Martyn Ridyard
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Martyn Ridyard (born 25 July 1986) is an English professional
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
footballer who last played as a
goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...
-kicking or for
Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the League 1, the third tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs tha ...
in the
RFL League 1 The Rugby Football League's League One (known as the Betfred League One) is the third-highest division of rugby league in Britain. It is also the lowest level of professional rugby league in Britain. Introduced in 2003 as National League 2 i ...
. He played for the
Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh play homes games at Leigh Sports Village and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. ...
in two separate spells in the
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 ...
and the
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
, and on loan from
Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...
at the
Huddersfield Giants The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...
in the
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
and the
Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the League 1, the third tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs tha ...
in the Championship. Ridyard has also played for
Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...
in the second tier.


Background

Ridyard was born in
Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...
, Greater Manchester, England.


Career


Early career

Ridyard came through the junior ranks at Leigh Miners, joining
Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...
academy squad upon leaving school before returning to Leigh Miners. There he helped Miners win the 2004-2005 National Conference Championship and the 2005-2006 BARLA National Cup Final, continuing to play at that level before accepting an offer from
Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
to play in their Senior Academy during 2007. Ridyard returned once more to
Leigh Miners Rangers Leigh Miners Rangers are a community amateur rugby league football club from Leigh in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in the National Conference League, the National Conference Premier Division ...
and helped them win the 2008 League Leaders Trophy, scoring 231 points along the way, only for Miners to lose in the 2008 National Conference League Grand Final, though his season ended on a personal high by winning the highly coveted Player of the Season award.


Leigh Centurions

After a couple of false starts, Ridyard's professional career finally took off in 2009 when he re-joined hometown club
Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh play homes games at Leigh Sports Village and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. ...
, and quickly established himself as a first team regular. A highly decorated player at amateur level, Ridyard has been capped by the BARLA Young Lions and GB Community Lions and has also represented Lancashire, before winning the first honour of his professional career when Leigh won the 2011
Northern Rail Cup The Championship Cup (known as the Northern Rail Cup for sponsorship reasons), previously known as the National League Cup, was a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's British rugby league system, Rugby League Champ ...
Final. His second honour was being MOM in the 2013 Northern Rail Cup final win 2014
Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh play homes games at Leigh Sports Village and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. ...
won the Kingston Press championship at Headingley, Martyn winning the Tom Bergin Trophy as MOM and also was voted Kingstone press player of the year.


Featherstone Rovers

In October 2017 he signed a two-year deal to play for Featherstone.


Leigh Centurions (return)

He returned to his home town club Leigh Centurions in 2018 for the 2019 season, although he spent most of 2020 out on loan at the
Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the League 1, the third tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs tha ...
.


Swinton Lions

On 7 September 2020 it was announced that Ridyard would join the
Swinton Lions The Swinton Lions are a professional rugby league club based in Swinton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the RFL League 1 . The club has won the Rugby Football League Championship, Championship six times and three Challenge Cups ...
for the 2021 season.


Oldham R.L.F.C.

On 22 Oct 2021 it was reported that he had signed for
Oldham R.L.F.C. Oldham Rugby League Football Club, is a professional rugby league football club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The club plays home games at Boundary Park and competes in RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British ...
in the
RFL League 1 The Rugby Football League's League One (known as the Betfred League One) is the third-highest division of rugby league in Britain. It is also the lowest level of professional rugby league in Britain. Introduced in 2003 as National League 2 i ...
.


Rochdale Hornets

On 17 Nov 2023 it was reported that he had signed for
Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the League 1, the third tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs tha ...
in the
RFL League 1 The Rugby Football League's League One (known as the Betfred League One) is the third-highest division of rugby league in Britain. It is also the lowest level of professional rugby league in Britain. Introduced in 2003 as National League 2 i ...
.


References


External links


Featherstone Rovers profileLeigh Centurions profileSL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridyard, Martyn 1986 births Living people English rugby league players Featherstone Rovers players Huddersfield Giants players Leigh Leopards players Oldham R.L.F.C. captains Oldham R.L.F.C. players Rochdale Hornets players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Salford Swinton Lions players