| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Ridgers | ||
| Date of birth | 9 August 1990 | ||
| Place of birth | Inverness, Scotland | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | East Fife | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Ross County | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2007- | Heart of Midlothian | 0 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | → East Fife (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | → Airdrie United (loan) | 34 | (0) |
| 2011– | → East Fife (loan) | 12 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2009–2010 | Scotland U19 | ||
| 2010- | Scotland U21 | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 November 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Mark Ridgers (born 9 August 1990 in Inverness, Scotland) is a professional football player currently playing for East Fife in the Scottish Second Division on loan from Scottish Premier League side Heart of Midlothian.
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Ridgers started his career as a youth player with Ross County before joining Hearts in 2007 aged 16 for a £40.000 fee.[1] Whilst playing for Hearts under 19 squad Ridgers impressed manager Csaba Laszlo[2] and was promoted to the first team singing a new contract keeping him at the club until 2012.[3] He was sent on loan to East Fife in 2009 on a month long deal to give him first team experience. Despite subsequent loans to Airdrie United and a return to East Fife he is yet to make a first team appearance for Hearts although has been named on the bench.[4]
On 6 November 2009 Ridgers joined East Fife on a one month emergency loan deal,[5] making his debut the following day against Peterhead.[6] In all he made five competitive appearances for them.
Due to lack of first team chances with him being Hearts fourth first team keeper Hearts looked to send Ridgers out on loan again,[7] joining Airdrie United on a six month loan deal.[8] He made his debut on 24 July 2010 in the Challenge Cup against Ayr United.[9] His loan was later extended until the end of the season.[10] In all he made 38 appearances in all competitions for Airdrie. At the end of the season manager Jimmy Boyle expressed his desire for mark to stay with them for another season[11] although this never materialised.
Ridgers joined East Fife for a second spell during pre-season for the 2011-12 season as a trialist.[12] Appearing against his parent club Hearts in a friendly on 5 July 2011.[13] A loan agreement was later confirmed by Hearts sending him on loan until January 2012.[14] He made his competitive debut against Montrose in the Ramsdens Cup on 23 July,[15] followed by his Second Division debut on 6 August against Stirling Albion.[16] A notable moment came on 20 September at Pittodrie Stadium when Ridgers saved three penalties in their League Cup win over Aberdeen.[17][18][19] Ridgers won the Irn-Bru Young Player of the month award for September for his performance at East Fife.[20]
Ridgers has been called up to be part of the Scotland under-19[21] and Scotland under-21 squads.[22] Ridgers was first called up to an under 21 training camp in 2009 and the full squad in 2010 but was behind Grant Adam in terms of selection for the under-21 team, but was promoted in November 2011 when Adam was withdrawn from the squad due to an alleged sectarian offence.[23] He made his under-21 international debut in a 2–1 victory against the Netherlands.[24] Ridgers was at fault for the Netherlands goal, although there was some doubt as to whether the ball had crossed the goalline.[24]
| Club | Season | League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | ||
| East Fife | 2009–10 season | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Airdrie United (loan) | 2010–11 season | 34 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| East Fife | 2011-12 season | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| Total | 50 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 62 | 0 | |
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