Henry Ritchie (18 February 1900 – 3 July 1941) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

for Hibernian, Everton,

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Career

Ritchie was born in

Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbright ( ; sco, Kirkcoubrie; gd, Cille Chùithbeirt) is a town, parish and a Royal Burgh from 1455 in Kirkcudbrightshire, of which it is traditionally the county town, within Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The town lies southwest of C ...

nand raised in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, the son of John Ritchie. He was a member of the

Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

at the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

before graduating via the junior football ranks to become a mainstay for Hibs throughout the 1920s, and a full Scottish international. He played in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

and

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

, though finished on the losing side in both. In August 1928, English First Division side Everton brought Ritchie down to England team up again alongside his former

Easter Road Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of , which makes it the fifth-larges ...

and current international teammate and right-wing partner Jimmy Dunn who had made the same move some months earlier. Hopes were high that, together again, Dunn and Ritchie would rekindle the dazzling form they had displayed together at Hibs and supply further ammunition for legendary ''Toffees'' striker William Ralph 'Dixie' Dean, who had just scored his record-breaking 60 goals as Everton became League Champions for the third time in 1927–28. Both players struggled initially at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...

and, though Dunn would find his feet and go on to win League Championship and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

medals with Everton, Ritchie would return to Scotland, signing for

in February 1930, barely 18 months after his arrival on

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

; he went on to have a successful spell with hometown club

. Following the end of his football career, Ritchie worked in the dairy industry, at first back home in Perthshire, then in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, where he died at

Nottingham General Hospital Nottingham General Hospital was a major hospital in Nottingham, England. It was founded in 1781 and closed in 1992. History The hospital was the result of a legacy from John Key, a wealthy banker, who had left money in his will for hospitals t ...

on 3 July 1941, following an operation. He was 41 years of age. He was buried at Carlton Cemetery, Nottingham, on 7 July 1941.

References

External links

* 1900 births 1941 deaths Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Hibernian F.C. players Everton F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Brechin City F.C. players Arbroath F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Men's association football outside forwards Footballers from Perth, Scotland Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I {{Scotland-footy-forward-1900s-stub