Why Did Micah Richards Retire Early? The British Former Pro-Footballer Shares His Thoughts

Fans of former Manchester City and England defender Micah Richards want to know why the professional footballer retired early, and he discussed his retirement during a recent segment of CBS Sports Golazo.

Micah currently works as a sports pundit for CBS Sports, and he spoke about his early retirement on March 18, 2026. The CBS Sports broadcaster retired from playing pro soccer back in 2019 when he was just 31. So, why did he retire so early?

Micah was forced to retire because of a chronic knee injury. He shared his thoughts on retiring from professional soccer during a segment of CBS Sports Golazo. Micah said that his knee was being drained every three days, and that's when he realized he'd have to retire.

"When I was basically draining fluid from my knee every three days, and yeah," he said. "I knew, and — and the doctor was saying to me, 'You're not going to be able to run around with your kids when you get older. So you need to be careful.' I didn't listen to him. I kept doing it 'cuz I just love football so much. And then I officially retired when I was 31, but the last game was when I was 29."

He added that he could no longer buy a house he'd planned to purchase when he retired.

"I stopped buying the house in Florence," he joked. "That was a start. I couldn't afford it. ... At the time I was devastated, but it was one of those things where with me, say, I'm glass half full always. So, I, I then had to look back at my career. OK, I played for England, a dream. I won the Premier League. I won the FA Cup."

Micah also noted that many people never get to fulfill their dreams as he had done, which helped him to cope, but he also drank to mask his feelings.

"There's kids out there who never get to live their dream," he continued. "So of course, emotionally it was, it was very difficult. ... I was definitely depressed, but I didn't address it. I was drinking a lot to sort of mask it."

"I had a good friend, actually," said Micah. "It's called Maj, and he sort of put my life into perspective in terms of like, are you happy? Have you got your family around you? It's all the other stuff that come around. It was just a facade. You know what I mean? It was all the bells and whistles that come with being a professional footballer. It made me look at life differently in terms of there's more to life than cars and houses, and it's about relationships and the people around you."

Micah added that at the end of the day, he's a positive person.

"I like to see the good in people," he added. "I always tried to uplift people, and that's just the way I've been all my life. So, as bad as my injury was at the time, and yes, I was depressed. One hundred percent agree with that, but I tried to look at it in a positive instead of a negative, you know?"