to earn a short-term contract with Tony Adams’ Granada, I only feel sadness. Richardson had everything needed to reach the top of the game – now, he’s in danger of not being a part of it at all.
It just goes to show how talent can only take you so far. Any young footballers thinking they’ve already got it made need only look at the gulf between where Richardson could have ended up and where he is now to give themselves a reality check.