I won the title with Man United but now nobody recognises me in my new job selling watches

Kieran Richardson has embarked on quite the unique job since hanging his boots up – selling luxury watches worldwide.

The 40-year-old rose through the ranks of the Manchester United youth system before signing his first professional contract for the club in 2002, scoring 11 goals in 81 games for the club and even lifting a Premier League title in the 2006/07 campaign before his move to Sunderland.

The winger, who also played as a central midfielder and as a left-back, spent the bulk of his career at the Stadium of Light, scoring 15 goals in 149 appearances. He quickly became a club hero thanks to his thunderous free-kick in the 2008 Wear-Tyne derby vs Newcastle, leaving Shay Given floundering as the ball rocketed past him into the back of the net.

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Richardson then enjoyed a stint at Fulham in 2012, before playing for Aston Villa and Cardiff City – hanging his boots up in 2017. And while many players turn to the punditry or management game in retirement, Richardson has had a completely different choice of post-footballing career – travelling the world and selling lavish watches.

And while he could use his Premier League glory days to build relationships with clients, the London-born superstar told Ladbrokes Fanzone last year: "Whenever I meet someone new, I don't even say I was a footballer anymore, I just say I sell watches for a living.

"The places I go, in the business world, most people don't even really know about football. If I was to meet anyone now, and they asked me who I am or what I do, I'd just say I sell high value watches around the world. Then, a lot of people will go on and check me out on Google, maybe, and they'd see my career in football, and then it goes on from there.

"The football career definitely helps, actually, because it gives people a sense of trust. I feel like my clients do really trust me, and so they should. The football background definitely helps, for sure. But, obviously, you still need to be knowledgeable about the product, and know what you're talking about.

"Luckily enough, I've been doing watches for a long time now, so I'm quite savvy on them, even though I'm still trying to learn more every day." Richardson also noted how he wasn't the type to make a meal of his footballing retirement, happy to head into his new venture low-key.

He added: "I've never been the kind of guy to go and make a song and dance out of my retirement. I don't really care, to be honest. I had a great career, I enjoyed it, but I've moved onto other things now. When I was a kid, I had hobbies, right? Football was always my number one, but my second was watches.

"I always loved watches. My father was into watches, I was into watches, and throughout my career I’d always be buying – and learning about – new watches. I just happen to have left one hobby, and gone into another one, that's how I see it. I still feel like I'm living the same life. It's crazy.

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"I'm really, really blessed to be in a position where I don't call my work, my work. Even when I was a footballer, it never felt like work to me, it was something that I loved. It's probably why I didn't come out and say I'd retired, because I don't feel like I have retired. I'm still doing something that I love."

Under the company name Broadwalk, Richardson sells an abundance of flashy timepieces by some of the world's biggest brands, from Rolex to Patek Phillipe. Featured on his business' site is a rare Rolex GMT-Master II "Batgirl", an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Skeleton, a Richard Mille Red Mask, a Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5968G-010 and much more.