Liam Ridgewell

Liam Ridgewell

Ridgewell in pre-season 2011
Personal information
Full name Liam Matthew Ridgewell[1]
Date of birth 21 July 1984 (1984-07-21) (age 27)
Place of birth Bexleyheath, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current club Birmingham City
Number 6
Youth career
1999–2001 West Ham United
2001 Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2001–2007 Aston Villa 79 (7)
2002 → A.F.C. Bournemouth (loan) 5 (0)
2007– Birmingham City 151 (9)
National team
2002 England U19 1 (1)
2004–2005 England U21 8 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:05, 2 January 2012 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).

Liam Matthew Ridgewell (born 21 July 1984)[1] is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Birmingham City. He is primarily a centre half but can also play at left back. Previously a player for Birmingham's arch-rivals Aston Villa, Ridgewell also spent a spell on loan at A.F.C. Bournemouth in 2002.

Contents

Club career

Early career

Ridgewell was born in Bexleyheath, London.[3] He began his career with West Ham United, but moved to Aston Villa in February 2001.[4] He was part of the team who won the FA Youth Cup final in May 2002 against Everton marking Wayne Rooney out of the game.[5]

Aston Villa

The day after scoring for England Under-19s in a 2–2 draw against Yugoslavia Under-19s in October 2002,[6] he was loaned out to Bournemouth, for whom he played five games between 13 October-13 November 2002.

His debut for Aston Villa's first team came on 4 January 2003, in a 4–1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup, when he came on as a substitute to replace Rob Edwards after 69 minutes.

He was a regular in England's U21 side.

Ridgewell scored his first goal of the 2006–07 season against his former club West Ham United on 10 September 2006.

Birmingham City

Ridgewell completed a move to Birmingham City for a fee of £2 million on 3 August 2007, thus becoming the first player to transfer between the bitter rivals since Des Bremner in 1984.[7]

In the absence through injury of regular captain Damien Johnson, Ridgewell was given the captain's armband. He described his appointment as "a real honour".[8] Though concerns were expressed over how some fans might react to a player signing from Aston Villa, Ridgewell's performances won over the doubters.[9] He scored his first goal for the club in their 3–2 win against Wigan Athletic at St Andrew's,[10] but then scored an own goal in the Birmingham derby on 11 November 2007, also at St Andrew's.[11]

In April 2009, Ridgewell suffered a broken leg after a challenge by Plymouth Argyle midfielder Jamie Mackie.[12] Ridgewell returned to the side only five months later, playing in the less familiar position of left back.[13] He continued in that role because of the form of preferred centre-backs Roger Johnson and Scott Dann,[14] and played there as Birmingham went on a club-record 12-match unbeaten run in the top division[15] and set a Premier League record by fielding the same starting eleven for nine consecutive games.[16] He scored a 91st-minute equaliser against Tottenham Hotspur on 30 January 2010 which ensured that Birmingham remained unbeaten at home since the previous September.[17]

Ridgewell continued his goalscoring form with a stoppage-time winner against Derby County to send Birmingham through to the quarter finals of the FA Cup,[18] had a goal disallowed in the quarter-final match against Portsmouth when the ball had "clearly crossed the line",[19] and scored an equalising goal against Liverpool.[20]

In June 2010, Ridgewell signed a new contract with Birmingham to keep him with the club until June 2013.[21] He played the full 90 minutes as Birmingham defeated favourites Arsenal 2–1 in the 2011 Football League Cup Final,[22] thus earning qualification for the Europa League. In the absence of several midfielders through injury, Ridgewell played in the play-off round first leg against Portuguese club Nacional, Birmingham's first participation in major European competition for nearly 50 years, in an unfamiliar holding midfield position.[23] As the August 2011 transfer deadline approached, Ridgewell submitted a transfer request which was rejected by the club, and despite late interest from Premier League clubs including Newcastle United, he remained with Birmingham.[24]

Honours

Aston Villa
Birmingham City

References

  1. ^ a b Hugman, Barry, ed (2005). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2005/2006. Queen Anne Press. p. 344. ISBN 978-1-85291-662-1. 
  2. ^ "Player Profiles: Liam Ridgewell". Birmingham City F.C. http://www.bcfc.com/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10412~22583,00.html. Retrieved 16 March 2011. 
  3. ^ "Liam Ridgewell". Sky Sports. http://www.skysports.com/football/player/0,19754,11694_222093,00.html. Retrieved 8 September 2010. 
  4. ^ "Ridgewell relishes Hammers return". www.whufc.com. http://www.whufc.com/articles/20100609/ridgewell-relishes-hammers-return_2236884_2055691. Retrieved 1 August 2011. 
  5. ^ "Liam Ridgewell". www.carling.com. http://www.carling.com/football/aston-villa-fc/liam-ridgewell.html. Retrieved 1 August 2011. 
  6. ^ "England Under 19's fixtures and results". www.ntfc.co.uk. http://www.ntfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10425~295188,00.html. Retrieved 1 August 2011. 
  7. ^ Jawad, Hyder (3 August 2007). "Ridgewell arrival put in shade as Ghaly deal collapses". Birmingham Post. http://www.birminghampost.net/midlands-birmingham-sport/west-midlands-sports/birmingham-city-fc/2007/08/03/ridgewell-arrival-put-in-shade-as-ghaly-deal-collapses-65233-19568656/. Retrieved 29 December 2008. 
  8. ^ Tattum, Colin (13 August 2007). "Ridgewell: My pride over captaincy". Birmingham Mail. http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/mail/sport/tm_method=full%26objectid=19619461%26siteid=50002-name_page.html. Retrieved 1 October 2007. 
  9. ^ "Ridgewell a big hit with Blues fans". Birmingham Post. 26 September 2007. http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/birminghampost/sport/tm_method=full%26objectid=19852180%26siteid=50002-name_page.html. Retrieved 1 October 2007. 
  10. ^ "Birmingham 3 Wigan 2". Sporting Life. 27 September 2007. http://www.sportinglife.com/football/premiership/birmingham/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/07/10/27/SOCCER_Birmingham.html&TEAMHD=birmingham&DIV=prem&TEAM=BIRMINGHAM--CITY&RH=Birmingham--City&PREV_SEASON=. Retrieved 4 November 2007. 
  11. ^ "Birmingham 1–2 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 11 November 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7076646.stm. Retrieved 12 November 2007. 
  12. ^ "Ridgewell undergoes leg operation". BBC Sport. 14 April 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/birmingham_city/7997165.stm. Retrieved 1 February 2010. 
  13. ^ Walker, Andy (23 September 2009). "Sunderland 2 Birmingham City 0 – match report". Birmingham Post. http://www.birminghampost.net/midlands-birmingham-sport/west-midlands-sports/birmingham-city-fc/2009/09/23/sunderland-2-birmingham-city-0-match-report-65233-24757890/. Retrieved 1 February 2010. 
  14. ^ Walker, Andy (7 December 2009). "Future's looking healthy for Liam Ridgewell". Birmingham Mail. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/birmingham-city-fc/birmingham-city-fc-news/2009/12/09/future-s-looking-healthy-for-liam-97319-25354740/. Retrieved 1 February 2010. 
  15. ^ "McLeish proud of Blues". Sky Sports. 9 January 2010. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,12040_5850655,0.html. Retrieved 1 February 2010. 
  16. ^ Tyler, Martin (12 January 2010). "The cold rush". Sky Sports. http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/0,25212,12038_5854263,00.html. Retrieved 1 February 2010. 
  17. ^ Soneji, Pranav (30 January 2010). "Birmingham 1–1 Tottenham". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8485699.stm. Retrieved 1 February 2010. 
  18. ^ Ornstein, Harry (13 February 2010). "Derby 1–2 Birmingham". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/8506578.stm. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
  19. ^ Barwick, Brian (8 March 2010). "Game's governors wrong to dismiss the merits of goal-line technology in football". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/portsmouth/7392549/Games-governors-wrong-to-dismiss-the-merits-of-goal-line-technology-in-football.html. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
  20. ^ Ashenden, Mark (4 April 2010). "Birmingham 1–1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8597490.stm. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
  21. ^ "Liam Ridgewell signs new Birmingham City contract". BBC Sport. 10 June 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/birmingham_city/8733197.stm. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
  22. ^ McNulty, Philip (27 February 2011). "Arsenal 1–2 Birmingham". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/9405702.stm. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
  23. ^ Tattum, Colin (19 August 2011). "Nacional 0, Birmingham City 0". The Birmingham Mail. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/birmingham-city-fc/birmingham-city-fc-news/2011/08/19/nacional-0-birmingham-city-0-colin-tattum-s-big-match-verdict-and-player-ratings-97319-29265450/. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
  24. ^ "Magpies bid for Ridgewell". Sky Sports. 31 August 2011. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12874_7141082,00.html. Retrieved 1 September 2011. 

External links

Birmingham City F.C. – current squad