Ritchie Humphreys

Ritchie John Humphreys (born 30 November 1977) is an English former professional footballer. He is a former chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) and holds a UEFA A Licence coaching qualification.

Humphreys started his career with Premier League club Sheffield Wednesday in 1996. Whilst with the club, he was loaned out to Scunthorpe United and Cardiff City. He also won five caps for England at under-20 and under-21 levels. He left the club in 2001 and joined Cambridge United for a short period, after which he joined Hartlepool United. He joined Port Vale on loan in 2006. He left Hartlepool in July 2013 and moved on to Chesterfield. Whilst at Chesterfield in 2014, he appeared at Wembley Stadium in the final of the Football League Trophy and helped the club to the League Two title in 2013–14. He left Chesterfield in 2017 and went on to play for non-League side Sheffield until his retirement in December 2017.

In 12 seasons with Hartlepool, he made a club record of 544 appearances. He 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 (2000s). He was also voted the club's Player of the Century. He was also 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. He helped the club win promotion out of the fourth tier in 2002–03, and again in 2006–07. However, he suffered play-off heartbreak with the club on three occasions.

Humphreys was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. He was introduced to football from an early age, his grandfather, Ernest Humphreys, played for Millwall, Motherwell and St Mirren. His dad, John Humphreys, also had trials with Sheffield United.

Humphreys grew up as a Sheffield United fan and joined their academy, which he described as a "dream come true". However, they released him when he was 13. He completed a boyhood dream by scoring at Bramall Lane in a 3–2 win for Hartlepool in December 2012.

Humphreys then played for the Sheffield Boys and was one of the few players who did not play for a professional club. However, that soon changed when Humphreys was scouted by a Sheffield Wednesday scout, and he joined their centre of excellence.

In 1995, after leaving Newfield Secondary School, Humphreys became part of Sheffield Wednesday's youth squad. For the youth squad, Humphreys played as a left winger and was offered a professional contract. Due to the injuries of strikers David Hirst and Mark Bright, Wednesday manager David Pleat gave Humphreys the opportunity to go on Wednesday's pre-season tour of the Netherlands.

Humphreys played the first match and scored twice. He then scored again in the second match against FC Utrecht. Johan Cruyff was the guest of honour for that match, and he praised Humphreys and said he was the next Marco van Basten, something Humphreys later played down. During this pre-season tour, he was taken under the wing and guided by Wednesday legend Chris Waddle. After scoring 4 goals in his first 5 Premier League appearances, lifting Wednesday to the top of the league, David Pleat released his mentor Waddle. Humphreys did not score another league goal all season (only notching a hat-trick in a League Cup match against Grimsby Town in a 7–1 win). Humphreys' pre-season form earned him a full league debut in Wednesday's opening match against Aston Villa. In this match, Humphreys scored a goal that was recorded at 95.9 miles per hour (154.3 km/h), one of the hardest-hit goals in the history of football. Humphreys also scored in the following match against Leeds United. Two matches later, Humphreys scored a much talked about goal when he went on a 50 yards (46 m) run and scored a spectacular chipped goal against Leicester City . Humphreys was seen as the driving force behind Sheffield Wednesday's shock early lead at the top of The Premiership.