Colin Kâzım-Richards

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Personal information
Colin Kâzım-Richards
Full name	Colin Kâzım-Richards
Date of birth	August 26, 1986 (age 20)
Place of birth	Leytonstone, England
Nickname	CKR, Kazimo, The Coca-Cola Kid
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Sheffield United
Number	32
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-	Bury Brighton & Hove Albion Sheffield United	30 (3) 43 (5) 19 (1)
National team
2007	Turkey U21	1 (1)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:17, 19 March 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Colin Kâzım-Richards (born in August 26, 1986 in Leytonstone, London) is a professional footballer for who plays for Sheffield United in the Premiership. He is of Antiguan Descent.^[1] His father is Antiguan and his mother is a Turkish Cypriot. That is why he carries the Turkish name Kâzım as his middle name. His correct name ought to be Colin-Kâzım Richards, but due to a mistake at the registry office, he was christened 'Colin Kâzım-Richards'.

1 Early years
2 Bury
3 Brighton & Hove Albion
4 Sheffield United
5 Turkish National Team
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Early years

Kâzım-Richards attended Greenleaf Primary School in Walthamstow, where he quickly developed an interest in football, a passion which continued into secondary school where he represented Aveling Park School (Walthamstow) in inter-borough sports.

[edit] Bury

He started out his professional career at Bury after joining the club at the age of 15 and progressing through the club's Youth Team and Centre of Excellence. Some outstanding performances at first team level caught the eyes of larger clubs.

[edit] Brighton & Hove Albion

At the age of 19 he was signed on a 3-year contract by Brighton & Hove Albion for £250,000. This occurred following a fan of the club, Aaron Berry, winning the sum for the club in a competition run by Coca-Cola which led to Kâzım-Richards being dubbed the "Coca-Cola Kid".

In a stop-start year, he was often brought on as a second-half substitute, and by the end of the 2005-2006 season, he had scored six league goals for the club, including its 5000^th League goal.

A pacy forward with a penchant for scoring spectacular goals but hindered by a petulant attitude, he submitted a transfer request after being omitted from Brighton's opening match starting line-up as they begin their campaign in 2006-07 against Rotherham.

[edit] Sheffield United

Brighton reluctantly sold him to Sheffield United for £150,000 on 31 August 2006 (the deadline day for the transfer window). Kâzım-Richards signed a three-year deal with the Blades after passing a medical and agreeing personal terms.

Kâzım-Richards had an important role in the club's first Premiership win of the season against Middlesbrough on 30 September, completing the pass from which Rob Hulse scored the first goal in the 2-1 victory.

Kâzım-Richards scored his first Premiership goal and his first Sheffield United goal in a 2-2 draw with Bolton Wanderers, 3 minutes after Rob Hulse scored his 4th goal of the season.

[edit] Turkish National Team

Kâzım-Richards scored a goal and made an assist in his debut for Turkey U21 national team in Turkey U21's 2-1 win over Switzerland U21 on 24 March 2007.