Micah Richards praises Mark Chapman for getting him by way of BBC World Cup recreation after dad’s demise

Micah Richards received the devastating news that his father Lincoln had died just hours before he was due to go on air for the BBC’s coverage of England’s World Cup semi-final against Argentina

Micah Richards has revealed he couldn’t have managed his father Lincoln’s death during the World Cup without the crucial support of BBC colleague Mark Chapman. Richards was dealt the heartbreaking news from his brother hours before he was due to go live for England’s semi-final clash against Argentina in Atlanta alongside Joe Hart and Wayne Rooney.

Despite receiving such devastating information, the former Manchester City defender pressed on with his punditry role with Hart and Rooney, getting through the broadcast thanks to Chapman’s unwavering backing. He told The Sunday Times: “On the day it happened my brother rang me, before the semi-final, and I’m going into it thinking how am I going to perform here? How am I going to act?”.

“I was on the phone to Chappers for an hour and he was saying: ‘Your dad would have wanted you to do it. This is what you’ve worked for since you’ve come into punditry.’

“I didn’t want to tell Joe and Wayne, because I’ve known Joe since I was 17 and didn’t want to affect them and Chappers said, ‘If in the first 10 minutes you’re having a wobble let me know and we can just continue with the rest of the guys’. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have got through it. One hundred per cent.

“And it was weird because when I’m on camera I’m sort of loud and obnoxious at times, but if you watch the footage I keep tapping my foot. I was just trying to hold it together.”

The revelation only came to light following the programme, when he posted a deeply personal and moving message on social media.

“Not long before going on air today, I received the awful news that my father Lincoln had passed away,” he wrote. “His death was unexpected, and he has left us all too soon. He was my greatest fan. He barely missed a game my entire life.

“He would take me wherever I needed to go when I was a kid and he was the proudest parent possible during my professional career. It was so rare for him to not be by my side. I know how much watching England World Cup games means to everyone at home, and how the experience bonds families together across the generations, like nothing else.

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“I know, particularly as a proud old-school Yorkshireman, Dad would’ve wanted the show to go on this evening. And so it did. Thinking of my siblings and all my wider family today as we remember my father Lincoln, my hero and inspiration.”

Richards, whose middle name is Lincoln, has frequently spoken about his father’s profound impact, a man who relocated to Britain from the Caribbean island of St Kitts during the 1960s. “I grew up in Chapeltown, a rough area of Leeds,’ Richards said in 2007. “There was all sorts of stuff – drugs and fighting.

“There is a point when you are 15 or 16 when you might want to get involved in it. “There was definitely a temptation but I stayed grounded. I have been able to deal with all the stuff that has come my way. That’s down to Dad. He’s brought me up well.

“My Dad is a strong character. He is very principled. He’s a Rastafarian. He has set standards for me. It’s been great to have that sort of person behind me but at the same time I learned how to be my own man. Dad’s always been here for me.

“He has missed only one game I have ever played in and that was my debut at Arsenal when I wasn’t even supposed to be in the squad.”

In 2023, Richards referred to his father as ‘my rock and my hero,’ but confessed their relationship changed after his parents, his dad and Heather, separated.