Colin Kazim-Richards

Colin Kazim-Richards (born 26 August 1986), also known as Colin Kâzım, Kâzım or Kâzım Kâzım, is a professional footballer, who last played as a forward for Süper Lig club Fatih Karagümrük S.K.

Born and raised in England, he qualified for Turkish nationality through his mother's heritage.

An anglicised form of the Turkish given name Kâzım was intended to be a middle name, which would have rendered his full name as Colin Kazim Richards, but due to an error, he was legally registered as Colin Kazim-Richards.

Having played as a junior for Queens Park Rangers and Arsenal, Kazim-Richards was handed a professional contract by Bury.

He noted Bury as a pinpoint of his career.

He found playing under former Manchester United player Chris Casper influential to his development.

He also went on to feature in the Football League for Brighton & Hove Albion before transferring to Premier League side Sheffield United where he remained for one season.

Following his declaration to play for Turkey internationally he went on to forge a career in Europe with Fenerbahçe, Toulouse, Galatasaray, Olympiacos, Bursaspor and Feyenoord.

He has had brief spells back in the United Kingdom with Blackburn Rovers, Celtic and Derby County as well as spending four years playing in Brazil and Mexico with Coritiba, Corinthians, Lobos BUAP, Veracruz and Pachuca.

In June 2005, at the age of 18, he was signed on a three-year contract by Brighton & Hove Albion for £250,000.

The contract was signed after a fan of the club, Aaron Berry, won the sum for the club in a competition run by Coca-Cola which, in turn, led to Kazim-Richards being dubbed the "Coca-Cola Kid".

In August 2006, at the start of the new season, he tried to hand in a transfer request after being dropped by manager Mark McGhee.

Subsequently, Brighton sold him to Sheffield United for £150,000 on 31 August 2006, the deadline day for the transfer window.

Kazim-Richards signed a three-year deal with the Blades after passing a medical and agreeing personal terms.

He scored once for the eventually relegated Blades, in a 2–2 draw with Bolton Wanderers on 11 November 2006.

In 2007, he chose to represent Turkey at international level, retiring in 2015.

Kazim-Richards earned 37 caps, scoring twice.

He was also capped at Turkey U21 and Turkey B level.

Kazim-Richards left his native East London to play for Bury when he was 15.

On 15 June 2007, Kazim-Richards signed a four-year contract with the Turkish club Fenerbahçe.

After serving as a rotation player during the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons, Kazim-Richards broke into Christoph Daum's first choice line-up in the 2009–10 season.

He scored his second UEFA Champions League goal for Fenerbahçe in the quarter-final first leg against Chelsea on 2 April 2008.

Despite success on the pitch during the 2009–10 season, Kazim-Richards had an argument with Fenerbahçe fans after being taken off the pitch in a match against İstanbul Başakşehir.

Against Beşiktaş, Kazim-Richards was red carded for swearing at the referee and banned for four matches.

While serving his ban, on the same night that his teammates lost to Kasımpaşa, the media reported Kazim-Richards was out on the town.

This report was denied by the Fenerbahçe board who released an official statement.

The following day, pictures of Kazim-Richards were released and the Fenerbahçe board rescinded their earlier statement, claiming that Kazim-Richards had lied about his whereabouts which had triggered their denial of the report.

Kazim-Richards joined French club Toulouse on a six-month loan from January 2010, for whom he scored on his debut in a 3–1 away win against Le Mans.

He returned to Fenerbahçe for the following season.

On 3 January 2011, Fenerbahçe terminated his contract.

He signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with local rivals Galatasaray in January 2011 scoring against Fenerbahçe during the season.

In July 2012 he went on trial with English Premier League side West Ham United, appearing in pre-season friendlies.

He played a total of thirty one matches scoring five goals.

On 10 August 2012 it was confirmed by the official Blackburn Rovers website that the striker had joined the club on a one-year loan deal with the view to a permanent transfer after spending the majority of pre season on trial with the Lancashire club.

He scored two goals on his debut in pre season against Cork City.

On 18 August he scored on his competitive debut in a 1–1 away draw against Ipswich Town.

On 24 May 2013 it was announced that Sussex Police had charged Kazim-Richards under Section 5 of the Public Order Act over an alleged homophobic gesture to Brighton fans on 12 February 2013 while he was playing for Blackburn Rovers in a Championship match at his old club Brighton & Hove Albion's Falmer Stadium.

He was due to appear before magistrates in Brighton on 22 August 2013.

The trial was set for 14 and 15 January 2014 at Brighton Magistrates Court.

He was found guilty in April 2014 and fined £750 plus costs of £1,445.