Sensible, dependable, mature, warm, likeable, responsible, Leon isn't as old as he sounds. He can be quite witty and he likes to join in with the other lads. He's an only child from North London and he has spent a year in the Arsenal youth team before he joined Harchester. He's a centre back in the Tony Adam's mould, leading the line and making his presence felt. Leon has a three year old son, Clayton, from an ex-girlfriend who he is determined to support. His form fell away at Arsenal because of tiredness after he's foolishly took a night shift to earn more money. Leon had supported Arsenal as a child and the day they released him was the worst day of his life. He thought that he had blown his one chance at making it as a professional footballer so he was delighted when he got offered a second chance by Harchester United.

Leon Richards started off the 1998/99 season in the Harchester youth team. It was clear that he had talent but his off the field problems seemed to be holding him back. While in Harchester, Leon stayed at the youth hostel where he roomed with fellow new boy, Billy O'Neil. After Billy convinced Leon to break curfew so they could go clubbing, they were forced to hide when they spotted Frank Patcham. They took refuge in the toilets but when they saw Frank coming towards them, Leon panicked and ran while Billy hid in one of the cubicles. Moments later, Jerry Block threw a package containing £50,000 into one of the cubicles. Billy couldn't believe his luck but Leon was more cautious and he knew that the owner would want it back. Leon began to receive phone calls in the middle of the night but it turned out that they were from his ex-girlfriend, Claire who was demanding child support. Leon didnt have enough money to pay her so he felt that he had no choice but to pay her out of the £50,000 that Billy had found. Billy wasn't happy when he found out, he didn't understand how Leon could spend the money and he couldn't. Early one morning, Billy took the money from under Leon's pillow and traveled to London. He went by limo, stopping off at designer stores along the way. Back at training, Leon was forced to lie for Billy. Frank rang Billy's parents to confirm the story and when he found out that Leon had been covering for him, he fined Leon two weeks wages – which he couldn't afford. When Billy got back to the hostel in the early hours of the morning - he was floored by Leon. The following day, Billy received a warning from Frank but Leon received a suspension for violent conduct. However, the boys were still on speaking terms afterwards. It became clear that the owners of the money were onto them and after the boys had their room thrashed, Leon forced Billy to sell all the items that he had bought. They couldn't bring the items back to the shops because they didn't have the receipts. Instead, they attempted to sell the items to the first team players. They had no luck and they ended up getting laughed out of the dressing room. In the end, all they sold were two designer suits to Warren Masters for less than a quarter of the price Billy had paid for them. It was clear that this idea wasn't going to work so instead, they attempted to recoup their loses down the bookies. They put eight separate bets of £1,000 each on for Manchester United to beat Harchester at Addiston Road. All was going according to plan until the last minute when Karl Fletcher equalized for the Dragons. It came as a blow to the lads because they were now a further £8,000 down with no chance of paying it back. On the field, things were looking up for Leon. His form in the youth team had been outstanding and he was showing signs of breaking into the first team. However, both himself and Alex were fighting it out for the same position. Only one of them would get the contract so the tension increased. Leon had the advantage up until he finally received his payback for spending the money, the incident left him hospitalized. After hearing the news, Alex was overjoyed but when he heard that it wouldn't be as serious as they first though, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He spiked Leon's drink which caused him to pass out, he was rushed back to hospital and after a routine check up, drugs were found in his system. This put Alex in pole position for the contract. Alex began to hold down a regular place in the side while Leon was still confused by the failed drugs test. During his lay off, he got talking to Julie who worked at the clubs canteen, the two of them got on really well and after a while they started seeing each other. He soon began to suspect that Alex had something to do with the failed drugs test, so to stop the truth from coming out, Alex started going out with Leon's ex-girlfriend, Claire. This wouldn't have bothered Leon but for the fact that she has custody of his son, Clayton. Alex threatened to harm Clayton if Leon told anybody what had really happened. Leon told Claire what Alex had threatened to do and he pleaded with her to leave him but she thought it was just jealousy on Leon's behalf. Leon knew he had to protect his son so he took the drastic step of running away with him, less than a week before the FA Cup final. Billy had seen enough so he decided to let Alex's mother know what Alex had been doing to Leon and she informed Frank about what had been going on. Frank was furious and as a result, Leon replaced Alex in the line-up for the FA Cup final. Leon had a steady game as Harchester lifted the cup, he finally signed professional for the club in the summer of 1999, putting an end to his money problems. He could now start to enjoy life.

The following season brought European football to The Dragons' Lair. After a poor start in the league, the team had a chance to put things right when they were drawn against Ajax in the early rounds of the UEFA Cup. The team traveled to Amsterdam determined to enjoy their European adventure. Many fans made the trip to Amsterdam, including Kelly and Julie. The game finished 2-2 but Harchester were very happy with their performance, considering that they had scored two away goals. When the team arrived at the airport, they were informed that their flight had been delayed. Agent, Biloo Kapour was also flying back to Harchester and when he heard about this, he offered several of his clients a seat on his private plane. Leon decided that he had waited long enough and before he boarded the plane, he proposed to Julie, she agreed to marry him and Biloo allowed her to fly back to Harchester on the private plane with Leon. Sadly, the plane never reached Harchester, it disappeared without a trace and several club personnel including Julie Alexander, Leon Richards, Sean Hocknell, Viktor Tankayev, Gary Blackburn and Biloo Kapour were never heard from again.

Statistics

First Appearance: Episode 2.01
Final Appearance: Episode 3.04

Season 2 Character Popularity: 9.84% (4th)

Filmography

London to Brighton (2006) .... Chum
Holby City- The Eleventh Commandment (2004) TV Episode .... Jamie Patterson
The Bill (1998) TV Episode .... Martin Davis
The Afternoon Play - Girls' Weekend (2003) TV Episode .... Gavin
Footballers' Wives .... Ian Walmsley (Series 1-2) (2002-2003)
Dog Eat Dog (2001) .... Jess
Bad Girls .... Josh Mitchell (Series 2-4) (2000-2002)
Losing It (2000) TV Episode .... Josh Mitchell
A Kind of Hush (1999) .... Tony
Wonderland (1999) .... Alex
Frighteners - Jevan (1997) TV Episode .... Jevan
2point4 Children - And Now the Screaming Starts (1996) TV Episode .... Band Member
The Biz (1994) (mini) TV Series .... Luke

Last updated June 2006. For more up-to-date information, please visit IMDb.