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Matthew Thomas "Matt" Ritchie (born 10 September 1989) is an English football player, who currently plays as a left winger for Swindon Town.

Career

Portsmouth

Ritchie has been involved in Portsmouth's academy since he turned 13. Before-hand he was playing football locally in Gosport. After signing his first professional contract with the club, and a positive 2008–09 pre-season campaign, including a hat-trick in a 4–1 victory over hometown club Gosport Borough, Ritchie was taken on trial alongside fellow academy graduate Joel Ward by Bournemouth with a view to a loan move to help give the youngsters important first-team experience in league football. Ritchie was however kept at Portsmouth following a number of injuries to first-team midfielders. He was called up to Portsmouth's UEFA Cup squad as a home-grown talent and presented with the squad number 36.

On the 14th April Ritchie made his debut for Portsmouth in the Premier League game at Wigan Athletic. He played 79 minutes but was then substituted for Frédéric Piquionne.

For the 2010-11 season Ritchie was handed the number 5 shirt and was selected in Portsmouth's starting XI for their first match of the season at Coventry City. However, Ritchie soon found himself out of the Portsmouth line-up and, with the club having disbanded its reserve team, manager Steve Cotterill agreed to loan out the player for fitness reasons.

Loan to Dagenham & Redbridge

Ritchie played reserve and academy football at Pompey until late September and continued to impress until he was taken on a one-month loan deal by League Two club Dagenham & Redbridge. He made his Football League debut against Rotherham United on the 27 September 2008, coming on as a late substitute. He scored on his first competitive start for the Daggers in a 2–0 win over Rochdale. He scored again in his next match, a 2–0 win over Barnet. Daggers boss John Still has been hugely impressed with Ritchie's initial impact at the club. Speaking after the match against Barnet, Still had to say: "He's got a terrific leap. He showed that with his goal. He's come in and done very well. Nicest kid in the world. Come down from a Premier League club. No big time about him. Harry Redknapp and Paul Hart speak ever so well of him. It's a pleasure to have him. He's got a smile on his face in training and loves being here."

Still has also made it clear he wishes to extend the loan deal of Ritchie until later on in the season. Dagenham announced on 30 December that Ritchie would remain with the club until the end of the current season. His impressive performances have seen him rewarded with a new two-year deal at Portsmouth, and their young player of the Season Award.

Loan to Swindon and permanent basis

On 28 July 2009, it was reported that Notts County, were on talks with Portsmouth over a six-figure fee for his services, believed to be £100,000. On 1 September 2009, he signed on a loan deal until 31 December. After Danny Wilson failed to secure Ritchie's services on a permanent deal during the transfer window, it was announced on 11 February 2010 that Swindon Town signed the midfielder on loan for the remainder of the season. Following his loan move to Swindon, Ritchie hadn't made his debut until on the 23rd February against Stockport County after coming on for Danny Ward in a 25 minutes.

However due his parent club Portsmouth's mounting injury list, he was recalled in March and was named on the bench for their 2–0 Premier League loss at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur after making Four Appearance for Swindon in his first loan.

On 4 October Ritchie was loaned again to Swindon Town, in a one month deal. Two weeks later the deal was extended to two months. Ritchie scored his first goal for Swindon against Peterborough United in a 5-4 loss which followed up scoring his second against Bournemouth in a 2-1 loss and his third goal was a 4-2 win over Charlton. Ritchie made 16 appearance and scoring 3 during his loan spell with Swindon twice.

On the 7th January 2011 Swindon Town bought Matt Ritchie on a 2 and a half year deal for an undisclosed fee. Following his move, Ritchie has been loan spell to Swindon twice for the club. Ritchie add added to his tally with the goal this season against Bournemouth again in a 3-2 loss, 4-1 loss against Southampton, 1-1 draw against Hartlepool United and 2-1 loss against Notts County. Ritchie made 36 appearance and scoring 7 this season for Swindon.

During his time at Swindon Town this season, Swindon have new managers like Paul Hart and Paul Bodin as managers following Danny Wilson resignation as Swindon Town manager. Also, Swindon was 24th place in League One which the club got relagated. Under Paolo Di Canio|Di Canio]], Ritchie is in the starting eleven and was on scoring forms against Oxford United, Shrewsbury Town, Rotherham United, scoring twice against Barnet and Gillingham. Ritchie goal's and good performance led him linked with clubs.

Career Statistics

(correct as of 8 May 2011)

References

1. "Statistics" (PDF). Premier League. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
2. "Portsmouth Football Club :: News". Portsmouthfc.co.uk. 01/07/2008 17:09. Retrieved 2 November 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. "Sky Sports | Football | News | Pompey see off Gosport". Skysports.com. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
4. Coventry 2 - 0 Portsmouth
5. Cotterill: Ritchie has a Blues future
6. "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Dagenham & Redbridge | Daggers bring in Ritchie on loan". News.bbc.co.uk. Page last updated at 15:29 GMT, Thursday, 25 September 2008 16:29 UK. Retrieved 2 November 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. "BBC SPORT | Football | League Two | Dag & Red 1–1 Rotherham". News.bbc.co.uk. Page last updated at 17:00 GMT, Saturday, 27 September 2008 18:00 UK. Retrieved 2 November 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. "BBC SPORT | Football | League Two | Rochdale 0–2 Dag & Red". News.bbc.co.uk. Page last updated at 17:43 GMT, Saturday, 4 October 2008 18:43 UK. Retrieved 2 November 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
9. "BBC SPORT | Football | League Two | Dag & Red 2–0 Barnet". News.bbc.co.uk. Page last updated at 21:34 GMT, Friday, 10 October 2008 22:34 UK. Retrieved 2 November 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
10. "[[Category:All articles with dead external links]][[Category:Articles with dead external links from October 2010]]". Teamtalk.com. Retrieved 2 November 2008. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
11. "Daggers extend Ritchie loan spell". BBC News. 30 December 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
12. "Pompey offer Ritchie new deal". Sky Sports.
13. http://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10426~1735942,00.html
14. Town land Ritchie
15. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8496999.stm
16. Ritchie loaned to Swindon
17. Portsmouth winger Matt Ritchie extends Swindon loan

External links

• Matt Ritchie at Soccerbase

Template:Persondata

• Use dmy dates from August 2010
• 1989 births
• Living people
• People from Gosport
• English footballers
• Portsmouth F.C. players
• Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players
• Notts County F.C. players
• Swindon Town F.C. players
• Premier League players
• The Football League players