Ray Richards

Raymond W. Richards (July 16, 1906 – September 18, 1974) was an American football player and coach on both the college and professional levels, including head coach for the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL).

Richards was an All-American lineman at the University of Nebraska from 1927 to 1929, then joined the NFL's Frankford Yellow Jackets in 1930. During his playing days, he became known for a notorious move that has since been outlawed: the "lift", in which Richards used his elbow to hit the opposing center as he snapped the ball. Moves such as that helped him in his off-season pursuit of wrestling, an endeavor that saw him travel across the country competing in matches.

Richards played two seasons with the Yellow Jackets until the team disbanded in 1931, then he shifted to Chicago, where he played another two seasons with George Halas's Bears. In 1934, he moved on to play a season with the Detroit Lions, who had just moved from their previous home in Portsmouth, Ohio. After a final season with the Bears the next year, Richards headed west to serve as a player-coach for two seasons with the Los Angeles Bulldogs of the fledgling American Football League, helping the team finish undefeated during his second year.

Ray Richards (footballer)

Raymond "Ray" Richards (born 18 May 1946) is an Australian former football (soccer) midfielder. He was a member of the Australian 1974 World Cup squad in West Germany and represented the country 31 times in total for 5 goals between 1967 and 1975 as well as representing Queensland and New South Wales.

Playing career

Club career

Richards started his football career at Croydon in England before moving to Australia in 1963, to play with the Latrobe Soccer Club, based in Brisbane. In 1968 he moved to Hollandia Soccer Club, also in Brisbane. In 1969 he moved to Sydney to play for Sydney Croatia. Between 1969 and 1977 Richards played for Marconi in the New South Wales State League and in the first year of the National Soccer League in 1977. In 1979 Richards played four matches for A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers.

International career

In all Richards played 31 times for the Australian national team and scored 5 times from 1967-1975.

1974 World Cup

Richards played in Australia's three matches at the 1974 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Richards has the dubious honour of being the first Australian to be sent off in a World Cup match, being sent off in the game against Chile in 1974. He actually received three yellow cards. It wasn't until the reserve official, Clive Thomas, informed the linesman of the mistake four minutes after the third yellow card that the referee, Jafar Namdar, realised his mistake and ordered him off the field.