Sam Ricketts

Sam Ricketts

Ricketts playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2014
Personal information
Full nameSamuel Derek Ricketts[1]
Date of birth11 October 1981[1]
Place of birthAylesbury, England
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Playing positionDefender
Club information
Current team
Swindon Town
(on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Number36
Youth career
?–2000Oxford United
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2000–2003Oxford United45(1)
2002–2003→ Nuneaton Borough (loan)11(1)
2003–2004Telford United41(4)
2004–2006Swansea City89(2)
2006–2009Hull City113(1)
2009–2013Bolton Wanderers96(1)
2013–Wolverhampton Wanderers48(2)
2015–→ Swindon Town (loan)8(0)
National team‡
2003–2004England C4(1)
2005–Wales52(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:59, 28 April 2015 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:31, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

Samuel Derek "Sam" Ricketts (born 11 October 1981) is an English-born Welsh international footballer who plays as a defender for Swindon Town on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers. His favoured position at is full-back, able to play on the left or right side, but also able of playing in the centre of defence.

He played over a hundred games for Swansea City before playing Premier League football for both Hull City and Bolton Wanderers.

Personal life

Ricketts' family is highly involved in equestrianism. His father is the 1978 world showjumping champion Derek Ricketts, later performance manager of the UK showjumping team from 2002 to 2010,[3] and his uncle is the former National Hunt champion jockey John Francome. As a teenager, Ricketts himself was a keen rider until prioritising football.[4]

Club career

Early career

Ricketts began his career at Oxford United, making his first team debut on 8 October 2000 in a 2–1 defeat at rivals Swindon Town.[5] During his time at Oxford United he had a brief spell on loan at Nuneaton Borough before being released from his professional contract to sign for Conference National side Telford United in the summer of 2003. His form for Telford led him to be selected for the England non-League XI that season.

Swansea City

Telford United went out of business at the end of the 2003–04 season, meaning Ricketts' contract was annulled. Swansea manager Kenny Jackett offered him a return to league football though, and he joined Swansea City on 27 May 2004.[6]

He helped the team to promotion from League Two in his first season, during which he was selected in the division's PFA Team of the Year.[7] At the end of the campaign he was rewarded for his performances with a new improved contract.[8] His second season saw the team reach the League One Play-off Final, but Ricketts was part of the team that lost on penalties to Barnsley.[9]

Hull City

Ricketts playing for Hull City in 2009

After 103 appearances in total for Swansea, Ricketts moved to Championship club Hull City on 14 July 2006 for a fee of £300,000 (triggering a minimum fee release clause in his contract).[10] He started every minute of Hull's first ten games but sustained a broken cheekbone in the tenth game – a win against Hartlepool United – that required an operation, thereby ruling him out for several weeks.[11] He made 45 appearances during the season, and scored his first, and ultimately, only goal for Hull in March 2007 against Southend.[12]

The defender was part of the Hull team that won promotion to the Premier League for the first time in the club's history at the end of the 2007–08 season; he played in their Championship play-off final victory over Bristol City.[13] Hull manager Phil Brown had stated in advance of this that he wanted to extend Ricketts' contract due to his performances.[14]

Ricketts made 29 league appearances for the Tigers in their inaugural top flight campaign, as they narrowly avoided relegation on the final day of the season.[2] Following this, he entered into talks regarding a new deal with the club, but had been linked to other Premier League sides.[15]

Bolton Wanderers

On 25 July 2009, fellow Premier League side Bolton Wanderers confirmed Ricketts had signed a three-year deal with them for an undisclosed fee.[16] He made his debut in a 0–1 defeat to Sunderland on 15 August and went on to play in every defensive position for the club.

In February 2011 he suffered a snapped Achilles tendon during an FA Cup Replay against Wigan Athletic, which put him out of first team contention until the end of the year.[17] He made his return on New Year's Eve 2011, where he also scored his first Bolton goal, in a 1–1 draw against his future club Wolverhampton Wanderers.[18] Ricketts' contract expired at the end of the 2011–12 season but, despite Bolton being relegated from the Premier League, he signed a new two-year deal with the club in the summer of 2012.[19] On 4 July 2013, after a season in which the team failed to make an instant return to the top flight, Bolton confirmed that his contract had been cancelled by mutual agreement.[20]

He later expressed his surprise at leaving Bolton Wanderers.[21]

Wolves

On the same day as his exit from Bolton, Ricketts joined Wolverhampton Wanderers of League One as a free agent in a two-year deal, reuniting with his former Swansea manager Kenny Jackett.[22] Having been appointed club captain, he made his club debut on 3 August 2013 in a goalless draw at Preston.[23] Ricketts was a regular member of the Wolves team that won the League One title that season with a record 103 points.[24] He scored his first goal for the club in a 6–4 win against Rotherham United on 18 April 2014.[25]

Back in the Championship, Ricketts seldom featured for Wolves, despite remaining club captain, and in January 2015 was made available for loan.[26] Soon after he took on a coaching role at the club,[27] but on 21 March 2015, left to join League One promotion contenders Swindon Town on loan for the remainder of the season.[28]

International career

Although born in England, Ricketts is eligible for the Wales national football team due to a Welsh grandmother.[29] He made his international debut for Wales on 9 February 2005 in a friendly against Hungary that was John Toshack's first game in charge after his return as manager.[30]

Honours

Club

Swansea City
Hull City
Wolverhampton Wanderers

Individual

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hugman, Barry J. (2005). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 521. ISBN 1-85291-665-6.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Player Profile: Samuel Ricketts". Premier League.
  3. ↑ Horse and Hound, Report of dismissal, Published 13 January 2010
  4. ↑ "'If Millwall don't fancy it, then we've got a chance' says Telford's Ricketts – and he's not horsing around!". GiveMeFootball.com. Retrieved 1 July 2006.
  5. ↑ "Swindon 2–1 Oxford". BBC Sport. 8 October 2000.
  6. ↑ "Ricketts moves to Swansea". BBC Sport. 27 May 2004.
  7. ↑ "Swans duo win PFA team accolade". BBC Sport. 25 April 2005.
  8. ↑ "Ricketts signs new Swansea deal". BBC Sport. 3 August 2005.
  9. ↑ "How Lge 1 play-off final unfolded". BBC Sport. 28 May 2006.
  10. ↑ "Ricketts completes move to Hull". BBC Sport. 15 July 2006.
  11. ↑ "Ricketts faces cheekbone surgery". BBC Sport. 20 September 2006.
  12. ↑ "Hull 4–0 Southend". BBC Sport. 31 March 2007.
  13. ↑ "Bristol City 0–1 Hull". BBC Sport. 24 May 2008.
  14. ↑ "Hull to offer Ricketts new deal". BBC Sport. 9 April 2008.
  15. ↑ "Hull hopeful of keeping Ricketts". BBC Sport. 1 July 2009.
  16. ↑ "Bolton edge Portsmouth in getting Sam Ricketts signature". The Mirror. 24 July 2009.
  17. ↑ "Sam Ricketts ruled out for season with Achilles injury". BBC Sport. 18 February 2011.
  18. ↑ "Bolton 1–1 Wolverhampton". BBC Sport. 31 December 2011.
  19. ↑ "Ricketts signs new deal". Bolton Wanderers F.C. 18 May 2012.
  20. ↑ "Ricketts departs". Bolton Wanderers F.C. 4 July 2013.
  21. ↑ "Sam Ricketts admits disappointment at leaving Bolton Wanderers". Bolton Wanderers F.C. 8 November 2013.
  22. ↑ "Sam Ricketts: Wolves sign Bolton Wanderers' Welsh defender". BBC Sport. 4 July 2013.
  23. ↑ "Preston 0–0 Wolves". BBC Sport. 3 August 2013.
  24. ↑ "Wolves 3–0 Carlisle United". BBC Sport. 3 May 2014.
  25. ↑ "Wolves 6–4 Rotherham". BBC Sport. 18 April 2014.
  26. ↑ "Wolves make Sam Ricketts available for loan". Express & Star. 20 January 2015.
  27. ↑ "Sam Ricketts takes on coaching role at Wolves". Express & Star. 5 March 2015.
  28. ↑ "Sam Ricketts: Swindon sign Wolves defender on loan". BBC Sport. 21 March 2015.
  29. ↑ "Sam Ricketts: Biography & Statistics". FAW.
  30. ↑ "Wales 2–0 Hungary". BBC Sport. 9 February 2005.

External links

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