Rohan Anthony Ricketts (born 22 December 1982) is an English former professional footballer.
Club career
Arsenal Ricketts started out with Arsenal, with whom he won the FA Youth Cup in 2000 and 2001. He made one appearance for them, in the League Cup, against Manchester United.
Tottenham Hotspur In 2002, he made the unusual step of joining Arsenal's rivals Tottenham Hotspur, and became just the fourth player to make the switch from Arsenal to Tottenham Hotspur 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 was impressed with his ability and there was talk of him being called up to the senior England squad , but following on from Glenn Hoddle'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 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 and then Martin Jol, he found appearances harder to come by and had two loan spells, first at Coventry City, and then Wolverhampton Wanderers, 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 in 2007 and was released by Wolves in May of the same year.
Ricketts signed a two-year deal with Championship side Barnsley in July 2007 but was released on 11 April 2008. That same day he was signed by Toronto FC of Major League Soccer.
Toronto FC Rohan Ricketts scored his first two goals for Toronto FC against the Colorado Rapids 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.
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.
Following his release from Toronto, Ricketts reportedly spurned interest from several English clubs to go on trial with Aberdeen in August 2009. Ricketts reportedly impressed during his trialin particular in Aberdeen's 1–0 win over Hull City 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. 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 of the Moldovan National Division. He made his debut the same month in a 0–0 draw against FC Academia UTM Chişinău.He left the club three months later, claiming he had not been paid.
Ricketts signed for German club SV Wilhelmshaven 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 and Stevenage, but did not sign for either. Instead Ricketts signed for League of Ireland champions Shamrock Rovers in August 2011. He made his first team debut away to Dundalk 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 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 side Exeter City, but left the club before the end of the season after just one substitute appearance. Ricketts signed for defending I-League champions Dempo in August 2012. He announced on Twitter 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, and made his debut for the club in a 1–1 draw against reigning champions Barcelona. His contract was terminated at the end of July 2013 after making nine appearances for the club.
Ricketts signed for PTT Rayong of the Thai Premier League in January 2014, but his contract was terminated by mutual agreement nine months later. In January 2015 he signed for Hong Kong Premier League side Eastern Sports Club. He then joined Bangladesh Premier League club Abahani Limited Dhaka in March 2016, returned to England to play for Leatherhead in November 2016, before leaving the club a month later .
Ahead of the 2018 League1 Ontario season, it was announced that Ricketts had returned to Canada to play for Master's Futbol. He did not return for the 2019 season.
In 2024, Ricketts returned to League1 Ontario to play for Unionville Milliken. He made 4 appearances across the 2024 League1 Ontario season.
International career Ricketts was capped by England at under-18 and under-20 level.
Personal life During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, he 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 sports radio network, CJCL (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 (now defunct) 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, official FIFA Agent Charles Collymore and DJ Spoony. The magazine closed in 2015.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsArsenal 2001–02Premier League00001000—10Tottenham Hotspur 2002–03Premier League000000——002003–04Premier League2410041——2822004–05Premier League60002000—80Total301006100—362Coventry City (loan)2004–05Championship600000——60Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan)2004–05Championship710000——71Wolverhampton Wanderers 2005–06Championship2500010——2602006–07Championship1903010——230Total5113020——561Queens Park Rangers (loan)2006–07Championship200000——20Barnsley2007–08Championship1001020——130Toronto FC 2008Major League Soccer27442———3162009Major League Soccer12010———130Total39452———446Diósgyőri VTK 2009–10Nemzeti Bajnokság I1000———10Dacia Chişinău 2010–11Moldovan National Division4000———40SV Wilhelmshaven 2010–11Regionalliga Nord12100———121Shamrock Rovers 2011League of Ireland10210—20—132Exeter City 2011–12League One100000—0010Dempo 2012–13I-League10100———101Deportivo Quevedo 2013Ecuadorian Serie A9000———90PTT Rayong 2014Thai Premier League7000———70Eastern AA 2014–15Hong Kong Premier League702021—20131Career total19910122132202022814
Honours Arsenal FA Youth Cup: 2000, 2001
Toronto FC Canadian Championship: 2009
Shamrock Rovers League of Ireland: 2011
Eastern Sports Club Hong Kong Senior Shield: 2014–15
Individual Canadian Championship Golden Boot: 2008 (co-winner – two goals)
References
External links
Rohan Ricketts' website