Micah Richards’ enormous BBC salary, love life and impressive son | Football | Sport
Micah Richards is a regular fixture on football television (Image: Getty)
Since he retired in 2019, Micah Richards has become one of the most popular faces in football. From co-hosting The Rest Is Football podcast and featuring on the panel for CBS Sports’ highly popular Champions League coverage, Richards has asserted himself as a must-have for big broadcasters.
As well as providing insight from someone who played at the elite level of the game, Richards himself is a brilliant character and offers a unique edge to any coverage he’s part of. From his infectious laugh to cheeky jokes, Richards has won over UK football fans with his presenting style.
As a player, Richards came through the academy at Manchester City and as the man himself said: “Burst onto the scene”. He would stay at City for 10 years, being loaned out on one occasion to Fiorentina before securing a permanent transfer to Aston Villa in 2015.
Despite spending four years at Villa, Richards’ appearances were incredibly limited due to a persistent knee injury that would ultimately end his career in 2019. When he hung up his boots, he had not played for the club since October 2016. However, a successful career on TV was just around the corner for the 13-cap England international.
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Back in December, Richards got a new role as the manager of Warley FC – after the club was named Specsavers’ Best Worst Team. The partnership will be documented in a 12-part YouTube series. After almost a decade on our screens, Express Sport takes a closer look at Richards’ achievements, personal life and big BBC salary.
Richards often provides a comical edge to his punditry duties (Image: Getty)
Enormous BBC salary and net worth
As part of his work with Match of the Day, Richards takes home around £200,000 per year from the BBC. This doesn’t even factor in the salary from CBS or Sky, which will see the former right-back bag an enormous total salary for his efforts in the media world.
Even as a player, Richards was earning massive amounts of money per week. Despite this, he famously spoke about his City negotiations before leaving for Villa – something which he regrets. He said: “At 17 years old, I earned £5k-a-week. Manchester City offered me £100k-a-week for 5 years. I said no because I was number two to Zabaleta. It’s the worst decision l’ve ever made. Why do you think I work for every broadcaster? I went to Aston Villa, that was less money.
“But then we got relegated in the first season, so my wages halved. So l’ve gone from a £100,000-a-week offer to like £25,000 in the Championship.” Richards has also been open about his spending habits, forking out £200 for a haircut. He also purchased a home for £3m, further evidence of his wealth, which reportedly stands at £37m according to FootballFanCast.
Micah Richards always has a smile on his face (Image: Getty)
Richards’ salary is likely to receive an even bigger bump now that The Rest Is Football has been signed by Netflix for the World Cup this year. The deal is reportedly 10 times higher than Gary Lineker’s BBC wage, so Richards is likely to be highly remunerated for his contributions.
Confidential love life
Richards keeps his personal life guarded from the public eye and at the time of writing it is believed that he is single. His Instagram profile is largely dedicated to his working life and travels around the world with colleagues.
He was previously linked with former Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan, Scott Sinclair’s ex, but she dismissed the gossip herself. “I’ve never even met him. I just don’t know how this rumour has started,” she said.
Richards is highly paid (Image: Getty)
Impressive son
Despite the fact he doesn’t have a partner on the scene, Richards does have a child. His son is eight years old and Richards has spoken about him on The Rest Is Football with Lineker and Alan Shearer. He talked about his footballing aspirations and having to balance being a dad with his broadcasting career.
“He’s seven. He’s started playing and he scored eight goals the other day just for a local team. He’s actually very good,” Richards said. “The problem with me is I don’t get to see him play all the time because I work Saturdays and the games are Saturday mornings. If I’ve got to get to a Match of the Day, I can only watch the first half.”
“I just put my hood up on the sideline. I don’t shout anything, encourage anything. I just let him breathe. Let him enjoy the game. That’s what I do.”
