Ritchie Peter Branagan (born 20 October 1991) is a

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 Hyde United. Born in England, he made one appearance for the Republic of Ireland U21 national team. He has also played in Japan and Australi

Club career

Branagan was born in

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. Having previously been part of the youth system at

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

he joined the youth set-up at

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 joined Bury's first team squad for the 2009–10 season and was granted a one-year contract extension in the summer of 2010. He made his

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 ...

debut on 23 October 2010 as a 60th-minute substitute for the injured

Cameron Belford Cameron Dale Belford (born 16 October 1988) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Northern Premier League Premier Division club Stafford Rangers. Playing career Early career Born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, Be ...

in a match with Southend United. In May 2011 he was offered a new contract by the club. He signed a new 12-month contract with Bury in June 2011. In May 2012, Branagan was released by the club after being deemed surplus to requirements. In August 2012 he joined Salford City. In August 2013 he signed for

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

after a successful trial and made his debut on 2 November 2013 in 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 ...

against Swindon Town. Following his release from Macclesfield Town he joined

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

in January 2017 as a replacement for the injured Sam Ashton. He finished his career at

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester city centre and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the ...

after signing for them in 2017.Saturday's Transfer List!
�� evostikleague.co.uk, 9 September 2017 On May 28, 2023, Ritchie made his non league return signing with Hyde United FC

International career

Branagan made his Republic of Ireland U21 debut in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

in February 2011.

Personal life

He is the son of former Bolton goalkeeper

Keith Branagan Keith Graham Branagan (born 10 July 1966) is a football coach and former professional player. As a player, he was a goalkeeper who notably played in the Premier League for Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town. He also played in the Football League ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Branagan, Ritchie English men's footballers Living people 1991 births Footballers from Gravesend, Kent Men's association football goalkeepers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Bury F.C. players Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers English Football League players Salford City F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Droylsden F.C. players Chorley F.C. players