From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michael Ricketts (born December 4, 1978 in Birmingham, England) is an English football player. He plays as a striker. He now plays for Preston North End after being released by Southend United. He has been capped once by England.

Ricketts began his career at Walsall, for whom he signed in 1996. He made 90 league appearances for them, scoring 15 times. In July 2000, then First Division side Bolton Wanderers signed him for £500,000. He started his Bolton career in impressive style, scoring 24 times as Bolton won promotion to the Premiership through the playoffs.

Ricketts continued scoring in his first season in the Premiership, hitting 15 goals by February, and this form led to his call-up for England's friendly against Holland in February 2002. Ricketts played 45 minutes in that game but failed to score.

Michael Ricketts then fell out with his manager Sam Allardyce and subsequently did not feature in the team very often. In January 2003, Middlesbrough spent £3 million to sign him from Bolton. He failed to recapture his goal-scoring form, netting just four times in 38 matches. While at Middlesbrough he did, however, win the League Cup in the 2003-04 season, ironically against Bolton.

In June 2004, he signed for Championship side Leeds United on a free transfer. Ricketts failed to impress, failing to score in 25 league appearances, although he did manage a solitary goal in the League Cup. He was then loaned out to Stoke City in February, but also failed to impress there, and returned to Leeds. He made five more appearances, scoring once, again in the League Cup. He was then loaned out to Cardiff, where he scored four goals in 11 appearances, before returning to Leeds.

On January 30, 2006 he signed for Championship side Burnley in a loan deal that would keep him at Turf Moor until the end of the season. Despite scoring twice in his first three matches, he again failed to impress (he did not score again) and returned to Leeds after the season had finished.

On June 30, 2006 Ricketts signed a two-year deal with Championship side Southend United with an option to extend for another year. There was no fee involved although depending on clauses in the contract Leeds may receive a fee in the future. Another clause in his contract states that he is prohibited from playing against Leeds United in upcoming League and Cup matches. However after only a couple of months into the new season, Southend released Ricketts on the basis that he was overweight and had put on weight since joining the club, questioning his level of fitness.

• Career Statistics
• Old Soccernet Player Profile
• Some Statistics