Ricky Ben Wellard (born 9 May 1988) is an English semi-professional

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 le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

club Bedfont Sports.

Career

Ashford Town (Middlesex)

Wellard was born in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He came through the ranks of the Ashford Town (Middlesex) and made his debut for the Tangerines against Stourport Swifts on 8 January 2005, as a late sub for Anthony Eggington. He went on to make 190 first team appearances for Ashford Town including scoring the winning goal in the 2009

Surrey Senior Cup The Surrey Senior Cup is the senior Saturday cup competition of the Surrey FA. It is currently competed for by teams playing in the top nine levels of the English football league system who are affiliated to the Surrey FA. The competition was i ...

final. During his time at the club Wellard was also groundsman at Short Lane. In the summer of 2008,

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

had a transfer bid rejected which was described as 'derisory' by the Ashford board. However, the Dons second bid the following summer was more successful for an undisclosed fee plus add-ons. At the time of the transfer, Wellard was one of only three players to have ever commanded a transfer fee at Ashford, with the others being Dannie Bulman and Richard Butler.

AFC Wimbledon

Wellard became a regular in the

side and made 43 appearances in his first season for the Dons as they didn't quite make the

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

play-offs. His second season at the club saw him move down the pecking order in central midfield in January after the arrival of James Mulley. In February 2011, Wellard was sent on loan to fellow Conference side Cambridge United on a month-long loan. However, he was recalled early from his loan by Terry Brown due to an injury crisis at the Kingsmeadow Stadium. He regained his place in the Dons' first team and eventually played in the 2011 Conference Play-off final win over

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

, which saw the Dons gain a place in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. In May 2012, Wellard was released from the club due to the expiry of his contract.

Cambridge United

Wellard signed a two-year contract with The U's on 18 May 2012 following his release from AFC Wimbledon earlier in the month. U's boss

Jez George Jeremy "Jez" George (born 24 January 1970) is a former English Association football, football manager (association football), manager who was Chief Executive Officer for Cambridge United F.C., Cambridge United in the Football League Two. He was al ...

was quick to snap up the midfielder early in the summer transfer window in a deal which saw the Londoner return to the Abbey Stadium on a permanent basis following a popular loan spell back in February 2011. In November 2012, he joined

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side

Salisbury City Salisbury City Football Club was an English football club based in Salisbury, Wiltshire. They were formed in 1947 and played at The Raymond McEnhill Stadium. Salisbury had gained back-to-back promotions in recent years, first to the Conference S ...

on a one-month loan deal.

Salisbury City

After a successful loan spell at Salisbury, he returned permanently, signing a contract until the end of the 2013–14 season. He featured in the squad regularly, and scored a vital free kick in the Conference South play-off final against

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

Sutton United

He signed for Sutton United in July 2014, and made his debut against Winchester City in a pre-season friendly.

Welling United

In May 2015, he signed for

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

side

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football. History Welling United Foot ...

on a free transfer.

Wealdstone

In 2016, he signed for

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont and Kenton, and east of Headstone. The area accommodates ...

. He left the club in May 2018.

Bedfont

On 25 December 2019, Wellard moved to Bedfont Sports.WELCOME RICKY WELLARD
pitchero.com, 24 December 2019

Career statistics

Honours

AFC Wimbledon *

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

play-offs:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Salisbury City *

play-offs:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wellard, Ricky 1988 births Living people Footballers from Hammersmith English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Ashford Town (Middlesex) F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Cambridge United F.C. players Salisbury City F.C. players Sutton United F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Hemel Hempstead Town F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. players Bedfont Sports F.C. players Southern Football League players National League (English football) players English Football League players