Connor Ripley

Connor James Ripley (born 13 February 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Championship club Preston North End.

Connor Ripley

Ripley in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Connor James Ripley[1]
Date of birth	(1993-02-13) 13 February 1993
Place of birth	Middlesbrough, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[2]
Playing position(s)	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team	Preston North End
Number	25
Youth career
	Blackburn Rovers
0000–2011	Middlesbrough
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2019	Middlesbrough	2	(0)
2012	→ Oxford United (loan)	1	(0)
2013–2014	→ Bradford City (loan)	0	(0)
2014	→ Östersund (loan)	14	(0)
2015–2016	→ Motherwell (loan)	36	(0)
2016–2017	→ Oldham Athletic (loan)	46	(0)
2017–2018	→ Burton Albion (loan)	2	(0)
2018	→ Bury (loan)	15	(0)
2018–2019	→ Accrington Stanley (loan)	21	(0)
2019–	Preston North End	2	(0)
National team
2011–2012	England U19	4	(0)
2013	England U20	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:00, 4 January 2020 (UTC)

He began his professional career at his local team Middlesbrough, going on to depart on eight individual loan spells. These included multiple spells at various English clubs as well as Motherwell in Scotland and Östersund in Sweden. During this time, he represented England at under-19 and under-20 levels.

Early life

Born in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, Ripley is the son of former player Stuart Ripley.[3]

Club career

Middlesbrough

Ripley began his career with Blackburn Rovers.[3] After moving to Middlesbrough in 2009,[4] he signed a two-and-a-half-year professional contract in January 2011.[5] Ripley made his professional debut on 5 March 2011 in a 5–2 loss to Reading, conceding three goals after coming on as a substitute for Jason Steele.[6] Ripley made his full debut on 14 January 2012, in a 2–0 loss at home to Burnley.[7]

He then went out on an emergency loan to Oxford United, after both their goalkeepers had suffered injuries.[8] Ripley made his only appearance for Oxford United, in which he conceded a goal from Ryan Hall's free kick, in a 2–0 loss against Southend United the next day.[9] After this, manager Chris Wilder was unhappy with Ripley's performance and decided to terminate his loan spell at the club.[10] After returning to Middlesbrough, Ripley became the third-choice goalkeeper around the 2012–13 season and in January 2013 signed a new contract with the club.[11]

He moved on loan to Bradford City in August 2013,[12][13][14] and later spoke about his hope of extending the month-long deal.[15] In September 2013 the deal was extended until January 2014.[16][17] The loan deal ended in January 2014.[18]

On 3 March 2014, Ripley joined Swedish side Östersund, playing in the Superettan for the remainder of the 2014 season.[19] Ripley went on to make fourteen appearances for the club, having faced competition from Peter Augustsson and Aly Keita. Upon his return to Middlesbrough in October 2014, Ripley was praised by Peter Beardsley.[20]

On 31 July 2015, Ripley moved on loan to Scottish Premiership club Motherwell until January 2016.[21] He made his debut the following day, in a 1–0 win against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.[22] Ahead of the 2016–17 season, Ripley was sent out on loan again, agreeing a season-long move to League One club Oldham Athletic on 9 July 2016.[23]

Despite being considered for the first-choice goalkeeper spot at Middlesbrough, he moved on loan to Burton Albion in August 2017.[24] Having returned from his loan from Burton prematurely, he departed once again and signed on loan for Bury in January 2018.[25] He moved on loan to Accrington Stanley in August 2018.[26]

Preston North End

In January 2019, Ripley signed for fellow Championship club Preston North End, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract.[27]

International career

Ripley made his international debut for England U19 in October 2011.[28]

On 28 May 2013, he was named in manager Peter Taylor's 21-man squad for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[29] He made his debut on 16 June, in a 3–0 win in a warm-up game against Uruguay.[30]

Personal life

He has one son, born in August 2016.[31]

Career statistics

As of 4 January 2020

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Domestic Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Middlesbrough	2010–11[32]	Championship	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2011–12[33]		1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	2012–13[34]		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2013–14[35]		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2014–15[36]		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2015–16[37]		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2016–17[38]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2017–18[39]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2018–19[40]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Oxford United (loan)	2011–12[33]	League Two	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Bradford City (loan)	2013–14[35]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	1	0
Östersund (loan)	2014[41]	Superettan	14	0	1	0	—		0	0	15	0
Motherwell (loan)	2015–16[37]	Scottish Premiership	36	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	40	0
Oldham Athletic (loan)	2016–17[38]	League One	46	0	2	0	2	0	4[lower-alpha 2]	0	54	0
Burton Albion (loan)	2017–18[39]	Championship	2	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	5	0
Bury (loan)	2017–18[39]	League One	15	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	16	0
Accrington Stanley (loan)	2018–19[40]	League One	21	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	24	0
Preston North End	2018–19[40]	Championship	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	2019–20	Championship	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	4	0
	Total		2	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	6	0
Career total			139	0	10	0	10	0	6	0	165	0

1. Appearance in the Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in the EFL Trophy

References

1. "Professional retain lists & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. 18 May 2013. p. 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
2. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2012). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2012–2013 (43rd ed.). London: Headline. p. 496. ISBN 978-0-7553-6356-8.
3. "Player profile". Middlesbrough F.C. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
4. "Boro's Optimism For New Scholars". Middlesbrough F.C. official website. 4 June 2009. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
5. "Challenge Starts Now For Connor". Middlesbrough F.C. official website. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
6. "Reading 5 – 2 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 5 March 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
7. "Middlesbrough 0 – 2 Burnley". BBC Sport. 14 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
8. "Oxford sign Middlesbrough keeper on emergency loan". BBC Sport. 27 April 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
9. "Oxford United 0 – 2 Southend United". BBC Sport. 28 April 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
10. "Oxford United step up search for new keeper". Oxford Mail. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
11. "New Deal For Keeper". Middlesbrough F.C. official website. 25 January 2013. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
12. "Ripley arrives on loan". Bradford City A.F.C. 3 August 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
13. "Bradford City sign Middlesbrough keeper Connor Ripley". BBC Sport. 3 August 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
14. Simon Parker (3 August 2013). "Bradford City sign keeper on loan". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
15. Simon Parker (14 August 2013). "Middlesbrough loanee Connor Ripley wants to get his teeth into Bantams goalkeeper role". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
16. Simon Parker (2 September 2013). "Ripley extends Bradford City stay until January". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
17. "Ripley loan deal extended". Bradford City A.F.C. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
18. "Ripley returns to Middlesbrough". Bradford City A.F.C. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
19. "ÖFK lånar målvakt från Championship klubb". Östersunds FK (in Swedish). 3 March 2014.
20. "Boro goalkeeper Connor Ripley hailed by Peter Beardsley". Gazette Live. 28 October 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
21. "'Well sign goalkeeper Connor Ripley". Motherwell F.C. 31 July 2015. Archived from the original on 31 July 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
22. Dowden, Martin (1 August 2015). "Inverness CT 0–1 Motherwell". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
23. "Oldham: Josh Law, Connor Ripley and Lee Erwin sign as Stephen Robinson's first deals". BBC Sport. 9 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
24. Murray, Josh (9 August 2017). "Connor Ripley turned down other offers to join Brewers". burtonmail.
25. "Connor Ripley: Bury sign goalkeeper from Middlesbrough on loan". 4 January 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
26. "Accrington Stanley: Andy Mangan and Connor Ripley join League One club". 9 August 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
27. "Connor Ripley: Preston sign goalkeeper from Middlesbrough". 9 January 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
28. "Joe Out, Connor In". Middlesbrough F.C. official website. 4 October 2011. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
29. "Final squad named" TheFA.com. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
30. "Training win for Three Lions" TheFA.com. 16 June 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
31. "Whirlwind Couple Of Days For Connor Ripley". Oldham Athletic F.C. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
32. "Games played by Connor Ripley in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
33. "Games played by Connor Ripley in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
34. "Games played by Connor Ripley in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
35. "Games played by Connor Ripley in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
36. "Games played by Connor Ripley in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
37. "Games played by Connor Ripley in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
38. "Games played by Connor Ripley in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
39. "Games played by Connor Ripley in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
40. "Games played by Connor Ripley in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
41. Connor Ripley at Soccerway. Retrieved 5 October 2017.

External links

• Connor Ripley at Soccerway