Ricky Little (born 20 May 1989) 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 plays as a defender for Beith Juniors in the

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 ...

Career

Little began his youth career on the books of the Ayr United youth squad and Ardrossan Winton Rovers, and he captained Scotland schoolboys under-18s in season 2006–07. When he moved into the senior game, he featured on the subs bench for the

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

first team several times to cover for injury under Ian McCall. Little was sent on a month's loan to Queen's Park on 17 September 2008, as he was too old to play for the Firhill side's under 19 side. Little joined up with Queen's Park again on loan for two months in November 2009. Following his release from the Jags in Jan 2010, he rejoined Queen's Park permanently until the end of the season. He signed a new contract with Queen's Park at the beginning of season 2010–11 and was nominated for PFA Scotland Scottish Third Division Player of the Year at the end of a season that also saw him named club captain. After spending three years at Queen's Park, in June 2013,

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

manager Paul Sheerin signed Little to replace

Stuart Malcolm Stuart Ross Malcolm (born 20 August 1979) is a Scottish football coach and former player who is the coach of East Fife. Born in Edinburgh, Malcolm has previously played for St Johnstone, Cowdenbeath, Plymouth Argyle, Ross County, Drogheda ...

who signed for Forfar Athletic. Shortly after joining the club, he suffered an injury in a

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nearest rail access is located ...

, which kept him out for six months. On 2 May 2015, Little scored from his own half as Arbroath beat

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in England, who play in the Scottish football system. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite being ba ...

5–0. He would go on to become a mainstay of the Arbroath defence, which saw him once again named in the

PFA Scotland Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland Team of the Year (often called the PFA Scotland Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 44 footballers in the four national tiers of the Scottish foo ...

for

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 ...

in 2015–16. He was also part of the squads that won the

2016–17 Scottish League Two The 2016–17 Scottish League Two (known as Ladbrokes League Two for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd season in the current format of 10 teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. The last placed team (Cowdenbeath) entered a play-off with a ...

and

2018–19 Scottish League One The 2018–19 Scottish League One (known as the Ladbrokes League One for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th season in the current format of 10 teams in the third-tier of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 15 June 2018 and the seaso ...

titles. Following his release from Arbroath in the summer of 2024, Little returned to junior football, signing for Beith Juniors in the

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Arbroath *

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

: 2016–17 *

: 2018–19

Individual

* Scottish League One Player of the Month: November 2018 * PFA Scotland Scottish Third Division Team of the Year: 2011–12,

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 ...

* PFA Scotland Scottish League Two Team of the Year: 2015–16, 2016–17 * PFA Scotland Scottish League One Team of the Year: 2018–19

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Ricky 1989 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Ayr United F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Queen's Park F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Ardrossan Winton Rovers F.C. players Arbroath F.C. players Beith Juniors F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players 21st-century Scottish sportsmen