Richard Brittain (born 24 September 1983) is a Scottish former professional footballer for club Bonar Bridge. He spent the 2015–16 season as manager of Brora Rangers after a short playing spell at the club. He started his career at Livingston and also played for Raith Rovers, St Mirren and Ross County.
Playing career Livingston Born in Bathgate, Scotland, Brittain started out his youth career at Hutchison Vale before joining Almondvale side Livingston when he was twelve years old. Brittain made his debut for the club, coming on as a 85th-minute substitute, in a 4–1 win against Albion Rovers in the third round of the Scottish Cup. He played two more league matches later in the 2001–02 season, playing twice against Celtic. The following 2002–03 season saw Brittain became a victim of a team-mate dispute after new signing Sergio Berti spat at him during a pre-season friendly, leading to Berti being sacked by Livingston, although this decision was later overturned by the Scottish Football Association following an appeal by Berti, resulting in the club paying £250,000 plus compensation. Following this, he played three times for Livingston in the 2002–03 season.
On 19 July 2003, Brittain was loaned out to Raith Rovers. He made his debut for the club, starting the whole game, in a 5–2 win against East Stirlingshire in the second round of the Scottish League Cup. Brittain scored his first goal for Raith Rovers in a follow–up match, in a 1–1 draw against St Mirren. He went on to make thirteen appearances and scoring once for the Rovers before returning to his parent club. Shortly after returning to his parent club, Brittain made his first appearance of the season for Livingston, coming on as a late substitute, in a 2–2 draw against Dunfermline Athletic. However, he was cup-tied for Livingston's victory in the 2004 Scottish League Cup Final, having previously played in the competition during his loan spell at Raith. At the end of the 2003–04 season, Brittain made fourteen appearances in all competitions.
Brittain had to wait until on 24 October 2004 to make his first appearance of the 2004–05 season, coming on as a second-half substitute, in a 4–2 loss against Celtic. Following this, he earned four starts in the next four matches between 27 October 2004 and 20 November 2004. In a match against Aberdeen on 19 February 2005, however, Brittain suffered an injury in the 20th minute and was substituted, as Livingston loss 2–0 and his last appearance of the season. At the end of the 2004–05 season, he went on to make thirteen appearances in all competitions.
In the opening game of the 2005–06 season, Brittain received a straight red card for a foul on Ian Murray, in a 3–0 loss against Rangers. After serving a one match suspension, he made his return to the starting line–up, in a 3–0 win against Hibernian on 13 August 2005. Following this, Brittain became a first team regular, playing in the midfield position. On 7 January 2006, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 1–1 draw against Alloa Athletic in the third round of the Scottish Cup. On 5 March 2006, Brittain scored his second league goal of the season, in a 3–2 loss against Hearts. He scored on 8 April 2006, 15 April 2006 and 22 April 2006 against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Dundee United and Dunfermline Athletic respectively. At the end of the 2005–06 season, Brittain made forty–one appearances and scoring five times in all competitions.
Following this, Brittain was offered a new contract by Livingston. While being offered a new contract, he had interest from French clubs Montpellier HSC and RC Strasbourg. By the time Brittain departed Livingston, he played 65 league games and scoring four goals.
St Mirren On 2 July 2006, Brittain chose to sign for Scottish Premier League side St Mirren on a free transfer.
He made his debut for the club, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute, in a 2–1 win against Inverness CT in the opening game of the season. Since the start of the 2006–07 season, Brittain became a first team regular, playing in the midfield position. After missing one match with an injury, he returned to the first team, coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute, and set up a goal for Mark Corcoran, in a 1–1 draw against Kilmarnock on 9 December 2006. On 30 December 2006, Brittain scored his first St Mirren goal, in a 1–1 draw against Rangers, which was his only league goal for the Saints. He then scored his second goal of the season, in a 3–2 loss against Dundee United in the third round of the Scottish Cup. Following this, Brittain said the club can avoid relegation and retain their Scottish Premier League status. However, he suffered an injury and was out for the rest of the 2006–07 season. While on absent, Brittain successfully predicted that St Mirren avoided relegation by four points. At the end of the 2006–07 season, he went on to make thirty–three appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.
In the opening game of the 2007–08 season, Brittain recovered from his injury and made his first appearance of the season, coming on as a 57th-minute substitute, in a 1–0 loss against Motherwell. However, he suffered broken metatarsal bone that he snapped while running in training and was out for three months. By April, Brittain recovered from his injury and made his return to training. On 5 April 2008, he made his return from injury, coming on as a 50th-minute substitute, in a 2–0 loss against Hibernian. At the end of the 2007–08 season, Brittain made six appearances in all competitions. Following this, he was released by St Mirren.
Ross County On 5 June 2008, Brittain signed for Scottish First Division side Ross County. Upon his move to Ross County, Brittain was reunited with Derek Adams, the club's manager, the two having played together while at Livingston.
Brittain made his debut in the opening game of the season, starting the whole game, as Ross County loss 2–1 against Dundee. A month later, on 13 September 2008, he scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–1 loss against St Johnstone. Brittain started in the Scottish Challenge Cup final against Airdrie United and started the whole game all the way to penalties following a 2–2 draw, as Ross County loss 3–2 on penalties. In another follow–up match against Airdrie United, he scored his second goal of the season, in a 2–0 win to help the club gain revenge. After missing four matches, Brittain returned to the starting line–up, in a 1–1 draw against Greenock Morton on 21 March 2009. In a follow–up match against Dunfermline Athletic, he scored his third goal of the season, in a 2–1 win. However, in a match against Clyde on 11 April 2009, Brittain received a straight red card in the 30th minute for a foul on Marvyn Wilson, as the club drew 0–0. After serving a two match suspension, he returned to the starting line–up against Livingston on 2 May 2009 and set up a goal for Steven Craig, in a 2–2 draw. On the last game of the season against Greenock Morton, Brittain scored his fourth goal of the season, in a 2–0 win. Having become a first team regular, playing in the midfield position in his first season at Ross County, he made thirty-eight appearances and scoring five in all competitions.
In the 2009–10 season, Brittain continued to regain his first team place, playing in the midfield position. He scored on 25 August 2009, 29 August 2009, 12 September 2009 and 19 September 2009 against Hamilton Academical, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Queen of the South and Ayr United respectively. However, during a match against Dundee, on 26 September 2009, Brittain suffered a leg injury and was substituted in the 12th minute, as Ross County loss 2–0. But he quickly recovered and returned to the starting line–up, in a 1–0 win against Greenock Morton on 10 October 2009. He scored on 8 December 2009, 12 December 2009 and 19 December 2009 against Greenock Morton, Dunfermline Athletic and Airdrie United respectively. The January transfer window saw Brittain linked a move away from Ross County, but he ended up staying at the club by signing a new contract. On 6 February 2010, Brittain scored and set up two goals, in a 9–0 win against Stirling Albion in the last 16 of Scottish Cup. A month later, on 6 March 2010, he scored his tenth goal of the season from a penalty score, which was the only goal of the game against Raith Rovers. Brittain captained Ross County through victories in The Scottish Cup against SPL sides Hibernian and Celtic. The famous 2–0 victory over Celtic at Hampden Park in the semi-final earned Ross County a place in the Scottish Cup Final, the club's first ever major final. He dedicated the win against Celtic to his late friend Graham Heggie. After missing two matches due to suspension, Brittain returned to the starting line–up as captain against Dundee United, where Ross County eventually lost 3–0. For his performance, newspaper Daily Record said about his performance: "He put in some decent tackles from the centre of midfield but wasn't on the ball often enough to make a difference and when he was in possession he didn't always have the options that were available to United as they won the battle for control in central areas." At the end of the 2009–10 season, Brittain went on to make forty–eight appearances and scoring eleven times in all competitions.
Since the start of the 2010–11 season, Brittain continued to remain in the first team, playing in the midfield position as Ross County’s captain. He then scored his first goal of the season, in a 3–3 draw against St. Mirren in the second round of the Scottish League Cup, but the club was eliminated on penalties. Brittain led Ross County to the Scottish Challenge Cup final by helping the club beat Partick Thistle 4–3 on penalties following a 2–2 draw. He then scored his second goal of the season, in a 2–1 win against Falkirk on 5 March 2011. He started in the final as captain and led Ross County to a 2–0 win against Queen of the South in the of. Brittain then scored his fourth goal of the season, in a 2–1 loss against Cowdenbeath on 5 April 2011. However, he missed the next two matches, due to picking up yellow cards. Brittain returned to the starting line–up, in a 1–0 win against Queen of the South on 26 April 2011. At the end of the 2010–11 season, Brittain went on to make forty–five appearances and scoring four times in all competitions.