Nathanael Anthony Ralph (born 14 February 1993) is an English

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 plays as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

or winger for club

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

, for whom he also serves as

club captain The captain of a football/soccer team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavily influ ...

Career

Yeovil Town

On 14 August 2012, Ralph made his Yeovil debut in the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

in a 3–0 victory. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 victory over Preston in a League One match, having come on as a substitute midway through the second half. He made 17 appearances in the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

campaign, though did not feature in the play-off final victory over

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

which took the "Glovers" into 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 ...

. Ralph was released by Yeovil at the end of the 2014–15 season following their relegation to League Two.

Newport County

On 25 June 2015, Ralph signed for League Two club Newport County. His time at Newport was beset by injuries and although he made the substitutes bench on a number of occasions he did not make a competitive appearance. On 12 February 2016 he joined

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season. He was released by Newport on 10 May 2016 at the end of his contract.

Woking

On 3 August 2016, Ralph signed a one-year contract with Woking. On 6 August 2016, Ralph made his Woking debut in a 3–1 home defeat against Lincoln City, playing the full 90 minutes. Three days later, Ralph went onto score his first Woking goal in a 2–2 draw with

Solihull Moors Solihull Moors Football Club is a professional association football club based in Solihull, England. The club currently competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, after achieving promotion from the Na ...

. On 15 June 2017, Ralph signed a new one-year deal for the 2017–18 campaign.

Dundee

On 31 May 2018, Ralph signed a two-year deal with

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. He won the club's player of the year award for 2018/19, but they were relegated. Ralph then exercised a clause in his contract that allowed him to become a free agent.

Southend United

signed Ralph to a two-year contract, with an option for a third year, in July 2019. He scored his first goal for Southend when he scored in an

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 ...

tie against

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

on 13 November 2019. He dislocated his shoulder in December. In December 2023, Ralph signed a contract extension with Southend until the summer of 2025, having become

during his time there.

Career statistics

Honours

;Yeovil Town *

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Individual

Dundee * Andrew De Vries Player of the Year: 2018–19 * Players' Player of the Year: 2018–19

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ralph, Nathan Living people People from Great Dunmow 1993 births English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks English Football League players National League (English football) players Arsenal F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Woking F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Men's association football wingers Southend United F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players Footballers from Essex 21st-century English sportsmen