Ritchie Peter Branagan (born 20 October 1991) is a

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

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

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England, formed in 1919. The team's strip is red shirts and black shorts and their home ground is the 4,250 capacity Ewen Fields. Hyde United's record ...

. Born in England, he made one appearance for the Republic of Ireland U21 national team. He has also played in Japan and Australi

Club career

Branagan was born in

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. Having previously been part of the youth system at

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

he joined the youth set-up at Bury. He joined Bury's first team squad for the 2009–10 season and was granted a one-year contract extension in the summer of 2010. He made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut on 23 October 2010 as a 60th-minute substitute for the injured

Cameron Belford Cameron Dale Belford (born 16 October 1988) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Coleshill Town. Playing career Early career Born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, Belford started his career at Coventry City a ...

in a match with

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 ...

. In May 2011 he was offered a new contract by the club. He signed a new 12-month contract with Bury in June 2011. In May 2012, Branagan was released by the club after being deemed surplus to requirements. In August 2012 he joined Salford City. In August 2013 he signed for

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

after a successful trial and made his debut on 2 November 2013 in 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 ...

against

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

. Following his release from Macclesfield Town he joined

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

in January 2017 as a replacement for the injured Sam Ashton. He finished his career at

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the mid-19th cen ...

after signing for them in 2017.Saturday's Transfer List!
�� evostikleague.co.uk, 9 September 2017 On 28 May 2023 Ritchie made his non league return signing with Hyde United FC

International career

Branagan made his Republic of Ireland U21 debut in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

in February 2011.

Personal life

He is the son of former Bolton goalkeeper

Keith Branagan Keith Graham Branagan (born 10 July 1966) is a football coach and former professional player. As a player, he was a goalkeeper who notably played in the Premier League for Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town. He also played in the Football League ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Branagan, Ritchie English men's footballers Living people 1991 births Footballers from Gravesend, Kent Men's association football goalkeepers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Bury F.C. players Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers English Football League players Salford City F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Droylsden F.C. players Chorley F.C. players 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Irish sportsmen