Tom Ritchie deservedly ranks among the most popular players ever to have donned a Bristol City shirt.
Team-mates and supporters alike appreciated, not only his prodigious work-rate as a midfield player or striker, but also an amiable personality that made him the most approachable of professional footballers.
The genuine affection and respect in which Ritchie is still held were recently expressed at a surprise 70th birthday party, organised for her dad by daughter Shannon.
It was, of course, held at Ashton Gate, where the Scot spent most of an illustrious playing career, appearing in all four divisions of the Football League for City and netting 132 goals for the club.
Only Chris Garland shares the first of those records, while the second is bettered by a certain John Atyeo.
No wonder the roll call of guests for Tom’s birthday bash included former team-mates Paul Cheesley, Clive Whitehead, Trevor Tainton, David Rodgers, Brian Drysdale, Joe Royle and Gerry Sweeney from City’s ‘Glory Days’.
Also present was Steve Ritchie, the brother the club were keener to recruit when the pair travelled down together on a train from Scotland in the late 1960s, along with another wide-eyed teenager, Gerry Gow.
All three signed at Ashton Gate. But, while Steve would also carve out a professional career, which included scoring for Aberdeen in a Scottish Cup Final, it was the elder Ritchie brother, who went on to earn a place among City Greats.
I watched Tom’s debut as a lanky midfield player against Millwall in 1972 from the old Grand Stand where I had a season ticket, and witnessed many of his First Division goals from the same seat.
They came against the best teams and top defenders in the land. And, although he was lured away from Bristol following relegation and the sacking of long-serving manager Alan Dicks, his contribution to City’s fortunes was far from over.
In the summer of 1982, Ritchie agreed to virtually halve his wages to return to Ashton Gate on a free transfer after an unhappy 18-month spell with Sunderland, who had paid £180,000 to sign him.
The club he came back to was unrecognisable from the ‘Glory Days’. Now in the bottom tier of English football after three successive relegation seasons, new manager Terry Cooper’s playing squad featured a host of largely untried youngsters.
Things were about to get even worse. Despite making what turned out to be two other hugely astute summer signings in Glyn Riley and Alan Crawford, Cooper saw his team sink to the bottom of the entire Football League by mid-December.
By the time City visited this weekend’s opponents Blackpool on April 16, 1983, however, the shoots of a long-awaited recovery were clear to see.
A rise of 10 places to 14th in the Fourth Division table had been achieved through a seven-match unbeaten run, which included victories over Aldershot, Torquay United and Mansfield Town.
Even so, for Ritchie, who had played before 40,000-plus crowds at the likes of Old Trafford and Anfield in his first spell with City, stepping out in front of just 2,209 spectators at Bloomfield Road, must have given pause for thought.
Blackpool had hit hard times themselves. As a visiting journalist, I was struck by how run-down their stadium had become.
Tom had unhappy memories of the opponents and the ground. Towards the end of the 1975-76 promotion campaign, City suffered a shock 2-1 defeat there in a match I travelled by train as a supporter to watch.
Although he scored that day, the result appeared a hammer blow to hopes of making the First Division dream come true.
When Blackpool visited Ashton Gate for the fourth League game of the 1982-83 season, Tom missed a penalty in a goalless draw. It was time to put the record straight.
First City had to ride their luck to be on level terms at the interval, thanks to a bizarre own goal from home defender Steve Hetzke, who contrived to meet a harmless through pass on the volley and steer the ball past goalkeeper Iain Hesford from fully 30 yards.
Blackpool fought back hard from the setback and equalised on 24 minutes through a David McNiven header after Alan Nicholls had been caught in possession.
Terry Pashley thundered a first half shot against City’s crossbar and soon after the interval John Shaw produced the save of the match to parry a close range shot from McGiven.
The turning point came on 59 minutes when Riley went down as a result of a blatant trip by Colin Greenall. Ritchie calmly guided the spot-kick wide of Hesford’s dive to make it 2-1.
Six minutes later, Riley held off a weak challenge from Greenall to shoot his 16th goal of the season and Crawford completed City’s biggest Fourth Division away win by deflecting in a 70th-minute free-kick.
Who took it? None other than player-manager Cooper himself, then aged 38 and operating on the right flank. It was one of 41 starts he made that season, scoring his only Robins goal in a 3-0 home win over Halifax Town.
Jubilant City players left Bloomfield Road weighed down by sticks of Blackpool rock as souvenirs of a success that confirmed their growing maturity as a team.
Ritchie talked of relief at making up for his penalty-miss against the same opponents. “I remembered trying to hit the ball too hard last time and blasting it against a post,” he said.
“I have felt bad about the miss for a long time. It came early in the season when we badly needed a morale-boosting win.”
City’s improvement continued into the following campaign, which with Tom as captain and contributor of 15 goals, brought promotion.
Blackpool: Hesford; Bardsley, Greenall, Hetske, Pritchett; Deary, Noble (Bamber 64 mins), Pashley; Hockaday, Stewart, McNiven.
Bristol City: Shaw; Stevens, Newman, Phillipson-Masters, Nicholls, G.Williams; Cooper, Economou, Ritchie, Crawford; P.Williams; Sub not used: E.Kelly.
Referee: Don Shaw (Cheshire)
SIGN UP: For our daily Robins newsletter, bringing you the latest from Ashton Gate
