Theerapol Ritson (born 7 January 1996) is a

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a for St Helens in the

Betfred Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

having previously played

Workington Town Workington Town R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 and ...

Newcastle Thunder The Newcastle Thunder are a professional rugby league club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. They play in the Betfred Championship competition, the second tier of rugby league in the United Kingdom. They play their home matches at Kingsto ...

and

Barrow Raiders The Barrow Raiders are a semi-professional rugby league team in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club was formed in 1875 as Barrow Football Club. For the 1995–96 and 1996 seasons the club was known as Barrow Braves, becoming the Ba ...

Background

Ritson was born in Thailand, but was raised in

Maryport Maryport is a town and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England, historically in Cumberland. The town is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, at the northern end of the former Cumberland Coalfield. Locatio ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, England.

Playing career

Workington Town

His playing career started at

where he made 39 appearances between 2014 and 2017 scoring 12 tries. In 2016 he was the club's player of the year and was selected for the national team. An international debut was missed as the game against was cancelled due to the death of King

Bhumibol Adulyadej Bhumibol Adulyadej ( th, ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; ; ; (Sanskrit: ''bhūmi·bala atulya·teja'' - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great ...

Newcastle Thunder (loan)

At the start of the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

season Ritson moved to Newcastle Thunder on loan where he made 22 appearances scoring 18 tries.

Barrow Raiders

2019 saw a move to his home town club, Barrow Raiders, where he became a prolific try scorer over the next four seasons, scoring 70 tries in just 73 appearances. In 2022 he scored 33 tries in 31 games becoming the

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 ...

leading try scorer for the season.

Cumbria

At the end of the 2022 season Ritson made his representative debut as he was selected to play for

in a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

warm-up match against . Cumbria won 28–2 with Ritson scoring one of the Cumbrian's tries.

St Helens

In November 2022, Super League side, St Helens, signed Ritson on a one-year loan deal. Ritson's debut for St Helens was in the warm-up match for the 2023 World Club Challenge against

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

where he also scored his first try for St Helens in a 30–12 victory. His Super League debut came in St Helens 2023 opening fixture against

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

where he scored his first Super League try in St Helens 24–6 win. On 18 October 2023 it was reported that he had made his initial loan deal switch to St Helens permanent signing a two-year deal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritson, Tee 1996 births Living people Barrow Raiders players Cumbria rugby league team players Newcastle Thunder players Rugby league wingers St Helens R.F.C. players Workington Town players Thai expatriate sportspeople in England