Rohan Anthony Ricketts (born 22 December 1982) is an English 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 ...

who most recently played as an

attacking 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

Master's Futbol Master's Futbol Academy, commonly known as Master's FA, is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario. The club was founded in 2009 as a soccer academy and added its team in the semi-professional League1 On ...

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league began play in 2014 and is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian ...

Club career

Arsenal

Ricketts started out with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, with whom he won the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. I ...

in 2000 and 2001. He made one appearance for them, in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Tottenham Hotspur

In 2002, he made the unusual step of joining Arsenal's rivals

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

, and became just the fourth player to make the switch from Arsenal to

and only the twelfth to appear for both sides since their formation. Ricketts did not play a single game in his first season, but was a first-team regular in 2003–04 and his form saw him agree a one-year contract extension with the club in December 2003.

Tord Grip Tord Erland Grip (born 13 January 1938) is a Swedish former football coach and player. He has worked with several national teams, including England, Sweden, Indonesia, Mexico, the Ivory Coast and Kosovo. Playing career Grip began his football ...

was impressed with his ability and there was talk of him being called up to the senior

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

squad , but following on from

Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport. He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and ...

's sacking as Tottenham manager, Ricketts found his first team opportunities limited, despite being named Player of the Month in August and September for Tottenham. He scored one league goal during his time at Spurs, in a 2–1 win over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

in November 2003. He also scored once in the League Cup for Spurs, in a game against Coventry City.

Loan spells

The following season, under

Jacques Santini Jacques Jean Claude Santini (born 25 April 1952) is a French former professional footballer and manager. He played for Saint-Étienne during the 1970s, and reached the European Cup final with them in 1976. He has coached the French national team ...

and then

Martin Jol Maarten Cornelis "Martin" Jol (born 16 January 1956) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. He played over 400 games during his career which included spells in the Netherlands, Germany, and England, as well as earning three caps w ...

, he found appearances harder to come by and had two loan spells, first at

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the ...

, and then

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Ro ...

, linking up with his former manager, Glenn Hoddle. He scored once for Wolves, in a 2–1 win over Reading on 30 April 2005.

Wolves & Barnsley

In the summer of 2005 he moved to Molineux on a permanent basis. He had a loan spell at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus ...

in 2007 and was released by Wolves in May of the same year. Ricketts signed a two-year deal with

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 system ...

side Barnsley in July 2007 but was released on 11 April 2008. That same day he was signed by

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

Toronto FC

Rohan Ricketts scored his first two goals for

against the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, ...

on 14 June 2008. In 2008 Ricketts made 26 starts (27 total appearances) and scored four goals in the regular season; he added two more goals in the

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contes ...

In 2009, Ricketts was pushed down Toronto FC's depth chart due to the arrivals of Canadian international Dwayne DeRosario and young American Sam Cronin; in June, Toronto released Ricketts, clearing the salary cap space necessary for the club to sign Canadian international

Ali Gerba Ali Ngon Gerba (; born September 4, 1981) is a former professional soccer player who played as a forward. Born in Cameroon, he represented the Canada national team. Club career Canada and United States In 2000 Gerba signed with the Montrea ...

. Following his release from Toronto, Ricketts reportedly spurned interest from several English clubs to go on trial with

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...

in August 2009. Ricketts reportedly impressed during his trialin particular in Aberdeen's 1–0 win over

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's ...

in a preseason friendly matchbut budgetary constraints reportedly complicated the potential signing, and Ricketts ultimately did not remain with the club.

Later career

In early 2010 during the winter transfer market in Europe, Ricketts signed for Hungarian club

Diósgyőri VTK Diósgyőr-Vasgyári Testgyakorlók Köre, more commonly Diósgyőri VTK () is a Hungarian sports club from Diósgyőr district of Miskolc best known for its football team. Founded in 1910 by the local working class youth, the team plays in th ...

. He made one first-team appearance as the club were relegated from Hungary's top professional league to the NB2. In August 2010 Ricketts signed for

FC Dacia Chişinău FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

of the

Moldovan National Division The Moldovan Super Liga is an association football league that is currently the top division of Moldovan football league system. The competition was established in 1992, when the country became independent from the Soviet Union. It was formed in ...

. He made his debut the same month in a 0–0 draw against

FC Academia UTM Chişinău FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

.He left the club three months later, claiming he had not been paid. Ricketts signed for German club

SV Wilhelmshaven SV Wilhelmshaven is a German association football club from Wilhelmshaven, Lower Saxony. SV Wilhelmshaven play in the Regionalliga Nord. SV Wilhelmshaven was founded in 1905. Since 1999, Wilhelmshaven's stadium is the Jadestadion. History Pred ...

in January 2011, but left the club at the end of the 2010–11 season. He went on trial at two English clubs,

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

and Stevenage, but did not sign for either. Instead Ricketts signed for

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

champions

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

in August 2011. He made his first team debut away to

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is hal ...

on 3 September and was involved in both goals, providing the cross for the first goal and the pass to win a penalty for the second goal in a 2–1 win. Ricketts played in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

in a 3–1 defeat against former club Tottenham Hotspur. He was released from Shamrock Rovers in December 2011, after not being offered a new contract. In March 2012, Ricketts sign a one-season contract with

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

, but left the club before the end of the season after just one substitute appearance. Ricketts signed for defending

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the win ...

champions Dempo in August 2012. He announced on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

in January 2013 that he had resigned from Dempo, after he was suspended by the club for an outburst on Twitter. The same month he signed for Ecuadorian team

Club Deportivo Quevedo Club Deportivo Quevedo is an Ecuadorian professional football club based in Quevedo. They currently play in the Ecuadorian Serie B, the country's second division-flight professional league. Current squad Managers * ...

, and made his debut for the club in a 1 – 1 draw against reigning champions

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

. His contract was terminated at the end of July 2013 after making 9 appearances for the club. Ricketts signed for PTT Rayong of the

Thai Premier League The Thai League 1 ( th, ไทยลีก 1), often referred to as T1, is the top level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai League 2. Seasons run from Augu ...

in January 2014, but his contract was terminated by mutual agreement 9 months later. In January 2015 he signed for

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Hong Kong Football Association. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inaugural sea ...

side

Eastern Sports Club Eastern Athletic Association Football Team Limited, also known as Eastern Sports Club (), is a Hong Kong professional sports club whose football section competes in the Hong Kong Premier League, the top flight of Hong Kong football. The ...

. He then joined

Bangladesh Premier League The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ প্রিমিয়ার লীগ) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league consisting of seven franchises. The BPL is one of the three professional cricket leagues in ...

club

Abahani Limited Dhaka Abahani Limited Dhaka ( bn, ঢাকা আবাহনী লিমিটেড), also referred as Dhaka Abahani or Abahani Limited, is a Bangladeshi professional football club based in the Dhanmondi area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The club curr ...

in March 2016, returned to England to play for

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Lea ...

in November 2016, before leaving the club a month later . Ahead of the

2018 League1 Ontario season The 2018 Men's League1 Ontario season was the fifth season of play for League1 Ontario, a Division 3 men's soccer league in the Canadian soccer pyramid and the highest level of soccer based in the Canadian province of Ontario. Vaughan Azzur ...

, it was announced that Ricketts had returned to Canada to play for

. He did not return for the 2019 season.

International career

Ricketts was capped by

at under-18 and under-20 level.

Personal life

During the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, Ricketts co-hosted 'The Hardcore Footy Show: South Africa 2010' with Brendan Dunlop, on Hardcore Sports Radio, Sirius 98 and was a regular on TSN for football. On 24 August 2010, Rohan joined the team of Canada's largest sportsradio network,

CJCL CJCL (590 AM, '' Sportsnet 590 The Fan'') is a Canadian sports radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media since 2002, CJCL's studios are located at the Rogers Building at Bloor and Jarvis in downtown Toro ...

, (Fan 590). He is currently a sports columnist with them. He also signed to write for online magazine, the Sabotage Times, on 29 August. In May 2011, Ricketts launched his own online-only magazine
Column 10
The magazine, which includes a host of features on sport, music, film, fashion and more, has included exclusive interviews with football journalist

Henry Winter Henry Winter (born 18 February 1963) is an English sports journalist. He is currently the Chief Football Writer for ''The Times'', and previously a Football Correspondent for ''The Daily Telegraph''. Education Winter was educated at Westmi ...

, official FIFA Agent Charles Collymore and

DJ Spoony DJ Spoony (born Johnathan Joseph; 25 June 1970) is a British DJ and radio presenter. He is a member of the UK garage production trio, the Dreem Teem. Early career Dj Spoony was born in Hackney, East London to British West Indian parents. ...

. Ricketts had been a regular guest on World Football Daily offering insights and entertaining football talk to fans in America.

Career statistics

Honours

Arsenal *

: 2000, 2001 Toronto FC *

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Shamrock Rovers *

: 2011 Eastern Sports Club *

Hong Kong Senior Shield The Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield (), known commonly as the Senior Shield, is the football knockout inter-club competition held in Hong Kong and the fourth oldest football tournament in Asia. Traditionally, only the teams in the Hong Kong ...

: 2014–15 Individual * Canadian Championship Golden Boot:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

(co-winner – two goals)

References

External links