COLIN KAZIM-RICHARDS

'Colin Kazim-Richards' (born August 26, 1986 in Leytonstone, London) is a professional footballer for who plays for Turkish Fenerbahçe SK in the Turkcell Super League. His father is of Antiguan descent,^[1] and his mother is Turkish Cypriot. The Turkish forename ''Kâzım'' was intended to be a middle name, which would have rendered his full name 'Colin Kazim Richards', but due to an error, he was registered as 'Colin Kazim-Richards'.^[2]

Contents

Early years

Bury

Brighton & Hove Albion

Sheffield United

Fenerbahçe

Turkish national football team

References

External links

Early years

Kazim-Richards attended Greenleaf Primary School in Walthamstow, where he quickly developed an interest in football, a passion which continued into secondary school where he represented Aveling Park School (Walthamstow) in inter-borough sports.

Bury

He started out his professional career at Bury after joining the club at the age of 15 and progressing through the club's Youth Team and Centre of Excellence. He broke into the first team in the 2004/05 season. Some outstanding performances at first team level caught the eyes of larger clubs.

Brighton & Hove Albion

At the age of 19 he was signed on a 3-year contract by Brighton & Hove Albion for £250,000. This occurred following a fan of the club, Aaron Berry, winning the sum for the club in a competition run by Coca-Cola which led to Kâzım-Richards being dubbed the "Coca-Cola Kid".
In a stop-start year, he was often brought on as a second-half substitute, and by the end of the 2005-2006 season, he had scored six league goals for the club, including its 5000^th League goal.
A pacy forward with a penchant for scoring spectacular goals but hindered by a petulant attitude, he submitted a transfer request after being omitted from Brighton's opening match starting line-up as they begin their campaign in 2006-07 against Rotherham.

Sheffield United

Brighton reluctantly sold him to Sheffield United for £150,000 on 31 August, 2006 (the deadline day for the transfer window). Kazim-Richards signed a three-year deal with the Blades after passing a medical and agreeing personal terms.
Kazim-Richards had an important role in the club's first Premiership win of the season against Middlesbrough on 30 September, completing the pass from which Rob Hulse scored the first goal in the 2-1 victory.
Kazim-Richards scored his first Premiership goal and his first Sheffield United goal in a 2-2 draw with Bolton Wanderers, 3 minutes after Rob Hulse scored his 4th goal of the season.

Fenerbahçe

On 15 June2007, Colin Kazim-Richards underwent a medical and signed a 4 year contract with the Turkish champions Fenerbahçe.^[3]

Turkish national football team

Colin Kazim-Richards scored a goal and made an assist for his debut for the Turkey U21, in a victory against Switzerland on 24 March 2007. Turkish national football team coach Fatih Terim declared on 30 April 2007 that Colin Kazim-Richards would play for the National (Senior) Team.^[4]
Turkish national football team coach Fatih Terim called him up for Bosnia and Brazil matches.^[5] He received his first senior international cap in a friendly against Brazil on June 52007, a 0-0 friendly in which he played 38 minutes.
His younger brother Remish Kazim-Richards, who plays for Interwood F.C. has also called up to the Turkey U15 National Team.

References

1.
2.
3. Kazim-Richards signed for 4 years
4. Turkey calls for Kazim-Richards
5. Turkey called for Kazim-Richards

External links

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★ PremierLeague.com