Richardson was born in
Newcastle upon Tyne He joined
Everton as a schoolboy in 1978 and turned professional in 1980. A versatile
midfielder, the young Richardson often had to be content with deputising for the likes of
Paul Bracewell,
Peter Reid and
Kevin Sheedy. However, he still carved out a semi-regular place, and played in the Everton teams that lost the
1984 League Cup final to
Liverpool after a replay and won the
FA Cup in 1984. He picked up a
First Division title medal and a
Cup Winners' Cup medal in May 1985. However, he did not make the squad for the FA Cup final, which Everton lost 1–0 to
Manchester United. In
1985–86, he made 18 First Division appearances for the Toffees and scored three goals as they finished runners-up to
Liverpool in the league. A week after the title slipped out of Everton's grasp, they lost the FA Cup final 3–1 to Liverpool, but Richardson was not in the squad. He made 113 appearances in all for the Toffees, scoring 16 goals. After making one appearance for Everton early in the
1986–87 season, he was sold to
Watford for £225,000, helping the Hornets finish ninth in the First Division and reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup. After one season at
Vicarage Road, Richardson was sold to
Arsenal for £200,000. Richardson succeeded
Graham Rix on the Arsenal left wing, and played in the
1988 League Cup final as Arsenal lost to
Luton Town, Most notably, Richardson played in
Arsenal's dramatic victory at
Anfield where they won the title in the last minute of the last game of the season. Now a Championship winner at two different clubs, Richardson continued to be a regular the following season at Arsenal; however, he never totally got on with Gunners manager
George Graham and he was transferred to
Real Sociedad for £750,000 in the summer of 1990, where he was paired up with new signing
Dalian Atkinson and former Liverpool striker
John Aldridge. He had made a total of 121 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal, and scored eight goals. Richardson spent one season in
Basque Country before returning to England in the summer of 1991, signing for
Ron Atkinson's
Aston Villa for £450,000, and was an ever-present in his first two seasons at the club. Richardson became Villa's captain, and led the club to runners-up spot in the
inaugural season of the
Premier League and victory over
Manchester United in the
1994 League Cup final, In May 1994, when at the height of his success with Villa, he also won his one and only cap for
England, in a 5–0 friendly victory over
Greece on 17 May 1994. Atkinson was sacked as Villa manager in November 1994, with the club struggling near the foot of the Premier League, and his successor
Brian Little signed midfielder
Ian Taylor the following month. Atkinson was appointed manager of
Coventry City three months later, and swiftly made Richardson one of his first signings in a £300,000 deal. Richardson spent the next two and a half years at the Sky Blues repeatedly fending off relegation under both Atkinson and his successor,
Gordon Strachan. He left Coventry in September 1997, having scored once in the League Cup against
Hull City, and had spells at
Southampton,
Barnsley and finally
Blackpool. Richardson retired from playing in 2000, his career finishing on a low after Blackpool were relegated to
Division Three in his final game. ==Coaching career==