Richard Garcia

This article is about the Australian soccer player. For the Brazilian soccer player, see Richard Garcia Miranda. For the chief secretary of the British government in Gibraltar, see Richard Garcia (Gibraltar). For the American bishop, see Richard John Garcia.

Richard García

Garcia with Australia
Personal information
Full name	Richard Garcia [1]
Date of birth	(1981-09-04) 4 September 1981 (age 42) [2]
Place of birth	Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) [3]
Position(s)	Winger / Striker / Attacking midfielder [4]
Youth career
	Olympic Kingsway
1997–1999	West Ham United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2004	West Ham United	16	(0)
2000	→ Leyton Orient (loan)	18	(4)
2004–2007	Colchester United	82	(16)
2007–2012	Hull City	114	(8)
2012–2013	Melbourne City	24	(6)
2013–2014	Sydney FC	23	(6)
2014	Minnesota United FC	2	(0)
2014–2017	Perth Glory	58	(5)
Total		337	(45)
International career
2003	Australia U23	2	(0)
2008–2012	Australia	17	(2)
Managerial career
2018–2020	Perth Glory (assistant)
2018–2020	Perth Glory Youth
2020–2022	Perth Glory
2022–	Australia U23 (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Richard Garcia (born 4 September 1981) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for Australia's U23 team, ^[5] having previously managed A-League Men's side Perth Glory.

As a player, Garcia played for West Ham United, Leyton Orient, Colchester United, Hull City, Melbourne City, Sydney FC, Minnesota United, Perth Glory and internationally for Australia.

Club career

West Ham United

Born in Perth, Garcia was a product of the West Ham United youth academy, moving from Australia to England to join the Hammers at the age of 15 after being spotted by a scout who had initially gone to watch his brother. ^[6] He signed a professional contract with West Ham in September 1998. ^[7] He was a key member of the team that won the FA Youth Cup and FA Premier Youth League double in 1998–99, scoring in every round of West Ham's run to the Youth Cup Final, eight in total. ^[8] He went out on loan to local side Leyton Orient in August 2000, making 21 appearances in League and Cup competitions and scoring four goals. ^[9] Injury to his knee ligaments ended his season and he returned to West Ham in November 2000. ^[10] He made his first team debut for West Ham in a League Cup match away at Reading in September 2001, but failed to gain a regular place in the team. After West Ham were relegated to the First Division in 2003, Garcia featured a few more times for the first-team, but made only 16 league appearances for the club before moving on to Colchester United in 2004. ^[9]

Colchester United

Garcia signed for Colchester United in September 2004 for an undisclosed fee, and made his debut in the same month against Swindon Town. He went on to make 30 appearances in the 2004–05 season, scoring six goals. ^[9] The following season Garcia played an important part in helping the club to second place in League One and promotion to the Championship, ^[3] and to the fifth-round of the FA Cup where they were beaten by English champions Chelsea, although Colchester were at one point winning the match after Garcia's cross was put into his own net by Ricardo Carvalho. ^[11] Garcia's season was cut short by a knee injury in March 2006, which later required surgery. ^[12] Following the end of the season, Garcia signed a new contract with the club. ^[13] In August 2006, he scored Colchester's first goal of the 2006–07 season in the Championship on the opening game against Birmingham City, ^[14] going on to make 36 league appearances, scoring seven goals, ^[9] as Colchester pushed for a place in the end of season promotion playoff positions. ^[15] At the end of the season, Garcia had made a total of 96 appearances in all competitions for Colchester United, scoring 21 goals. ^[9]

Hull City

Despite the offer of a new deal at Colchester, Garcia signed a three-year contract with Hull City on 2 July 2007, on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling. ^[16] He made his league debut for Hull against Plymouth Argyle in August 2007 and scored his first goal in the next game in the 3–0 win over Crewe Alexandra. ^[17] He played a leading role in the club's push for promotion in the 2007–08 season, despite a shoulder injury suffered in April 2008. ^[18] His goal against Burnley in March 2008, scored from 35-yards out, was voted Hull's goal of the season for 2007–08 ^[19] Garcia returned to the Premiership after Hull City's promotion play-off victory over Bristol City in May 2008. Garcia started Hull's first top flight game against Fulham on 16 August 2008, and performed well in his favoured right wing position. The following weekend at Ewood Park in a 1–1 draw against Blackburn Rovers, he scored Hull's equaliser with a header in the 39th minute, two minutes after Jason Roberts had given Blackburn the lead.

On 31 July 2009, it was revealed that Garcia had ruptured knee ligaments and would be out for at least three months. ^[20] On 12 November 2010, he scored his first goal in two seasons, in a 2–0 win against Preston at Deepdale. ^[21]

On 13 May 2011, Garcia had his one-year contract extension offer withdrawn because he was told he would be out for up to nine months with an injured cruciate ligament.

He made his return from injury in a 1–0 win over Coventry City on 10 December 2011

Melbourne Heart

Garcia signed a one-year contract with A-League outfit Melbourne Heart FC on 23 August 2012. ^[22]

Sydney FC

On 16 August 2013, it was announced that Garcia had signed a 1-year deal with Sydney FC. . ^[23] Garcia made his official debut for Sydney FC in the first game of the 2013–14 season at home to the Newcastle Jets. Sydney won the game 2–0, with Garcia having a late goal disallowed for offside. Garcia scored his first goal for Sydney FC in the Round 5 Big Blue clash against Melbourne Victory, just 2 minutes into the match, after a howler from Victory goalkeeper Nathan Coe.

Minnesota United FC

Garcia signed a deal with Minnesota United FC on 5 May 2014 for the 2014 Spring Season with an option for the Fall Season. ^[24] Due to difficulties in obtaining a work visa, Garcia only played two games for Minnesota. He made his debut for the team on 31 May 2014 when he was substituted into the game against Atlanta Silverbacks in the 67th minute. ^[25]

Perth Glory

It was announced on 8 July 2014 that Garcia signed a 2-year contract with Perth Glory. ^[26]

On 12 October, Garcia made his debut for Perth Glory in a 2–1 win against Wellington Phoenix. He was deployed as a left-sided midfielder in a 4-4-2 diamond formation.^{[ citation needed ]}

For the 2015–16 season, it was announced that Richard would take over as captain from Michael Thwaite after making controversial comments about the team's situation from the season before.

On 14 May 2017, Garcia was released by the Glory, ^[27] and he announced his retirement from professional football. ^[19]

In 2018, Garcia took on a position of Perth Glory Assistant Coach for the senior team and head coach for the youth team. ^[28]

Garcia was appointed Head Coach of Perth Glory in September 2020. ^[29]

International career

Garcia warming up for Australia

In an interview with Australia's Sun-Herald newspaper in April 2008, Garcia said he had ambitions to play for the Socceroos, Australia's national team, and hoped that his good form for Hull in their push for promotion to the Premier League would help him to achieve this. ^[30] On 19 August 2008 he received his first senior international cap when he came on as a second-half substitute in the friendly against South Africa at Loftus Road in London. That match ended in a 2–2 draw. His second cap came in a friendly match against the Netherlands, again as a substitute, where the match was won by the Socceroos 2–1. On 13 June 2010, Garcia became the first Hull City player ever to play in the World Cup, by starting as a forward in Australia's 0-4 defeat to Germany in the group stage. ^[31] On 7 December 2012, he scored his first ever goal for Australia as they defeated Guam 9–0 in a 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup game.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	7 November 2012	Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong	Guam	0–9	0–9	2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
2.	9 December 2012	Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong	Chinese Taipei	1–0	8–0	2013 EAFF East Asian Cup

Personal life

García speaks fluent Spanish since his parents are from Spain, and he supports Real Madrid. ^[6] He became close friends with Michael Carrick during their time at West Ham, and they were ushers at each other's weddings. ^[32]

Career statistics

As of 7 June 2014.

Club	League	Season	League			Cup			Continental			Total
			Apps	Goals	Assis	Apps	Goals	Assis	Apps	Goals	Assis	Apps	Goals	Assis
Leyton Orient (loan)	League Two	2000–01	18	4	0	3	0	0				21	4	0
	Leyton Orient Total		18	4	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	21	4	0
West Ham United	Premier League	2001–02	8	0	0	1	0	0				9	0	0
		2002–03	1	0	0	1	0	0				2	0	0
	Championship	2003–04	7	0	1	3	0	0				10	0	1
		2004–05	1	0	0	0	0	0				1	0	0
	West Ham Total		17	0	1	5	0	0	0	0	0	22	0	1
Colchester United	League One	2004–05	24	4	3	5	1	0				29	5	3
		2005–06	22	5	4	5	1	1				27	6	5
	Championship	2006–07	36	7	6	2	0	1				38	7	7
	Colchester Total		82	16	13	12	1	2	0	0	0	94	17	15
Hull City	Championship	2007–08	38	5	3	6	2	2				44	7	5
	Premier League	2008–09	23	1	2	4	0	1	0	0	0	27	1	3
		2009–10	18	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	19	0	1
	Championship	2010–11	25	2	2	1	0	0				26	2	2
		2011–12	10	0	0	2	0	0				12	0	0
	Hull City Total		114	8	8	14	2	3	0	0	0	128	10	11
Melbourne Heart	A-League	2012–13	24	6	4							24	6	4
	Melbourne Heart Total		24	6	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	24	6	4
Sydney FC	A-League	2013–14	23	6	2							23	6	2
	Sydney FC Total		23	6	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	23	6	2
Minnesota United FC	NASL	2014	2	0	0							2	0	0
	Minnesota United FC Total		2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Perth Glory	A-League	2014–15
	Perth Glory Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career total			280	40	28	34	3	5	0	0	0	314	43	33

Cup includes domestic cups and promotion/relegation playoffs

Managerial statistics

As of 18 May 2022 ^[33]

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Perth Glory		September 2020	March 2022	48	12	12	24	025.00
Total				48	12	12	24	025.00

Honours

Club

Colchester United

• Football League One Runner-up: 2005–06 ^[34]

Hull City

• Football League Championship Playoff Winner: 2007–08 ^[35]

Minnesota United

• NASL Spring Season Champions: 2014 ^[36]

References

1. "FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010: List of Players: Australia" (PDF). FIFA. 4 June 2010. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 April 2020.
2. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 162. ISBN   978-1-84596-601-0.
3. "Profiles". Perth Glory FC. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
4. Davidson, John. "Garcia sticks with Glory". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
5. @RichGarcia19 (17 May 2022). "Very happy to be part of the coaching team as assistant for our U/23 Olyroos Asia Cup campaign. Looking forward to…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
6. "International Honours". City Magazine. No. 38. Hull City A.F.C. October 2008. pp. 27–30.
7. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2005). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 227. ISBN   1-85291-665-6.
8. Barber, David (1 April 2006). "The class of '99". The Football Association. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
9. "Richard Garcia". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 7 February 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
10. "Striking problems at Brisbane Road". BBC Sport. 16 November 2000. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
11. "Chelsea 3–1 Colchester". BBC Sport. 19 February 2006. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
12. "Surgery for Colchester ace Garcia". BBC Sport. 24 April 2006. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
13. "Garcia pens new Colchester deal". BBC Sport. 1 June 2006. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
14. "Birmingham 2–1 Colchester". BBC Sport. 5 August 2006. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
15. "Garcia primed for play-off push". BBC Sport. 22 April 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
16. "Garcia leaves Colchester for Hull". BBC Sport. 2 July 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
17. "Crewe 0–3 Hull". BBC Sport. 15 August 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
18. "Garcia determined to return". Hull Daily Mail. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2008.
19. "Retiring Garcia bows out a WA football legend". Perth Glory. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
20. "Garcia injured". 442au. 31 July 2009. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
21. "Preston 0 – 2 Hull". BBC Sport. 12 November 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
22. "Richard Garcia joins Heart". Football Federation Australia. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
23. "Sydney FC signs Socceroo Richard Garcia". Sydney FC. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
24. "Minnesota United FC Signs Australian National Team Player Richard Garcia". Minnesota United FC. 5 May 2014. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
25. "MN United FC Gameday". Minnesota United FC. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
26. "GARCIA HEADS HOME". Perth Glory. 8 July 2014. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
27. "Aussie Media Watch: Diego Castro signs new Glory deal, Mathew Leckie relegated from Bundesliga". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
28. "Exciting times ahead for new-look PGFC Academy". Perth Glory FC. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
29. Morgan, Gareth (18 September 2020). "Richard Garcia appointed new Glory Head Coach". Perth Glory FC . Retrieved 18 September 2020.
30. Hall, Matthew (13 April 2008). "Garcia who? Quiet Australian ready to star". The Age. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
31. "City Winger Makes History". Hull City A.F.C. Archived from the original on 18 June 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
32. "Full Circle". City Magazine. No. 38. Hull City AFC. October 2008. p. 33.
33. "Richard Garcia". ALeagueStats. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
34. "Tier Three (League One) Honours". Coludaybyday.co.uk.
35. "Division One (Championship) Play-Off Finalists". Coludaybyday.co.uk.
36. "MINNESOTA UNITED FC 2014 SPRING CHAMPION!". NASL.com.

External links

• Richard Garcia profile at the Hull City website
• Oz Football profile
• Richard Garcia at Soccerbase
• Richard Garcia at National-Football-Teams.com