John Robert Ruddy (born 27 December 1997) is a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for club Bo'ness United.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Ruddy was on the books of hometown team Rangers from the age of seven to twelve, being coached by

Andy Goram Andrew Lewis Goram (13 April 1964 – 2 July 2022) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, he started his career with Oldham Athletic and Hibernian, but he is best remembered for playing for ...

, before emigrating to

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

in Spain in 2010. At the age of fifteen, after impressing for Torre Pacheco, he signed a contract for

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in , playing home matches at Estadio Nueva Condo ...

. Ruddy went on trial with

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

, but he was unable to sign a professional contract with any Spanish club due to a regulation requiring young players to have resided in Spain for at least five years.

Bury

On 30 July 2014, Ruddy returned to the United Kingdom, signing for Bury. He was first featured in a matchday squad on 8 November, remaining an unused substitute for their 3–1 win over Hemel Hempstead Town at

Gigg Lane Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gi ...

in the first round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. Ruddy was first included in a league game on 28 December, again remaining on the bench in a 2–0 League Two triumph of the same score against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

, repeating the feat four times as the team earned promotion to League One. Ruddy made his professional debut on 14 November 2015, playing the full 90 minutes of a 3–1 League One loss at Gillingham in what turned out to be his only first team appearance for Bury.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 29 August 2016 Ruddy signed for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

on a two-year deal, with the option of a further year, for an undisclosed fee. He was named on the bench once over the season, for a 3–1 loss at Derby County on 29 April 2017. In December 2017, he extended his contract until the end of the 2019–20 campaign. On 31 August 2017, Ruddy was sent on loan to League One side

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

until 1 January. He was then loaned to

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...

club Ayr United. Ruddy was one of nine Wolves youngsters loaned to Spanish

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

team FC Jumilla in August 2018. He made four appearances and was sent off at the end of his last game, a 2–2 draw at CD El Ejido, for insulting the referee. On 1 February 2019, he joined S.S. Reyes of the same league until the end of the season. Ruddy was released by Wolves during the 2019 close season.

After Wolves

Ruddy signed a six-month contract with Ross County in July 2019. Unused, he was released in January 2020, and returned to Spain to sign for CD Leganés B. On 6 September 2020, Ruddy signed a short-term contract with League One club Plymouth Argyle until January 2021, having successfully completing a trial. Signed due to Luke McCormick's shoulder injury, he played two

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

games and sat on the bench for league games as

Michael Cooper Michael Jerome Cooper (born April 15, 1956), nicknamed "Coop", is an American basketball coach and former player. He played for the Los Angeles Lakers during his entire career in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning five NBA champ ...

played. His deal was then expanded until the end of the season. After being released from Plymouth, Ruddy signed in June 2021 for Linfield, reigning champions of the

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

. Ruddy left Linfield by mutual consent on 31 January 2022 On 25 March 2022, Ruddy signed for West of Scotland League Premier Division side

Darvel Darvel (, ) is a town in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It is at the eastern end of the Loudoun, Irvine Valley and is sometimes referred to as "The Lang Toon" (). The town's Latin motto, , means "Not for ourselves, but for others". History Prehis ...

. After a short spell with

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; ), sometimes referred to as EK, is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland, and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. Historically a small village, it was designated Scotland's first "new town" on 6 Ma ...

, Ruddy then signed for

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

. Following a successful trial period, Ruddy signed for Isthmian League Premier Division side

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. The ...

ahead of the 2023–24 season. In January 2024, he joined Lowland League club Bo'ness United.

International career

Ruddy was called up for the Scottish under-19 team in September 2015 for a friendly tournament in Germany the following month; he was the only member of the squad playing outside the top two divisions of English or Scottish football. He earned his only cap at that level on 9 October in a 2–2 draw with the United States in

Reutlingen Reutlingen (; ) is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous Reutlingen (district), district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it had an estimated population of 116,456. Reutlingen has a Reutlingen University, univ ...

. Selected for the Scotland under-20 squad in the 2017 Toulon Tournament. The team went to claim the bronze medal. It was the nations first ever medal at the competition. After four games at under-20 level, Ruddy played his only under-21 game on 28 March 2017, a goalless draw with

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Career statistics

Honours

Ayr United *

: 2017–18 Darvel *

West of Scotland Football League The West of Scotland Football League (WoSFL) is a senior football league based in the west of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–10 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. Founded in 20 ...

Premier Division: 2021–22

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruddy, Jack 1997 births Living people Footballers from Glasgow Men's association football goalkeepers Scottish men's footballers Rangers F.C. players Real Murcia CF players Bury F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players FC Jumilla players UD San Sebastián de los Reyes players Ross County F.C. players CD Leganés B players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Linfield F.C. players Darvel F.C. players East Kilbride F.C. players Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players Bo'ness United F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Isthmian League players Lowland Football League players Scottish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Scotland men's under-21 international footballers 21st-century Scottish sportsmen