Supporters of Wolverhampton Wanderers have been waxing lyrical over their former player, Dean Richards, after a Twitter post from Tim Spiers.
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On Wednesday, the Athletic reporter on the Old Gold shared a story in which he had spoken to former teammates of Richards, who passed away in 2011 aged 36 after a long-term illness, leaving fans praising their former player.
It's been nine years since Dean Richards left us aged just 36. I spoke to team mates from his four clubs…
Bradford – Paul West
Wolves – Don Goodman
Southampton – James Beattie
Spurs – Tim SherwoodThis is Deano – the footballer and the man.https://t.co/57Kn5RcJ9I
— Tim Spiers (@TimSpiers) March 4, 2020
An absolute Rolls Royce of a Centre Back, would easily have got into this current team.
— Jez Massey (@jezmassey) March 4, 2020
Loved watching deano play, oozed class
— Ryan Matthews (@ryan_jayno) March 4, 2020
Rolls Royce defender!
— Richard Evans (@richydafish) March 4, 2020
Would Dean Richards have been a key player in Nuno Espirito Santo's current side?Yes, he was a fantastic player
Not quite, but it's very close
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The centre-back played for Wolves for four seasons between 1995 and 1999, having arrived at Molineux from Bradford City and departing for Southampton (per Transfermarkt).
Richards then went on to play for the Saints for two seasons before moving to Tottenham Hotspur, the club he retired from in 2005 (per Transfermarkt), leaving Wolves supporters with fond memories of his time at Molineux.
Richards was one of the best ball playing defenders I’ve ever seen play and not be capped at Senior international level. Correct me if I’m wrong about that.
— ?D?M ? ? (@Findingnuno) March 4, 2020
Cracking defender, gets into my all time 11.sad loss
— Andy Gardner (@AndyGar51494231) March 4, 2020
“effortlessly glide out of defence like a serene swan in a pool of champagne” a beautiful analogy and perfectly sums up my memories of Deano.
A lovely article and a fitting tribute to him ?— Richard Collins (@RichieC142) March 4, 2020
He’d of fitted in perfectly in this side now
— tamworth wolves (@WolvesTamworth) March 4, 2020
What do we think?
As can be seen in the responses from lots of Wolves supporters, it is clear to see that Richards was highly rated and incredibly respected by the Molineux faithful.
It is also clear that supporters believe that their former man had the talents to have been a key player in Nuno Espirito Santo’s current side.