I’ve been doing a series on the 2003/04 season and will be doing it throughout this campaign.
The idea is to cover every league match, maybe the cup games, and talk about the players that made it such a good campaign. It was our first failed play-off final attempt, but it was a season packed with incident and enjoyment for everyone who witnessed it.
I’ve started looking into some of the players in that squad who might not get as much recognition as the likes of Gain, Butcher, Taylor-Fletcher and Morgan. One of those players, who I have already been asked about, is Richard Liburd. So, for today’s article, I thought I’d have a look at Liburd.
Liburd was born in Nottingham and spent his youth career with Forest. They released him without offering a contract, and he moved to Eastwood Town. There, he impressed massively, earning a move to Middlesbrough. Boro were keen on the young full-back, and they spent £20,000 (rising to £72,500) to make him part of their squad in March 1993. For a couple of weeks, he was a Premier League player, but Boro were relegated without him getting on the field.
Ironically, he made his Boro debut in Nottingham, as his new side turned Notts County over 3-2 at Meadow Lane. There’s a tenuous Imps’ link here – Gary Lund scored for County that afternoon. Playing full-back, the youngster made 41 appearances for Boro, scoring once in their penultimate game of the season against Crystal Palace.
Despite being a regular for Boro, he was sold at the end of the season, dropping down a division to join Bradford City for £200,000. He was a key part of their promotion-winning side in 1995/96, playing in their play-off final win against (you guessed it) Notts County. Again, there’s an Imps link – Mark Stallard scored for Bradford.
In February 1998, he moved to Carlisle but played just ten times before heading ‘home’ to Notts County. He played against the Imps in 1998, a game we won 3-2, but we were relegated at the end of the campaign and he didn’t play against us again. He stayed at County, smashing the 150 appearances mark, until 2003, when he joined the Imps.
I was extremely excited about Liburd. I remember having managed him on Championship Manager 93, the predecessor to Football Manager. The Boro team that year had been brilliant (Hignett, Mustoe, etc.), and Liburd was a player I’d always imagined must be good without ever having actually watched him.
To be fair, he did start well for the Imps, wearing shirt number 26. It’s unclear exactly what formation we played – some reports have suggested we were a 3-5-2, which would have Liburd in midfield. He certainly wasn’t full-back, as Mayo and Bailey played in those positions, and we had three central defenders as well, so I can only assume he played in midfield or wide of a front three.
He did arrive carrying an injury – in programme notes for the Stockport cup game, it’s noted he passed a fitness test to play against Oxford, but that we had to be careful with him ‘because of his knee’. We were careful, and he was ever-present in the league until mid-November. He suffered ankle ligament damage as we drew 0-0 with Darlington, keeping him out until February. He started once more, away at Cheltenham, as well as coming off the bench a couple of times.
He was released at the end of the season, having made 28 appearances, 19 of those starts in the league.
After the Imps, he dropped out of professional football, returning to Eastwood Town before appearing for Boots, Basford and Hucknall Town.