BBC
Former Tottenham player Dean Richards dies Dean Richards, the former Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton and Wolves defender, has died at the age of 36.
When Richards moved from Saints to Spurs in 2001 in an £8.1m deal it was the highest amount paid for a player with no senior international caps.
Just four years after that record switch, he was forced to end his 13-year playing career because of illness.
Since 2007, Richards had been youth-team coach at hometown club Bradford City, where he began his career.
In 1995 Richards was signed by Wolves and four years later moved to then-Premiership side Southampton, who were managed by current Cardiff boss Dave Jones at the time.
Richards also impressed under Jones's successor Glenn Hoddle, who took the centre-half with him to White Hart Lane in 2001.
Richards was dogged by injury at Spurs, however, making 73 appearances in his four years in north London.
After suffering dizzy spells and headaches, Richards was advised it would be harmful to his health to continue playing and hung up his boots in March 2005.
He had initially been diagnosed with an inner ear infection and underwent a scan for a brain tumour, which came back negative.
Richards played for England's Under-21s on four occasions but did not wins any caps at senior level.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/9408254.stmDAILY ECHO
Former Southampton defender Dean Richards passes awayDan Kerins
FORMER Saints defender Dean Richards has died, aged 36.
The centre half was admitted to a hospice in Leeds earlier this week.
He played for Southampton for two years, after being signed on a free transfer from Wolverhampton Wanderers, by Dave Jones in 1999.
He made 78 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring seven goals.
His partnership with Claus Lundekvam helped propel Saints on during the final season at The Dell, under the guidance of Glenn Hoddle.
When Hoddle left for Spurs, he returned to sign Richards for £8.1m.
At the time, it was the most amount paid for an English player who had never represented his country.
He spent four years at Tottenham Hotspur, before being forced to retire in 2005 on medical grounds. He had previously seen a specialist in relation to a suspected brain tumour.
While at White Hart Lane, he suffered a number of injuries and frequent dizzy spells and headaches, which ultimately led to his retirement.
In 2007, he began coaching at his home town club of Bradford City.
According to a spokesman at a club, Richards would come in to provide his 'time and experience to some of the young lads' coming through Bradford's ranks.
In total, Dean Richards played 405 games for Bradford, Wolves, Saints and Spurs, scoring 25 times.
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