John Robert Ruddy (born 27 December 1997) is 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 plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Lowland League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior association football, football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, actin ...

side

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Ruddy was on the books of hometown team Rangers from the age of seven to twelve, being coached by

Andy Goram Andrew Lewis Goram (13 April 1964 – 2 July 2022) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, he started his career with Oldham Athletic and Hibernian, but he is best remembered for playing for Ra ...

, before emigrating to

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

in Spain in 2010. At the age of fifteen, after impressing for Torre Pacheco, he signed a contract for

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...

. Ruddy went on trial with

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

, but he was unable to sign a professional contract with any Spanish club due to a regulation requiring young players to have resided in Spain for at least five years.

Bury

On 30 July 2014, Ruddy returned to the United Kingdom, signing for

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

. He was first featured in a matchday squad on 8 November, remaining an unused substitute for their 3–1 win over

Hemel Hempstead Town Hemel Hempstead Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Affiliated to the Hertfordshire County Football Association, they are currently members of the National League South and pla ...

Gigg Lane Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gig ...

in the first round of the

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 ...

. Ruddy was first included in a league game on 28 December, again remaining on the bench in a 2–0

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

triumph of the same score against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

, repeating the feat four times as the team earned promotion to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

. Ruddy made his professional debut on 14 November 2015, playing the full 90 minutes of a 3–1 League One loss at Gillingham in what turned out to be his only first team appearance for Bury.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 29 August 2016 Ruddy signed for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

on a two-year deal, with the option of a further year, for an undisclosed fee. He was named on the bench once over the season, for a 3–1 loss at Derby County on 29 April 2017. In December 2017, he extended his contract until the end of the 2019–20 campaign. On 31 August 2017, Ruddy was sent on loan to League One side

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

until 1 January. He was then loaned to

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was e ...

club

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...

. Ruddy was one of nine Wolves youngsters loaned to Spanish

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

team

FC Jumilla Fútbol Club Jumilla was a Spanish football team based in Jumilla, in the autonomous community of Murcia. Founded in 2011, it played in Segunda División B – Group 4, holding home matches at '' Estadio Municipal de La Hoya''. Between 2016 and ...

in August 2018. He made four appearances and was sent off at the end of his last game, a 2–2 draw at

CD El Ejido Club Polideportivo El Ejido 1969 is a Spanish football club based in El Ejido, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1989 under the name of El Ejido Fútbol Sala (was only a futsal club until 2012), it currently plays in Segunda D ...

, for insulting the referee. On 1 February 2019, he joined S.S. Reyes of the same league until the end of the season. Ruddy was released by Wolves during the 2019 close season.

After Wolves

Ruddy signed a six-month contract with Ross County in July 2019. Unused, he was released in January 2020, and returned to Spain to sign for

CD Leganés B Club Deportivo Leganés B is a Spanish football team from Leganés, in the Madrid outskirts. They are the reserve team of CD Leganés. They play in white shirts with blue stripes, and white shorts. Their home stadium is the Instalación Deportiva ...

. On 6 September 2020, Ruddy signed a short-term contract with

club

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

until January 2021, having successfully completing a trial. Signed due to Luke McCormick's shoulder injury, he played two

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

games and sat on the bench for league games as

Michael Cooper Michael Jerome Cooper (born April 15, 1956) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the boys varsity coach at Culver City High School. He played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning ...

played. His deal was then expanded until the end of the season. After being released from Plymouth, Ruddy signed in June 2021 for Linfield, reigning champions of the

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and colloquially as the Irish League or Irish Premiership, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northe ...

. Ruddy left Linfield by mutual consent on January 31, 2022 On 25 March 2022, Ruddy signed for West of Scotland League Premier Division side

Darvel Darvel ( sco, Dairvel, gd, Darbhail) is a small town in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It is at the eastern end of the Loudoun, Irvine Valley and is sometimes referred to as "The Lang Toon" ( en, the Long Town). The town's Latin motto, , means "No ...

. After a short spell with

, Ruddy then signed for

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

International career

Ruddy was called up for the Scottish under-19 team in September 2015 for a friendly tournament in Germany the following month; he was the only member of the squad playing outside the top two divisions of English or Scottish football. He earned his only cap at that level on 9 October in a 2–2 draw with the United States in

Reutlingen Reutlingen (; Swabian: ''Reitlenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it has a population of 115,818. Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which ...

. Selected for the Scotland under-20 squad in the

2017 Toulon Tournament The 2017 Toulon Tournament (officially french: 45ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) was the 45th edition of the Toulon Tournament. The tournament was named after Maurice Revello, who started the tournament in 1967 a ...

. The team went to claim the bronze medal. It was the nations first ever medal at the competition. After four games at

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

level, Ruddy played his only under-21 game on 28 March 2017, a goalless draw with

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Career statistics

Honours

Ayr United *

: 2017–18 Darvel *

West of Scotland Football League The West of Scotland Football League (WoSFL) is a senior football league based in the west of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–10 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. Founded in 202 ...

Premier Division: 2021–22

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruddy, Jack 1997 births Living people Footballers from Glasgow Association football goalkeepers Scottish footballers Rangers F.C. players Real Murcia players Bury F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players English Football League players Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Scotland under-21 international footballers Ayr United F.C. players FC Jumilla players UD San Sebastián de los Reyes players Scottish Professional Football League players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Ross County F.C. players CD Leganés B players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Linfield F.C. players Darvel F.C. players East Kilbride F.C. players