Another article where we look at one of the many cult heroes from across Greater Manchester.
This time we have a look at Andy Ritchie, who played for Manchester United and Oldham Athletic.
He started off well at Manchester United but was surprisingly sold to Brighton. He eventually ended up at Oldham Athletic where he truly made his name and remains a legend amongst their fans.
Ritchie started his career in 1977–78 with Manchester United and scored a hat-trick against Leeds United while aged just 18 and another hat-trick against Spurs when 19, but was then surprisingly sold to Brighton & Hove Albion.
He was later sold to Leeds United, where he made some fine performances, notably in the 1984–85 season when he scored two hat-tricks. He also helped the club reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup in the 1986–87 season.
Move to Oldham Athletic
He stayed at Elland Road club until 1987, when he signed for Oldham Athletic. He would stay at Boundary Park for eight years, during one of the most successful periods of the club's history.
This included a run to the final of the League Cup in 1990, reaching the FA Cup semi-finals in the same year (where they took Man United to a replay), before sealing the Division 2 title in 1991. They stayed in the top flight for three years, and they were founder members of the Premier League in 1992.
They reached another FA Cup semi-final in 1994, where Oldham took a 1–0 lead against Man United in extra time before a late equaliser forced a replay, which they eventually lost 4–1.
After leaving Oldham in 1995, he spent two years in Division Three with Scarborough.
Management
Ritchie returned to Oldham in March 1997, becoming Neil Warnock's assistant. Warnock eventually left to become Bury manager and Ritchie was appointed as a manager.
During this first season, the team struggled with a small budget he had to rely mostly on youth players and the club survived relegation to the lowest tier of the the Football League and the prospect of being the first Founder Members of the Premier League to be relegated to the bottom Division.
The following season despite a bad start he managed to turn the fortunes around with some impressive displays, most notably the endings of top of the table Wigan's unbeaten record.
The 00/01 season was similar to the 99/00 season with the club recovering from a bad start. The signings of David Eyres and Tony Carss helped steer the club to midtable safety.
In the summer of 2001 the club was taken over by businessman Chris Moore, initially the club started the 2001–02 season well but following a poor run of results he was sacked in November 2001.
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