Paul Ritchie

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This article is about the former Dundee United footballer. For the current East Fife footballer, see Paul M. Ritchie.

Personal information
Paul Ritchie
Full name	Paul Simon Ritchie
Date of birth	August 21, 1975 (age 31)
Place of birth	Kirkcaldy, Scotland
Height	5' 11"
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	AC Omonia
Number	27
Youth clubs
	Links United Hearts
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1992–99 1999–2000 2000 2000–03 2002 2003 2003–04 2004–06 2006–	Hearts Bolton Wanderers Rangers Manchester City Portsmouth (loan) Derby County (loan) Walsall Dundee United AC Omonia	133 (6) 14 (0) 0 (0) 20 (0) 12 (0) 7 (0) 33 (1) 45 (0)
National team²
1999–2004	Scotland Scotland U21	7 (1)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:53, 21 August 2006 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 17:53, 21 August 2006 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Paul Simon Ritchie (born August 21, 1975 in Kirkcaldy, Fife) is a Scottish international footballer. Ritchie currently plays for Cypriot club Omonia Nicosia, after terminating his contract at Scottish Premier League club Dundee United. [1].

1 Early career
2 Recent years
3 International career
4 Honours
5 External links

[edit] Early career

Beginning his career with Heart of Midlothian in 1992, Ritchie quickly gained a reputation as a promising defender, gaining a regular first team place and winning Scotland under-21 caps. The highlight of his time at Hearts was undoubtedly the club's Scottish Cup win in 1998. Persistent speculation linked him with a move to Rangers, particularly with his Hearts contract due to expire in 2000. The Tynecastle club, however, were unwilling to allow him to move to a rival cheaply, and he spent time with Bolton Wanderers on a short term contract before finally joining Rangers on a Bosman free transfer in June 2000.

[edit] Recent years

Bizarrely, Rangers manager Dick Advocaat then elected to sell Ritchie to Manchester City for a fee of £500,000 just two months later, and without him ever playing a first team match for the club. Ritchie would spend three years with City, but struggled throughout to earn a regular place in their team, spending time out on loan with Portsmouth and Derby County. In August 2003 he left on a free transfer and joined Walsall, where despite suffering relegation he was at least able to play regular first team football again, forcing himself back into the international reckoning with some inspirational performances. However, whilst at Walsall he was caught up in a contract dispute with owner Jeff Bonser, indirectly leading to the dismissal of Saddler's manager Colin Lee. In the summer of 2004 he moved on again, signing a short term contract with Dundee United, which was later extended despite injury problems limiting his appearances at first. For a while he was regularly captaining the team, but in April 2006 United manager Craig Brewster announced Ritchie was free to leave the club at the end of the season, despite having a year of his contract left to run [2]. His departure was finally confirmed in August 2006. He then moved to Omonia Nicosia, but has already played for two matches. An injury left him out from matches for months.

[edit] International career

On the international front, Ritchie has represented Scotland seven times since his debut against Germany in April 1999. His next cap against the Czech Republic saw him score his only international goal. Within a year he had taken his cap total to six, but thereafter a lack of first team football at Manchester City saw him drop out of contention and he has won only one more cap in the intervening years, against Wales in 2004 following some fine displays for Walsall.