Express & Star

Micah Richards: I was no bling king

Former Villa defender Micah Richards has claimed he was unfairly labelled ‘the bling king’ during his playing career because of his race.

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Richards, who retired last summer at the age of just 31 after an injury-hit four years with Villa, believes he was picked out as someone who flaunted their wealth because he is black.

In 2006, the Manchester City academy product became the youngest defender to ever be capped by England.

“I found myself having to act in a certain way just to fit in so people wouldn’t judge me,” said Richards, who made more than 200 appearances for City and in addition to making 13 England appearances, also represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics.

“I had just played for England, I was black, I had an Audi and a Range Rover. There were a couple of stories circulating about me and I got labelled the ‘bling king’.

“But every week there was a story about me saying I wasn’t concentrating on football and it took me six or seven years to shake that tag off.

“I remember my agent saying a team were interested in me but they weren’t sure about your private life and I’m thinking: ‘Hold on, you are judging me, you don’t know me’.

“I knew that I had to change to fit in. I have a personality and I like to joke but for two years in training I was silent because I didn’t want anyone to judge me on my character.”

Richards’ comments followed days of Black Lives Matter marches across the UK, in response to the death of American George Floyd.

Floyd died after being arrested on May 25 in Minneapolis. The four officers involved in his arrest have since been charged over the death, which sparked days of protests in the US and demonstrations across the world. Villa defender Tyrone Mings was among 4,000 demonstrators who took to the streets for a peaceful protest in Birmingham last week.

Richards claims he felt unable to speak up about racism during his career for fear of repercussions.

“At times I felt scared to speak out about what was right and what was wrong,” he added. “I didn’t want to say anything out of line because I felt it would affect my career.

“Every time I was asked about it, I would always say my piece.

“But looking back over my career there have certainly been times I have not come out and said what I wanted because of the repercussions I felt would happen to me in terms of how people would perceive me.

“If you are in a white-dominated sport and the people at the top of that are predominantly white males, you don’t want to step out of line.

“It is good that people are using their platform now. We can’t just leave it any more.

“Not just in England and the United States, but around the world, now is the time. I think the tide is slowly turning.”