League One side Crewe Alexendra have today confirmed the signing of Goalkeeper Dave Richards.
The former Bristol City shot-stopper joins the club on a free after being released by the Robins at the end of last season.
The 21-year-old has signed a twelve month contract with the Railwaymen with the option to extend it an extra year.
Richards moved to Ashton Gate from Cardiff City in 2014, but never made an impact, failing to make a competitive appearance.
Speaking to the club’s official website, manager Steve Davis says the deal is “good forward planning,” especially if they end up losing highly rated Ben Garratt to a bigger club.
“Having another young keeper who is eager to play, ambitious and wants to do well and push Ben is a better option than a more experienced choice.
“Inevitably, when we lose Ben (Garratt) we will be looking for someone to come in and replace him and if we have that replacement already at the football club I think that’s good planning.
“It gives Fred (Barber, keeper coach) time to work with him and improve him. He’s got a lot of assets and things that we can work with and he ticks a lot of boxes.
“It has been difficult to find a young goalkeeper that would want to be number two to start with and getting the odd appearance but be ready to fill Ben’s boots.
“Dave is going to have to be thrown at some time and who knows what’s going to happen but what we can do is work with him, improve him, see how he does in the under 21s and try and get him ready if Ben is out or we need a replacement.
“We had choices of routes to go down, and different to what we have done before, but hopefully this is the best one.
“There’s a good canvas for Fred to work from, he’s not had an opportunity yet but he’ll be eager to get that first appearance and build on that.”
