Stuart Edward Ripley (born 20 November 1967) is an English former 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 played as a winger from 1985 until 2002, notably 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 ...

for

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

. He was part of the Rovers squad that won the title in the 1994–95 season. Prior to this he had played just under 250 times 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 ...

for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. He also appeared professionally for Barnsley and

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

. He earned two national caps for

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 ...

. Ripley retired from professional football in 2002 and after working as a sports physio is now working as a solicitor.

Club career

Middlesbrough

Ripley first made his name with

in the late 1980s, before achieving success in a £1.3 million move to

, helping them to the league title in the 1994–95 season and becoming a cult hero. In the 1991–1992 season he helped Middlesbrough achieve promotion to the newly founded Premier League, as well as playing an important role in Middlesbrough getting through to the League Cup semi-final. They also reached the fifth round of the FA Cup losing in a replay to Portsmouth.

Blackburn Rovers

During the summer of 1992, Ripley was signed by

who had achieved promotion along with Middlesbrough. He was briefly their record signing until later in July they signed

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premie ...

for £3.3million. On his debut for Blackburn, he scored the club's first Premier League goal, opening their scoring a 3–3 draw with Crystal Palace at

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international ...

Southampton

In 1998, aged almost 31, he moved to

, and retiring four years later. He scored one goal for Southampton against Derby County on 4 October 1999. He also served loan spells at Barnsley (twice) – scoring in his debut, a 1–2 home loss to former side Blackburn – and

, where he scored once against Crystal Palace.

International career

He was capped twice by England as a full international; against

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

on 17 November 1993 and against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnist ...

on 10 September 1997.

Personal life

After finishing his playing career, Ripley set up the

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centr ...

Physiotherapy & Sports Injury Clinic, providing

physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patie ...

to nearby rugby league teams, as well as local football teams. He graduated from the

University of Central Lancashire , mottoeng = "From the Earth to the Sun" , established = as Institution for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledgere-established 1992 (University status granted) , type = Public , chancellor ...

in 2007, with a first class combined honours degree in Law and French. His son,

Connor Ripley Connor James Ripley (born 13 February 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Port Vale. Ripley turned professional at his local team Middlesbrough – where his father, Stuart, had played – in January ...

, is a goalkeeper and plays for

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...

. In 2010 Ripley became a qualified solicitor. He is a member of FA's Judicial Panel hearing cases relating to matters such as doping, safeguarding, agent activity and discrimination.

Career statistics

Honours

Middlesbrough * Full Members' Cup runner-up: 1989–90 Blackburn Rovers *

: 1994–95

References

External links

*
Middlesbrough archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ripley, Stuart 1967 births Living people Footballers from Middlesbrough Alumni of the University of Central Lancashire English footballers Association football wingers Premier League players Middlesbrough F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players England international footballers England under-21 international footballers English solicitors