Ex Seagull Richards revels in return

Matthew Richards has paid homage to Brighton for giving him the chance to play regular football, after falling out of favour at Ipswich Town.

The 25 year old enjoyed much success at Ipswich Town, including being the youngest to play in the UEFA Cup Match,against Anvir Beggen in 2002. He then spent time in the left back position under Joe Royle, helping the team make the playoffs in the 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 seasons. However,
when Jim Magilton took over as manager, he fell out of favour and was sidelined for much of his remaining time there,playing only in the reserves.

Brighton came calling in 2007 and gave him the opportunity to play every every week again, what every footballer wants to do.

He told the Express and Star: 'They got me playing again every single week and that`s what you enjoy most. You don`t enjoy sitting on the bench and playing gets your confidence going.'

The midfielder added he really enjoyed his time with the club saying 'I made some good friends and really enjoyed how they tried to play football. They tried to get it down and play and that`s what I prefer to do. I`ve got nothing but good memories but a lot has changed.'

Though he spent some great times at the Withdean, he will not be holding back when it comes to scoring for Walsall.

He concluded: 'I scored against them last year which was nice but I`ll score against anyone - it doesn`t matter to me. It`s going to be a tough game but we went down there last year and put in a great performance.'

Walsall then came calling after 3 stints at Brighton and he signed for them in August 2009. He has then secured his place in midfield and we look ahead to many more games involving the Essex born lad.

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