St Ives Town have secured some serious firepower for the new Southern League season with the addition of vastly experienced forward Marc Richards.
The 38-year-old – who's fired Barnsley, Chesterfield and Northampton Town to promotion during a 20 year career – signed for the Southern League Premier Division Central's Saints on Sunday.
Pictured lifting the League Two championship trophy with David Buchanan and Chris Wilder in 2016 after finishing the season as the Cobblers' top scorer, the striker finished last season at National League Yeovil Town, scoring three times in seven appearances after starting the campaign with Cambridge United in League Two.
In total, Richards racked up over 600 appearances in the Football League for a number of other clubs including Port Vale, Swindon Town and Swansea City after kicking off his career at Blackburn Rovers.
Marc Richards joins the Iveshttps://t.co/PtSBWW177K
— St Ives Town FC (@stivestownfc) August 22, 2020
Saints boss Ricky Marheineke was delighted to secure the services of Richards who still coaches at Northampton's academy.
“It's a fantastic signing, as soon as I knew Marc may be an option it was a no brainer to do everything we could to make it happen,” Marheineke told the club's website.
“Marc is not only going to lead by example in the way he plays but his experience and leadership will be a massive boost for the squad. The staff and I have worked really hard to ensure we got this deal done and we can now look forward to having Marc involved and trying to kick on this season.
“Marc turned down more lucrative offers from a team in our league and the leagues above to join us in our quest for success. It's great Marc has brought into our vision and what we are trying to achieve. This is a huge compliment to everyone involved with the club.”
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Images courtesy of The Non-League Paper & @stivestownfc/Twitter
