Richard Brittain (born 24 September 1983) is a Scottish former professional

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 ...

. He spent the 2015–16 season as manager of

Brora Rangers Brora Rangers Football Club are a Scottish football club from the village of Brora, Sutherland, in the Highland council area of Scotland. They play in the Highland Football League, of which they have been champions four times, having won their ...

after a short playing spell at the club. He started his career at

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

and also played for

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...

, St Mirren and Ross County.

Playing career

Livingston

Brittain started his career with

Almondvale Almondvale Stadium, also known as the Tony Macaroni Arena for sponsorship purposes, but most commonly referred to as ‘The Spaghettihad’ (alluding to the Etihad Stadium), is a football stadium, located in the Almondvale area of Livingston, We ...

side

in 2002, playing 65 league games and scoring four goals. Brittain was a victim of a team-mate dispute after new signing

Sergio Berti Sergio Ángel Berti (born 17 February 1969) is an Argentine retired professional footballer, nicknamed ''La Bruja'', who played as a midfielder. Club career Born in Villa Constitución, Santa Fe, Berti began his career in 1988 with popular c ...

spat at him during a pre-season friendly. This led to Berti being sacked by the club, although this decision was later overturned by the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...

following an appeal by Berti resulting in the club paying £250,000 plus compensation. During his time at Livingston, he was loaned out to

in 2003. Brittain was cup-tied for Livingston's victory in the 2004 Scottish League Cup Final having previously played in the competition during his loan spell at Raith.

St Mirren

In July 2006, despite interest from French clubs Montpellier and Racing Club Strasbourg, Brittain chose to sign for

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

side St Mirren on a free transfer. At St Mirren, he was most noted for his goal against Rangers on 30 December 2006, which was his only league goal for the Saints.

Ross County

Brittain was released by St Mirren in May 2008 and signed for

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

side Ross County in June 2008. Upon his move to Ross County, Brittain was reunited with

Derek Adams Derek Watt Adams (born 25 June 1975) is a Scottish football manager and former player who is currently manager of Morecambe. Adams played professionally for six clubs, including Aberdeen and Motherwell, where he made over 300 league appearances ...

, the club's manager, the two having played together while at Livingston. Brittain made his debut in the opening game of the season, as Ross County lost, 2–1, against

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 ...

before scoring his first goal on 13 September 2008, in a 2–1 loss against St Johnstone. Brittain would finish his first season at the club, making thirty-eight appearances and scoring five in all competitions. Brittain captained Ross County through victories in The Scottish Cup against

SPL SPL may refer to: Association football * Saudi Professional League * Scottish Premier League * SportPesa Premier League, Kenya * Singapore Premier League * RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots Computing Program ...

sides Hibs and

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. The famous 2–0 victory over

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

in the semi-final earned Ross County a place in the

2010 Scottish Cup Final The 2010 Scottish Cup Final was the 125th final of the Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition, the Scottish Cup. The match took place on 15 May 2010, at Hampden Park, Glasgow and was contested by first time finalists Ross Coun ...

, the club's first ever major final, which County eventually lost 3–0 to

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

. Brittain dedicated the win against Celtic to his late friend Graham Heggie. During the 2009–10 season, Brittain signed a new contract with the club. In the 2010–11 season, Brittain would be involved in leading Ross County to a 2–0 win against Queen of the South in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup, In the 2011–12 season, and into the first six games of 2012–13, Brittain captained Ross County through a post war Scottish record of 40 league games undefeated, over a full calendar year. This run helped Ross County win the

2011–12 Scottish First Division The 2011–12 Scottish Football League First Division, also known as the 2011–12 Irn Bru Scottish Football League First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the 17th season of the Scottish First Division and the 106th season of a second-tier ...

by a record margin of 24 points and promotion to the

for the first time in the club's history. Brittain would describe as his "greatest day of my career". Brittain would sign a one-year contract with the club. In the 2012–13 season, Brittain was involved in the club's first league match in the top-flight, where Ross County drew 0–0 with

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

. Brittain would score the club's first goal in the top-flight, as Ross County drew 1–1 with Celtic. and scored another in the next match, giving Ross County their first win in the SPL, against Dundee. For the start of the 2013–14, Brittain agreed to join St Johnstone on a two-year deal after signing a pre-contract with the club on 9 January 2013. Brittain was previously criticised by St Johnstone Manager

Steve Lomas Stephen Martin Lomas (born 18 January 1974) is a Northern Irish football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, Lomas was a midfielder from 1991 to 2010. He had spells in the Premier League for both Manchester City and West Ha ...

earlier in the 2012–13 season, calling him a "cheat". He then changed his mind and said he wanted to stay at Ross County, who then registered him as their player preventing St Johnstone from doing so. When Ross County and St Johnstone played on 21 April 2013, Brittain received jeers from St Johnstone fans, though he received praise from Ross County fans. During the match, Brittain scored two penalties in a 2–2 draw. After the match, Manager Adams praised Brittain's performance in the match. On 27 June 2013 St Johnstone announced they had reached agreement with Ross County to transfer Brittain back to them for a fee of £40,000. This remains the highest sum St.Johnstone have received for a player that did not actually play for them. Ross County though, have denied any transfer fee was paid, they say a donation was made to St Johnstone's community programme. At the start of the 2013–14 season, Brittain missed two games at the start of the season after being suspended over an incident in a pre-season friendly match. After serving his two match suspension, Brittain scored a brace in a 3–0 win over St Mirren on 24 August 2013. Four weeks later on 21 September 2013 against Hearts, Brittain provided an assist for

Melvin de Leeuw Melvin de Leeuw (born April 25, 1988) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward for Chiangmai United. Career Career in Netherlands Born in Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands, De Leeuw grew up supporting Ajax and idolised Dennis Bergkam ...

to equalised and in return, de Leeuw then provided assist for Brittain to score the winning goal, in a 2–1 win. In the return game against Hearts on 23 November 2013, Brittain was then sent-off for second bookable offense, which the game ended a 2–2 draw. On 11 January 2014, Brittain provided a hat-trick assist, in a 3–3 draw against

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

. Brittain scored his fourth goal of the season, in a 2–1 loss against Hibernian on 15 February 2014. In a return game against Partick Thistle on 1 March 2014, Brittain scored his fifth goal of the season, which they drew 1–1. Brittain scored his sixth goal of the season, in a 2–1 win over

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

on 26 April 2014. On 6 May 2014, Brittain scored the winning goal, from the penalty spot, as Ross County beat Hibernian 1–0, a result that confirmed the club's place in the Scottish Premiership for another season. In the 2014–15 season, Brittain continued as club captain, however his season was overshadowed by injury, which resulted him making twenty-four appearances in all competitions. At the end of the 2014–15 season, Brittain was released by the "Staggies".

Brora Rangers

Brittain signed for Highland League club

during the 2015 close season, while at the same time, starting a new career in the construction industry.

Coaching career

Brora Rangers

On 16 July 2015, Brittain was appointed

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

Highland Football League The Scottish Highland Football League (SHFL, commonly known as the Highland League) is a senior football league based in the north of Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system The Scottish football league syst ...

side

, succeeding Davie Kirkwood as manager. Brittain resigned as manager in April 2016 due to "occupational activities and family commitments," but said he hoped to continue as a player at the club.

Ross County

Britain was appointed assistant manager of Ross County on 10 June 2020 were he would work under his former teammate Stuart Kettlewell. After Kettlewell was sacked by Ross County Brittain continued in his role under John Hughes. He left this role in June 2021 after the appointment of

Malky Mackay Malcolm George Mackay (born 19 February 1972) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player, who is currently the manager of Ross County. Mackay, who played as a defender, began his playing career in Scottish football with Quee ...

as Ross County manager.

Personal life

In 2012, Brittain became a father after his wife give birth to a baby daughter. Starting a family "made him prioritise his family over his career". Brittain's rejection of a move to St Johnstone in 2013 caused him to receive hate messages on Twitter. His wife, Diane, had condemned the abuse the family was receiving. Brittain stated he stayed at Ross County for family reasons.

Career statistics

Honours

Player

Ross County *

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,2010–11 Individual * Scottish Football League Player of the Month: March 2012

Manager

Brora Rangers *

Highland League Cup The Highland League Cup is a knock-out tournament contested since 1946 by football clubs in the Highland Football League. Brora Rangers are the current holders, while Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given ...

: 2015–16, url=http://www.highlandfootballleague.com/HistoricCompetitions/Item/3_SCOTTISH_HIGHLAND_LEAGUE_CUP_WINNERS_BY_DATE.aspx, title="HL Cup", website=Highland Football League, accessdate=21 January 2018

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brittain, Richard 1983 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Scottish Premier League players Livingston F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Ross County F.C. players Scottish Football League players Men's association football midfielders People from Bathgate Footballers from West Lothian Scottish Professional Football League players Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale F.C. players Brora Rangers F.C. players Scottish football managers Brora Rangers F.C. managers Highland Football League players Ross County F.C. non-playing staff Highland Football League managers