 After discovering he was released from his contract at Blackburn in April 2003, Richards aimed to sign with Swansea permanently, but instead signed a two-year deal with Northampton Town.Though he scored twice at Sixfields in the FA Cup victory over non-league Weston-super-Mare, it took 27 games before he bagged his first league goal for the "Cobblers".The goal finally came on 17 February 2004, in a 2–1 win at Darlington.