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Fullname: Colin Kazim-Richards
aka: CKR
Born: 26 August 1986
Birthplace: Leytonstone, London, England
Signed: 1 February 2016
Left: 31 May 2016 (to Coritiba of Brazil)
Position: Striker/Midfielder
Debut: Aberdeen 2-1 Celtic, SP, 3 Feb 2016
Squad No.: 13
Internationals: Turkey
International Caps: 37
International Goals: 2
Biog
Colin Kazim-Richards was arriving at Celtic just as Celtic’s first ever Turkish player was leaving on loan, and both had reputations as misfits. He was actually of Carribean (father) and Turkish (mother) descent.
The timing couldn’t have been more ironic. The papers at the time had been full of reports of Scottish journalists being sacked due to an article written by one journalist criticising the efforts by TheRangers on sectarianism (i.e. Graham Speirs & Angela Haggerty). Only two weeks before, on 15 January 2016, Kazim-Richards had threatened a Dutch Algemeen Dagblad newspaper journalist Mikos Gouka. As a consequence of this, Feyenoord trainer Giovanni van Bronckhorst (coincidentally an ex-Rangers player) dropped him from the squad and he did not play the next match, against PSV. He was a livewire it seemed.
Kazim-Richards came to Celtic with an underwhelming CV, many wondering why Celtic had taken him in. The increasing struggle for players of any quality in the then faltering Celtic reign of Ronnie Deila meant Celtic had to take some gambles. He is reported to have stated that he was expecting to be the player that opposition fans would love to hate, it turned out he was to be the one they couldn’t care less about.
The half-English half-Cypriot Turk player with the wonderful double barrelled name was to be little more than a bit part player. On the pitch there was no denying his genuine effort, harrying opposition players and fighting for the ball every time. Yet this was indicative more so of his overall lack of ability, working hard running about on the field to overcome his other shortcomings. He had pace but not great ball control, and he had a general poor sense of positioning and shot taking.
He was like an amalgamation of certain other poor strikers from Deila’s managerial spell, e.g. Ciftci & Cole, in that he gave away countless fouls and the ball bounced off him like shrapnel.
He opened up his account with Celtic in a demoralising 2-1 defeat to Aberdeen, marked by Kazim-Richards stamping on an Aberdeen player which is unacceptable behaviour from any player. He was to be a bit of hard work for some.
He had scored a very good goal at Tynecastle though this made him join the dubious elite list of forwards who failed at Celtic yet had still managed to score v Hearts, so he had that unwanted distinction: Zheng Zhi, Pukki & Lassad. His only other goal was against amateur side East Kilbride in an early round in the Scottish Cup. That said it all.
From early on it was obvious he had no long term future at Celtic.
He wasn’t even on the bench for the final league match of the season which saw Celtic win 7-0 with seven different scorers from across the First Team.
Rumours were circulating of unrest and possible friction created by the player which wasn’t helping the situation.
He later stated in an interview:
“I had finished at Celtic and I didn’t really get on with the coach. I had already had a proposal [from Brazil] when I was at Feyenoord, but then the offer came from Celtic.”
He left to Coritiba of Brazil in what was a surprise move (although his wife is Brazilian).
We wished him the best.
Post-Celtic
He achieved a near impossible feat by becoming a British born success in Brazil, helping his side win the league title, and scoring key goals to win them the title. So congratulations to him, the first British-born player to play in a side to win the Brazilian league title. However, he never seemed to settle long at any club, and moved around a selection of clubs in Brazil & Mexico.
He finally ended up back in the UK, signing for Derby County in October 2020, as the Coronavrius pandemic was decimating the global economy. He helped Derby County stay up avoiding relegation to the third tier, playing alongside ex-Celt Paddy Roberts. He then had a final spell at Fatih Karagumuruk (Turkey) and then appears to have hung up his boots in 2023.
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Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2015-16 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Goals | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Honours with Celtic
Scottish League