Tottenham's second costliest signing at the time had a hard trail to reach White Hart Lane and when he scored on his Spurs debut and with Tottenham leading 3-0 against Manchester United at half-time it all looked rosy.  However, by the end of the match, Spurs had lost 3-5 and this was a sign of things to come for Richards.

He signed as a professional with his local club Bradford City in July 1992 and played 102 times for the Bantams in his time at Valley Parade, scoring six goals.

Richards left Bradford City in May 1995 becoming Wolverhampton Wanderers' record signing in the process.  It was £1.85million that took him to Molineux after a two month spell on loan at the First Division club.  While in the old gold, Richards plays a total of 145 games for the club getting eight goals in those games.

The central defender was getting a fair bit of recognition and has played four times for England Under-21s.

After four years at Wolves, his contract was up and he wanted to try his luck at a higher level, so after 122 league appearances he joined Southampton on a free transfer.

While at the Dell, he linked up with Norwegian Claus Lundekvam in the centre of the Saints' defence, giving them good finishes in his two seasons there, compared to previous seasons.  Under Glenn Hoddle, he flourished and he started to enjoy his game more.

At Southampton, he played 68 times with a record of two goals in that time.

In August 2001, Spurs make a £4 million bid for Dean, but his club reject it. This lead to Tottenham being reported to the League for improper approaches to the player and the club withdrawing their interest as they were given no encouragement to come back with a better bid.  But that was just what Spurs did and in late September, amid rancour and childish behaviour from the Saints' chairman, the player was signed on a four year deal (with an optional two years at the end of it) for £8.1 million - half to be paid on signing and the other 50% in 12 months time.

Deano's strengths are his strength and his aerial ability.  In a recent game for his former club against Spurs he won everything in the air that Spurs put his way.  With some youngsters in the heart of the defence, it was hoped his experience will add to their youth to blend a solid mixture into a formidable unit.

Spurs needed someone to bring in in this position who could dominate in the air and as Hoddle had worked extensively with Richards on the South Coast, he went for what he knew and signed Dean instead of taking a risk on a  foreign signing.  Richards showed some good qualities, but sometimes failed to live up to the reputation Hod had given him.  Started the 2002-03 season well alongside Anthony Gardner and they made a good central defensive pairing, when they were able to play together without injury.  It is hoped that the experience Richards has can be passed down to Gardner and there were signs of that happening until Christmas 2002, when the team's fortunes took a downturn.

Into 2003-04, things looked shaky at the start, until David Pleat took over and they looked a more solid pairing once the switch to the 4-4-2 formation was implemented.  Richards was always be plagued with a chronic back problem picked up in a car crash during his Wolves days, but when he did play (especially against an old fashioned English centre forward), he shows he can dominate the game.

He played few games in 2004-05 because of an injury and an ear problem, which at one stage was thought to be a brain tumour.  However, despite playing a few reserve matches, he had to retire from the game, as he was told that any further aggravation of his ear problem could have affected him for life.