| Born:
31st August
1977 in Reading. Lincoln City career:
45+(12) appearances and 14 goals between August 2003 - March 2005.
Clubs:
Harrow
Borough, Cambridge United, Torquay United,
Hartlepool United, Rochdale, Lincoln City, Yeovil
Town, Chester City and Macclesfield Town, Weymouth,
Crawley Town, Bury and Farnborough Town.
Marcus Richardson
joined Lincoln City permanently from Hartlepool
United in January 2004, after many Imps' fans had
given up hope of him doing so, as Hartlepool's
demands were beyond Lincoln.
To aid the
transfer, Richardson agreed to a pay cut to join
Lincoln, and The Imps released three players and
loaned out another two, in order to finance his
wages. However, just as the deal was expected to
be completed, Hartlepool threw-up a shock
transfer fee request. While Hartlepool kept to
manager Neale Cooper's word that Richardson would
be granted a free transfer, they then demanded a
sell-on clause, an extra payment if Lincoln
reached the play-offs and a payment if Lincoln
gained promotion. After those extra demands were
tabled, the deal appeared to be a non-starter
because Lincoln refused to meet the demands and
the matter was left to Hartlepool to decide the
future of their unwanted striker.
Lincoln's patience
was rewarded as Hartlepool opted to drop their
demands for money if Lincoln gained promotion or
reached the play-offs. Instead, the only money
that could change hands, was if Lincoln had sold
Richardson, with Hartlepool entitled to a
percentage of that fee.
Richardson
originally joined Lincoln on loan in August 2003,
and quickly established himself as a fans'
favourite at Sincil Bank; he returned for a third
month on loan in December 2003. Unfortunately,
his excellent form during his first loan spell,
prompted Cooper to recall Richardson in October
2003. He immediately went into the Hartlepool
first team and seemingly scored a goal on his
return although it was later ruled to be an own
goal. After two further appearances, Richardson
was dropped to the Hartlepool reserve side.
The Reading born
striker began his career at Harrow Borough before
signing for Cambridge United in March 2001. He
stayed at Cambridge for just seven months, which
included a month's loan spell at Torquay United,
before joining Torquay in a permanent £5,000
transfer. He scored 8 times in 36 appearances for
Torquay but within a year, he was on the move
again, this time to Hartlepool United. He scored
6 goals in 29 appearances for Hartlepool, and
helped them to gain promotion in 2003 from
Division 3.
Richardson had a
poor start to the 2004/05 season as injury and
suspension ruled him out. Things got worse in
February 2005 when Richardson was involved in an
incident with then Imps' midfielder Ciaran Toner,
who required hospital treatment. Both players
were suspended and were told that neither would
play for Lincoln City again. After the incident,
Richardson admitted publicly that he wished to
leave Sincil Bank for good.
A few weeks later,
Richardson's wish came true as League 2 rivals
Rochdale took him on a month's loan with a view
to a permanent transfer. However, he made just
one start and one further substitute appearance
for Rochdale, and failed to score in both games.
He did not feature in any of Rochdale's four
further games during his loan spell.
Richardson
returned to Lincoln in March 2005 but he quickly
left by mutual consent. A day later, he signed
for Yeovil Town until the end of the season.
Yeovil, having won promotion to League One,
decided not to renew Richardson's contract and he
joined Chester City. He began his Chester City
career in good form but a change of manager saw
him depart for a loan spell at Macclesfield Town.
He was later granted a free transfer from
Chester, despite being under contract, and he
joined Conference club Weymouth in July 2006. His
stay at Weymouth was brief and he soon rejoined
his former club Cambridge United.
Richardson
departed Cambridge United in January 2007 and
joined fellow Conference club Crawley Town.
However, Richardson only stayed six months as he
was given a surprise return to the Football
League with Bury, whose Director of Football was
Keith Alexander. He made just one appearance for
Bury before his short-term contract ended; with
that he joined Farnborough Town.
Please click the
links to view cheap merchandise for Bury, Cambridge
United, Hartlepool
United, Lincoln
City, Macclesfield
Town, Rochdale or Torquay
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