Simon Ratcliffe (born 8 February 1967) is an English former professional football player, who is

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

of Gillingham Ladies and the Gillingham Girls Academy. His clubs included

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 2 ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...

and Gillingham, where he made over 100

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 ...

appearances.

Playing career

Born in

Davyhulme Davyhulme is an area of Greater Manchester, England, historically in Lancashire. The population at the 2011 census was 19,634. Davyhulme Sewage Works The area is notable for Davyhulme Sewage Works, one of the largest wastewater treatment p ...

, Ratcliffe began his footballing career as a

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 ...

apprentice on leaving school in 1983, and two years later was granted a professional contract by manager

Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939), commonly known as "Big Ron" or "Mr. Bojangles", is an English former football player and manager. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits. Ni ...

. However, he never played a first team game for United and was transferred to

, their First Division rivals, in 1987 - by which time United were being managed by

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all ti ...

. Ratcliffe joined the Canaries at one of the most successful points in their history, when they had just finished fifth in the league a season after promotion. Though Ratcliffe would not be guaranteed a first team place at

Carrow Road Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

, his chances of first team action in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

would be better than they had been at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after We ...

. He managed nine league appearances over the next two years, before leaving in 1989 - at the end of what was arguably the most successful season in Norwich's history, when they finished fourth in the league and reached the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

semi-finals. On leaving Norwich, Ratcliffe signed for Third Division

for a club record incoming fee of £100,000. He was soon a regular first team player, helping them win the Third Division title in 1992 and gain a place in the new Division One (as the Second Division was called following the creation of the

FA Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

for the 1992-93 season). For a while Brentford were looking like they could establish themselves as a Division One club and possibly even push for a place in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, as they entered 1993 in tenth place and just one point outside the playoff zone, but a dreadful run of form in the second half of the season saw them relegated on the final day of the season. Two years later, they finished second in

Division Two NCL Division Two The NCL or National Conference League Division Two (known as the Kingstone Press NCL Division Two) League winners {, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" , - , colspan=4 style="text-align:center;" , NCL DIVISION TWO , ...

but were denied automatic promotion because of a restructuring of the league. They lost to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. ...

in the playoff semi-finals and remained in Division Two, while Ratcliffe dropped down a division to sign for Gillingham. When Ratcliffe signed for Gillingham, new owner

Paul Scally Paul Damien Phillip Scally (born ) is a London-born businessman who served as the chairman of Gillingham Football Club between 1995 and 2022. Career Scally had become wealthy through the sale of his Metronote photocopier business in South Lon ...

had rescued the club from the brink of bankruptcy and appointed

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him on ...

as manager. Ratcliffe was a regular player in the side that won promotion from

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

that season, and helped them stay in Division Two before playing his last professional game for them in 1998 at the age of 31.

Managerial career

Ratcliffe returned to Gillingham in August 2014 to take over the managerial positions at Gillingham Ladies and Gillingham's Girls Academy.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ratcliffe, Simon 1967 births Living people English men's footballers Gillingham F.C. players Gillingham F.C. non-playing staff Brentford F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football defenders People from Davyhulme Footballers from Greater Manchester Sportspeople from Trafford (district)