Jazz Richards

Swansea City

Youth and first–team breakthrough

Born in Swansea, Richards played local football for his schools and local club West End, before joining the Cardiff City Academy. After two seasons, he was released and joined the academy at their South Wales rivals Swansea City at the age of fifteen. Richards initially started out as a central midfielder but switched to playing as a defender under manager Roberto Martínez due to the increased competition between midfielders in the first team at the time. He has since continued to play at that position as well. Richards earned £60 a week while on a scholarship with the Swans. He then signed his first professional contract with the team. After spending two seasons with the academy and reserve sides, Richards made his professional debut for Swansea in a Championship match against Middlesbrough during a 3–0 loss on 15 August 2009, replacing Shaun MacDonald as a substitute in the 63rd minute. After Richards made 15 appearances during the 2009–10 season, he signed a new two-year deal with Swansea. The start of the 2010–11 season saw Richards spend the opening six months as an unused substitute or in the reserve side. He did not make his first appearance of the season until 3 January 2011, during a 2–1 defeat against Leicester City following a defensive injury crisis where several first team players were ruled out. Throughout January and February, Richards was given a handful of first team opportunities. However,…

Richards represented the Wales under-17 and under-19 sides. He was called up to the under-21 squad for the first time in March 2009 to face Luxembourg. He won ten or more caps at all three levels during his youth career. On 27 May 2012, he gained his first full international cap for Wales in their 2–0 friendly loss to Mexico in New Jersey, replacing Neil Taylor for the last ten minutes of the match. Wales qualified for Euro 2016 and Richards was called up into the final 23-man squad. He played his only game in the tournament as a late substitute in the team's first match, a 2–1 victory over Slovakia. Wales went on to reach the semi-finals before losing to Portugal. As of October 2018, Richards has had 14 international caps with Wales, including seven appearances in the starting lineup. He played in four matches in Euro 2016 qualifying and three in 2018 World Cup qualifying.

Club

As of 22 February 2020

International

As of match played 11 October 2018

Richards' comes from a family with a sporting background as his cousin Eli Walker is a professional athlete. Walker is a rugby union player.