Fulham signing Kieran Richardson has paid tribute to former club Sunderland.

Richardson joined Sunderland in 2007, going on to make 149 appearances for the Black Cats.

"I enjoyed it at Sunderland," he told safc.com. "I had a really good relationship with the fans. But I'd been there for five years and I felt like I needed a change. My family wanted to come back south as well.

"The Sunderland fans still talk about my free-kick against Newcastle United a few years ago. It was a good moment. I scored two free-kicks at Fulham once, but one got disallowed. Hopefully I can get involved in free-kicks here."