Matt Ritchie

Matthew Thomas Ritchie (born 10 September 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Newcastle United. Until 2018, he played for the Scotland national team. He previously played for Portsmouth, Swindon Town and Bournemouth. He joined Newcastle United in 2016.

Born and raised in England, Ritchie qualified to play for Scotland through his Scottish father. He made his senior international debut on 25 March 2015, in a friendly match against Northern Ireland.

Club Career

Portsmouth

Ritchie had been involved in Portsmouth's academy since he turned 13, previously playing football locally in Gosport, starting at the age of six. 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, after the match, Ritchie said scoring a hat-trick was 'unreal'.

He went on loan to Swindon Town in 2010 but due to 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 appearances for Swindon. On 14 April, he made his League debut for Portsmouth in the game against Wigan Athletic. He played 79 minutes but was then substituted for Frederic Piquionne. After the match, Ritchie admits making his Portsmouth debut was a dream come true. At the end of the season, with Portsmouth's relegation from the Premier League confirmed, he signed a new two-year deal.

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, he 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 footb

This page also has a version in other languages :  Мэтт Ритчи (russian)