Bury Kazim-Richards left his native East London to play for
Bury when he was 15. The contract was signed after a fan of the club, Aaron Berry, won the sum for the club in a competition run by
Coca-Cola which, in turn, led to Kazim-Richards being dubbed the "Coca-Cola Kid".
Sheffield United Subsequently, Brighton 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. He scored once in his only season in top-flight English football for the eventually relegated Blades, in a 2–2 draw with
Bolton Wanderers on 11 November 2006.
Fenerbahçe in 2008 On 15 June 2007, Kazim-Richards signed a four-year contract with the Turkish club
Fenerbahçe. He scored his second
UEFA Champions League goal for Fenerbahçe in the quarter-final first leg against
Chelsea on 2 April 2008. After serving as a rotation player during the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons, Kazim-Richards broke into
Christoph Daum's first choice line-up in the 2009–10 season. Despite success on the pitch during the 2009–10 season, Kazim-Richards had an argument with Fenerbahçe fans after being taken off the pitch in a match against
İstanbul Başakşehir. Against
Beşiktaş, Kazim-Richards was red carded for swearing at the referee and banned for four matches. While serving his ban, on the same night that his teammates lost to
Kasımpaşa, the media reported Kazim-Richards was out on the town. This report was denied by the Fenerbahçe board who released an official statement. The following day, pictures of Kazim-Richards were released and the Fenerbahçe board rescinded their earlier statement, claiming that Kazim-Richards had lied about his whereabouts which had triggered their denial of the report.
Toulouse (loan) Kazim-Richards joined French club
Toulouse on a six-month loan from January 2010, for whom he scored on his debut in a 3–1 away win against
Le Mans.
Galatasaray He returned to Fenerbahçe for the following season. On 3 January 2011, Fenerbahçe terminated his contract. He signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with
local rivals Galatasaray in January 2011 scoring against Fenerbahçe during the season. In July 2012 he went on trial with English
Premier League side
West Ham United, appearing in pre-season friendlies. He played a total of thirty one matches scoring five goals.
Blackburn Rovers (loan) against
Cardiff City in 2013 On 10 August 2012 it was confirmed by the official
Blackburn Rovers website that the striker had joined the club on a one-year loan deal with the view to a permanent transfer after spending the majority of pre season on trial with the Lancashire club. He scored two goals on his debut in pre season against
Cork City. On 18 August he scored on his competitive debut in a 1–1 away draw against
Ipswich Town. On 24 May 2013 it was announced that
Sussex Police had charged Kazim-Richards under Section 5 of the
Public Order Act over an alleged
homophobic gesture to
Brighton fans on 12 February 2013 while he was playing for Blackburn Rovers in a Championship match at his old club Brighton & Hove Albion's
Falmer Stadium. He was due to appear before magistrates in Brighton on 22 August 2013. The trial was set for 14 and 15 January 2014 at Brighton Magistrates Court. He was found guilty in April 2014 and fined £750 plus costs of £1,445. Richards has since stated that he has no regrets over his actions.
Bursaspor On 4 September 2013, Kazim-Richards joined
Bursaspor for €250,000. He signed a four-year deal on a salary of €1 million per year. Kazim-Richards scored his first official goal for Bursaspor in a
Turkish Cup game against
Adana Demirspor.
Feyenoord After a successful loan spell at
Feyenoord during the 2014–15 season, Kazim-Richards made a permanent move to the Dutch club in the summer of 2015. On 15 January 2016, Kazim-Richards threatened Dutch
Algemeen Dagblad newspaper journalist Mikos Gouka. As a result, Feyenoord manager
Giovanni van Bronckhorst dropped him from the squad and he did not play the next match, against
PSV.
Celtic On 1 February 2016, Kazim-Richards joined Scottish club
Celtic, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal. He scored his first goal for the club in a
Scottish Cup tie against
East Kilbride on 7 February 2016. He scored on his debut in a derby against
Atlético Paranaense after coming on as a substitute.
Corinthians On 6 January 2017, Kazim-Richards signed with another Brazilian club,
Corinthians, for a period of two years. In his debut, he scored in the friendly tournament the
Florida Cup.
Lobos BUAP Kazim-Richards completed a move to
Lobos BUAP of
Liga MX in July 2018.
Derby County On 15 October 2020, he signed a one-year deal with
Derby County. He scored his first goal for Derby in a 1–1 draw with
Coventry City on 1 December 2020. On 26 February 2021 it was reported that Kazim-Richards had signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until the end of the 2022 season. Following relegation in the
2021–22 season, Kazim-Richards departed the club upon the expiration of his contract.
Fatih Karagümrük On 19 July 2022, he signed a one-year deal with
Fatih Karagümrük S.K. ==International career==