Micah Richards reveals Mark Chapman helped him hold it together live on BBC for England World Cup game after dad’s death

MICAH RICHARDS has revealed how Mark Chapman helped him hold it together after his dad died. The former footballer was working as a pundit for the BBC during England‘s World Cup campaign in the summer. Micah Richards was a pundit for England’s World Cup defeat to Argentina Credit: Getty Richards’ dad died before the match Credit: http://www.instagram.com/micahrichards/ Before the semi-final defeat to Argentina, Richards was told that his dad Lincoln had unexpectedly passed away. Richards continued to do his job professionally and appeared on the BBC coverage of the match. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! He has now revealed that it would not have been the case if presenter Chapman had not been on hand to help. Richards has said that he told Chapman of his father’s dathe over the phone before the broadcast. The two spoke for an hour and Chapman reassured Richards that his dad would have wanted to see him at the match. Richards told The 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 [presenter Mark Chapman] 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. Most read in Sport SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET UP TO £100 BONUS Mark Chapman helped Richards through the situation Credit: Alamy “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. “Chappers said, ‘If in the first ten 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.” News of Richards’ heartbreak emerged after 24million people had tuned in to watch the broadcast. He shared a heartfelt post on social media after the game. He wrote: “Not long before going on air today, I received the awful news that my father Lincoln had passed away. “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. “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.” Comment now