 Richards scored his first hat-trick in the English Football League on 30 April, along with Louis Dodds, in a 7–2 win over Morecambe.In all he helped himself to fourteen goals in fifty appearances that season, whilst his strike partner and namesake hit twenty goals in 46 games.In July 2011, Richards signed a two-year contract with Vale's nearby League Two rivals Burton Albion, after moving on a free transfer.