Michael Barrington Ricketts (born 4 December 1978) is an English former

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 ...

. He played as a striker and was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

once by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in a friendly against

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 2002. Ricketts had a 14-year career which saw him play for

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

, Bolton Wanderers,

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

, Stoke City, Cardiff City,

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

, Preston North End,

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 be ...

and

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

Club career

Walsall

Ricketts began his career at

, for which he signed in 1996. He made 76 league appearances for them, scoring 14 times.

Bolton Wanderers

In July 2000, then First Division side Bolton Wanderers signed him for £400,000. He started his Bolton career in impressive style, scoring 24 times as Bolton won promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

through the playoffs. His finest moments at Bolton Wanderers include sealing victory against Preston North End in the Division One Play-off final in 2001 and scoring the winning goal at Old Trafford in a 2–1 win for Bolton over Manchester United in the 2001–02

season. Ricketts continued scoring in his first season in the

, hitting 15 goals by February, and this form led to his call-up for England's friendly against

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in February 2002. Ricketts played 45 minutes in that game but failed to score, and subsequently did not score for Bolton again all season.

Middlesbrough

In January 2003,

spent £3.5 million to sign him from Bolton. He failed to recapture his goal-scoring form, netting just four times in 38 matches. While at Middlesbrough he did, however, win the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

in the 2003–04 season, coincidentally against Bolton.

Leeds United

In June 2004, he 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 ...

side

on a free transfer. Ricketts failed to impress, failing to score in 25 league appearances, although he did manage a solitary goal in the League Cup against

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

Loans to Stoke, Cardiff and Burnley

He was then loaned out to Stoke City in February, but also failed to impress there, and returned to Leeds. He made five more appearances, scoring once against

, again in the

. He was then loaned out to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, where he scored four goals in 11 appearances, before returning to Leeds. On 30 January 2006 he signed for Championship side

in a loan deal that would keep him at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional footba ...

until the end of the season. Despite scoring twice in his first three matches against Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town, he again failed to impress (he did not score again) and returned to Leeds after the season had finished.

Move to Southend

On 30 June 2006, Ricketts signed a two-year deal with Championship side

with an option to extend for another year. A clause in the contract he signed stated that he was prohibited from playing against Leeds United. However, after only a couple of months into the new season, Southend released Ricketts on the basis that he was overweight and had put on weight since joining the club, questioning his level of fitness.

Preston and Oldham

After leaving Southend, Ricketts joined Preston North End, playing a handful of games for their first team. In March 2007 he scored the winner against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. However, Ricketts' fitness and his inability to break into the first team on a regular basis led to him being released by Preston on 8 May 2007, again leaving him without a club until being picked up by Oldham Athletic, for whom he signed until 2010. He scored two league goals during his time at Oldham, in victories over Swansea City and his former club Walsall.

Walsall loan

On 2 November 2007, he returned to his first club

on a three-month loan deal from Oldham. He made his second debut for Walsall in a league match against

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

on 3 November. On 31 January 2008, transfer deadline day, Ricketts had his contract cancelled by Oldham Athletic.

Return to Walsall

On 24 July 2008, Ricketts once again rejoined Walsall and scored nine goals in his third spell there. At the game against Southend United played at Roots Hall on 7 March 2009, Ricketts was sent off in the 14th minute when he attempted to punch Kevin Betsy. At the end of the season he was released.

Tranmere Rovers

On 14 August 2009, it was announced that Ricketts had signed a one-year deal with

(his 11th professional club). Ricketts stated playing for

John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. He currently works as an author, commentator and pundit for ESPN and SuperSport. Initially a quick, skilful left winger, he moved to ce ...

was a major factor in his decision to join the club. He made his debut for the club as a substitute in a

game against his former club Bolton Wanderers on 25 August. He scored his first goal for Tranmere in a 2–1 defeat at Exeter City on 19 September 2009. On 21 January 2010, Ricketts had cancelled his contract by mutual consent.

Personal life

On 17 January 2011, Ricketts pleaded guilty to a charge of

common assault Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

after punching and headbutting his ex-girlfriend.Footballer Michael Ricketts sorry for girlfriend attack
– BBC News, 17 January 2011 He was sentenced to a 12-month

community order Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

and fined £200 and ordered to pay £85 costs.

Career statistics

Club

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

Football League play-offs The English Football League play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football leagu ...

Football League 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 ...

International

Source:

References

External links

*
ESPN Soccernet profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ricketts, Michael 1978 births Living people Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English footballers England international footballers Association football forwards Walsall F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Black British sportsmen English sportspeople of Sierra Leonean descent