Planet Swans Archives|
Blast From The Past – Richie Appleby |
|
Richie was born on the 18th Sept 1975 in Middlesborough and is a former England Youth player signed on a free transfer by big Jan Molby (pronounced Molboo) on a free transfer in the Summer of 1996 after being released by Ipswich (pronounced Ip- Switch). Previous clubs included Newcastle (niew-cassle) and Darlington (dahrl-ing-tun). He was, when he could be bothered, an attacking midfielder who played mainly on the right or in the centre as a creative player. His time at the Swans (suh-wans) will be remembered by most fans for performing either brilliantly or utterly atrociously with very little middle ground. He’ll no doubt also be remembered for the rash of red cards that he collected during a particularly wayward spell in the1997-98 season when he seemed to get sent off at every available opportunity. It might be hard for some to believe given Appleby’s continued fall from grace, but during the dark, dark days of the Cork (k-hawk – silent ‘h’) era when we remained rooted to the bottom half of the basement division for what seemed an eternity, my friends and I would go and watch the Swans hoping to see Ritchie in the team, as he offered more hope of footballing excitement than any of our other players – and we’re talking the class of Shaun Chapple (Chapel) and Ryan Casey (kay-see) here. If Ritchie wasn’t going to play there wasn’t much to get exited about. His touch and skill were admirable, and combined with scoring some cracking goals, definitely made watching the Swans bearable. Ritchie was often the shining light in a badly under performing team, and even if he was having one of his bad-tempered games he was often good entertainment value at least. Unfortunately for Ritchie and the Swans, his career went downhill quite rapidly at the turn of the century; possibly due to a millenarian cult he was a member of at the time, or due to the ignominy of being taken off and replaced by Coates on a number of occasions. The most memorable of Ritchie’s wacky moments was his sending off in the FAW Premier Cup match against Cwmbran (coom-braahn) on the 15th December 1999. Ritchie decided to spice up the fairly mediocre early evening BBC TV schedules that night by kicking the ball at the linesman, not once, but twice, and basically losing the plot big time. He was charged with bringing the game into disrepute by the FAW, and John Hollins, in a rare show of decisiveness, put him on the transfer list. After stuttering through a couple of poor seasons he was eventually loaned out to the mighty Kidderminster (Kidd-uh-min-stuh) Harriers in the 2001 season. He was subsequently signed by Molby on full-time contracts for both his Kidderminster and Hull (Huh-ll) teams, but Ritchie was never the same player again, being plagued by injuries and has had more than a few touches of the footballing ailment known as ‘Harry Kewell Syndrome’. Ritchie was a classic HKS sufferer, displaying classic symptoms such as long periods out of the game with seemingly little wrong with him, as well as remarkable levels of underperformance when eventually fit, culminating in his manager doubting whether he was: a) – ever really injured, and: b) – ever really any good. Without the remarkable faith that Molby showed in Ritchie’s ability, his football league career would probably have been much shorter than it was. Ritchie was released by Hull in 2003 after the club became frustrated at the differences of opinion between player and club over his injuries( or apparent lack of), and made a brief comeback to league football with Molby again at Kidderminster before that all went a bit wrong as well. He then dropped into non-league football with Forest Green Rovers, never to be seen again. A sad end to a once bright talent. Thanks for the entertainment Ritchie, you mad bastard. Submitted By Ed Rowlands
Images courtesy of Getty Images, Athena Picture Agency and Swansea City Football Club.
 
Forum Latest
Latest from Blog
Swans TV: Alan Sheehan on Hull City | Press Conference
. . . Alan Sheehan talks to the press ahead of tomorrow's game against Hull City. For more information, as well as all the latest Swansea City AFC news, log onto the club's official website at http://www.swanseacity.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SWANSPLAYER Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SwanseaCityFC Follow us on Twitter:…
Swans TV: Lewis O’Brien on Hull City | Press Conference
. . .Lewis O'Brien talks to the press ahead of tomorrow's game against Hull City. For more information, as well as all the latest Swansea City AFC news, log onto the club's official website at http://www.swanseacity.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SWANSPLAYER Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SwanseaCityFC Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/swansofficial…
Swans TV: Mic’d up | Martyn Margetson
. . .Watch and listen as goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson puts on his session for the Swansea City goalkeepers. For more information, as well as all the latest Swansea City AFC news, log onto the club's official website at http://www.swanseacity.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SWANSPLAYER Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SwanseaCityFC Follow…
Swans TV: Anthony Wright on Hull City | Reaction | U21s
. . .Anthony Wright talks to Swans TV following yesterday's 1-0 win against Hull City at the Joma High Performance Centre. For more information, as well as all the latest Swansea City AFC news, log onto the club's official website at http://www.swanseacity.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SWANSPLAYER Like us on Facebook:…
Swans TV: Yzzy Taylor on Aberystwyth | Reaction
. . .Yzzy Taylor talks to Swans TV following the Swans' 4-1 win against Aberystwyth. For more information, as well as all the latest Swansea City AFC news, log onto the club's official website at http://www.swanseacity.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SWANSPLAYER Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SwanseaCityFC Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/swansofficial…
|