John Ritchie (10 April 1944 – 16 February 2012) was an English

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 as a full-back for Whitley Bay,

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

, and

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a "tough, uncompromising full-back". After leaving the game Ritchie worked at

HM Prison Werrington HMYOI Werrington (also known as Werrington Juvenile Centre) is a male juveniles' prison located in the village of Werrington in Staffordshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History Werrington opened in 1895 as a ...

Career

Ritchie played for Whitley Bay before joining

in December 1965. He made 22

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

appearances in the 1965–66 season, and scored his first goal in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

on 26 February, in a 3–1 win over

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

at Vale Park. He scored three goals in 32 matches for

Jackie Mudie John Knight Mudie (10 April 1930 – 2 March 1992) was a Scottish international footballer who played as a forward. He won seventeen caps for his country, helping the Scotland national team to qualify for the 1958 FIFA World Cup. Startin ...

's "Valiants" in the 1966–67 season, and scored a memorable "goal of a lifetime" in a 2–1 win over

at Valley Parade in an

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 ...

First Round match on 26 November. He was sold to Jimmy Milne's

for a £17,500 fee in April 1967. The "Lilywhites" finished one place above the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

zone in 1967–68, before rising up to 14th place in 1968–69. They were relegated in last place in 1969–70 under the stewardship of

Bobby Seith Robert Seith (born 9 March 1932) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He won league championships in both England and Scotland, with Burnley and Dundee respectively. Playing career Seith began his professional career with Burnley, ...

, before new boss Alan Ball took Preston straight up as champions of the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

in 1970–71. Ritchie scored five goals in 93 league games at Deepdale. Both Ritchie and Gerry Ingram were traded to Bryan Edwards's Bradford City for a £15,000 fee, who were relegated to the

in 1971–72. He later played in the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

for

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, John 1944 births 2012 deaths Footballers from Ashington English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Whitley Bay F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players British prison officers