1. Ritchie John Humphreys was born on 30 November 1977 and is an English former professional footballer.
48 Facts About Ritchie Humphreys
1. 2.
Ritchie Humphreys is a former chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association and holds a UEFA A Licence coaching qualification.
3.
Ritchie Humphreys won five caps for England at under-20 and under-21 levels.
4.
Ritchie Humphreys left the club in 2001 and joined Cambridge United for a short period, after which he joined Hartlepool United.
5.
Ritchie Humphreys left Hartlepool in July 2013 and moved on to Chesterfield.
6.
Ritchie Humphreys left Chesterfield in 2017 and went on to play for non-League side Sheffield until his retirement in December 2017.
7.
Ritchie Humphreys picked up numerous club awards, including three Player of the Year awards from fans, one from his teammates, and the award for Player of the Decade.
8.
Ritchie Humphreys was voted the club's Player of the Century.
9.
Ritchie Humphreys was recognised at regional and national levels, being named on the PFA Team of the Year twice and recognised as the North East League Player of the Year in 2006.
10.
Ritchie Humphreys was introduced to football from an early age, his grandfather, Ernest Humphreys, played for Millwall, Motherwell and St Mirren.
11.
Ritchie Humphreys grew up as a Sheffield United fan and joined their academy, which he described as a "dream come true".
12.
Ritchie Humphreys then played for the Sheffield Boys and was one of the few players who did not play for a professional club.
13.
However, that soon changed when Ritchie Humphreys was scouted by a Sheffield Wednesday scout, and he joined their centre of excellence.
14.
In 1995, after leaving Newfield Secondary School, Ritchie Humphreys became part of Sheffield Wednesday's youth squad.
15.
Ritchie Humphreys then scored again in the second match against FC Utrecht.
16.
Johan Cruyff was the guest of honour for that match, and he praised Ritchie Humphreys and said he was the next Marco van Basten, something Ritchie Humphreys later played down.
17.
Ritchie Humphreys did not score another league goal all season.
18.
Two matches later, Ritchie Humphreys scored a much talked about goal when he went on a 50 yards run and scored a spectacular chipped goal against Leicester City.
19.
Ritchie Humphreys was seen as the driving force behind Sheffield Wednesday's shock early lead at the top of The Premiership.
20.
Ritchie Humphreys's performances earned him a place in the England team for the 1997 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Malaysia.
21.
Ritchie Humphreys wore the much-coveted number 9 shirt for that tournament.
22.
Ritchie Humphreys was sent on loan to Scunthorpe United on 13 August 1999, where he played six matches and again scored twice.
23.
Ritchie Humphreys was then sent on loan to Cardiff City where he played 11 matches, scoring twice.
24.
Ritchie Humphreys impressed on trial, scoring 3 goals in 7 appearances, and it looked likely that Cambridge manager Roy McFarland was going to offer him a contract.
25.
However, Ritchie Humphreys' trial was cut abruptly after he broke his foot.
26.
However, after a bad run, Ritchie Humphreys was dropped and replaced by a new signing Gordon Watson.
27.
Ritchie Humphreys was then moved into central midfield due to the injury of Tommy Widdrington and after impressing played there for the remainder of the season.
28.
Ritchie Humphreys was cheered up by Chris Turner and the players, who rang him and told him to keep his head up.
29.
When Ritchie Humphreys returned to pre-season training for the following season, he was playfully teased over his penalty miss.
30.
Ritchie Humphreys took the motto "that anything that doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" and was determined to come back stronger.
31.
Ritchie Humphreys finished the season as an ever-present in the Hartlepool squad, adding 11 goals to his name and helping Hartlepool gain promotion to the Second Division.
32.
Ritchie Humphreys's performances won him the Player of the Season award from the supporters.
33.
Ritchie Humphreys believes that of all the play-off defeats he has suffered the controversial loss to Wednesday was the hardest to take.
34.
On 22 August 2006, Ritchie Humphreys was dropped for Hartlepool's match against Hereford United.
35.
Shortly after that match, Ritchie Humphreys joined Port Vale on a month's loan.
36.
Ritchie Humphreys later stated that he had no intentions of leaving Hartlepool.
37.
However, this changed against Accrington Stanley when Ritchie Humphreys scored a spectacular last-minute winner.
38.
Ritchie Humphreys performances earned him a place in the League Two PFA Team of the Year.
39.
Ritchie Humphreys was awarded the Monkey Business Achievement Award for this contribution to the season, and later had a street in Hartlepool named after him.
40.
However, these awards proved small in comparison to when Ritchie Humphreys was honoured by the Queen for making a "significant contribution to local and national life" earlier on in the season.
41.
On 26 February 2011, Ritchie Humphreys replaced Joe Gamble after 82 minutes to make his 473rd appearance for Pools.
42.
On 2 August 2011, Ritchie Humphreys was given a testimonial match against Premier League Sunderland to mark his ten years at Hartlepool United.
43.
Ritchie Humphreys signed a one-year contract with League Two club Chesterfield on 15 July 2013.
44.
Ritchie Humphreys was not offered a new playing contract at the end of the season, but Caldwell offered him a position on his coaching staff.
45.
Ritchie Humphreys rejected the opportunity to join the coaching staff at Chesterfield and instead signed with Northern Premier League Division One South club Sheffield.
46.
Ritchie Humphreys retired from playing in December 2017, posting a thank you message on his Twitter account.
47.
Ritchie Humphreys succeeded Clarke Carlisle as chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association in 2013.
48.
Ritchie Humphreys was succeeded in the role by Ben Purkiss in November 2017.