A fans' favourite from two previous spells with the Imps, Richard penned a two-year-deal at Sincil Bank in the summer of 2009 following his release by Notts County.

'Butch' made over 100 appearances for the Imps in his first spell, which included two Play-Off Final appearances, having joined the Imps from Kettering Town in August 2001, before a move to League One side Oldham Athletic. He returned to the Imps on loan briefly in 2005 before returning to Oldham and then on to Peterborough United the following year.

A move to Notts County followed and he went on to score 17 goals from his 64 appearances for the Magpies, before being released this summer. The box-to-box midfielder, who started his career with his hometown club Northampton Town and also played for Rushden & Diamonds, was County's top scorer and second top scorer in his two years at Meadow Lane.

Having found his first team chances limited following the arrival of Chris Sutton as manager, Richard was allowed to link up with former City boss Keith Alexander at Macclesfield Town on February 9th 2010 on a month-long emergency loan deal.