Simon Ratcliffe (born 8 February 1967) is an English former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player, who is

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

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

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

and Gillingham, where he made over 100

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 ...

appearances.

Playing career

Born in

Davyhulme Davyhulme () is an area of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, Historic counties of England, historically in Lancashire. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 19,634. Davyhulme Sewage Works The area is notable fo ...

, Ratcliffe began his footballing career as a

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

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) is an English former football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Ron", he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits in the 1990s and early 2000s. Nicknamed "The Tank" during his ...

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

, their

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

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 professional football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as the greatest manager of all time and ...

. 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 a association football, football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City F.C., Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

, his chances of first team action in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

would be better than they had been at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. 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 Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

semi-finals, although Ratcliffe did not make any league appearances. 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 is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football ...

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 is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, 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 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 association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

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 became wealthy through the sale of his Metronote photocopier business in South London a ...

had rescued the club from the brink of bankruptcy and appointed

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh former professional 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 2 ...

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 Third Division become the fourth tier of English football. In 2 ...

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)