Connor Ripley was born at the James Cook University hospital in Middlesbrough, just under three miles down the road from the Riverside Stadium, and spent nine years on the books of his boyhood club. His father, Stuart, is regarded a homegrown Boro hero, the former winger an integral part of the team that returned to the top flight in 1988 via successive promotions, having been locked out of Ayresome Park when the club entered liquidation.
“The Ripley name has got …” the 30-year-old says, restarting his sentence. “The Stuart Ripley name has got a bit of clout in Middlesbrough, I’m not sure Connor Ripley has … my dad’s team was special to Middlesbrough and that’s why everyone will always relate to them.”
On Tuesday Ripley, part of the Port Vale team bidding to reach a first League Cup semi-final, will face Boro in a competitive match for the first time. Since the draw, childhood friends have been among those wanting tickets. “Half of Middlesbrough want to come and watch me,” he says, laughing. The only time Ripley came up against Boro was in a pre-season friendly while at Morecambe last season. Third-tier Vale made it through four rounds to tee up this home tie, a significant one for the family. His mother, Julie, his auntie, Angela, and Louis, a Boro-mad cousin, will be among those in the stands.
Ripley is warm company as we touch on Vale’s history-making run to the quarter-finals – they have never previously reached this stage of the competition – and everything from Wikipedia (which, to his surprise, details how he speaks French from living in Switzerland for three years as a boy) to the evolving profile of world-class goalkeepers. “Ederson and Alisson can zing a ball on a sixpence right under your foot,” he says. “Pickford, Ramsdale and Sam Johnstone are able to clip those balls with scary accuracy as well … some of them have a better passing range than outfield players. It is something that you need to have in your arsenal if you’re a keeper now. It is not just about keeping the ball out of the net any more.”
Many of the key cogs at Boro during Ripley’s time on the books of the club were his father’s former teammates. Tony Mowbray – the former Boro captain who led the club from liquidation back into the top tier – became his manager, Stephen Pears was his goalkeeping coach and Gary Gill a scout. Mark Proctor was his first under-18s coach. “When you’ve got a dad who is a footballer you always have that bit of added pressure,” Ripley says.
“It was weird because they would talk about my dad, give me a few stories here and there, but when it came down to it I knew I was there because I was good enough and on my own merit. I might have had the odd push from my dad now and then but you don’t get this far living off your dad’s name.”
Ripley Jr, naturally, got a first‑hand account of those days on Teesside. “I remember my dad telling me there were months where he wasn’t – and nobody was – getting paid but they were still winning and got promoted. They saved the club, basically. Middlesbrough wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for those players. I think that is why there is such a big affiliation with my family.”
His father went on to win the Premier League with Blackburn in 1994‑95. “There are plenty of times when you can put on [Sky Sports’] Premier League Years and see him crossing it in for Shearer and Sutton. I was there when they were doing the [title] parade around Ewood Park. My brother was on the pitch with my dad and I think I was fast asleep in my mam’s arms. It cannot have been that exciting …”
Ripley’s father lived in Brockhall, round the corner from Blackburn’s training base and his mother in Whalley, where he played Sunday League for the village’s local side as a striker. “When I was younger I was about 6ft and 15st … the rest of the kids were about 5ft 4in and weighed about 10st ringing wet,” he says, smiling. “It helped me in that position because I was a lot bigger than most people but they all caught up to me and realised that I wasn’t as good as they thought I was. I was just a big brute who used to bulldoze people down. But I was a good goalkeeper.”
When Blackburn released him, he was coveted by Sunderland, Aston Villa, Leicester and Boro, his days up front long gone. “I chose Middlesbrough because I was a massive Middlesbrough fan and still am,” he says. Massimo Maccarone’s late header against Steaua Bucharest to propel Boro into the Uefa Cup final in 2006 sticks in the memory – “Massimo’s header is the best thing I’ve seen in football” – and he talks fondly of growing up watching Gareth Southgate, Joseph-Désiré Job and Ugo Ehiogu. Being on the bench at Wembley in 2015, when Norwich beat Boro to win promotion to the Premier League via the playoff final, he says, was both a brilliant and agonising experience. “Ultimately I’m not there any more and when I play against them I’m not a fan any more, I’m a Port Vale player and a Port Vale fan and we’re going out there to beat them.”
Vale represent the 14th club of Ripley’s rather nomadic career, one that has taken in nine loans, including to then second-tier Östersund in 2014, led then by a little-known coach by the name of Graham Potter. “It was Total Football in Sweden – you don’t kick it long there,” Ripley says.
He tells a story about being picked up from the airport by Östersund’s then first-team coach, Brian Wake – who also hails from Teesside – in blizzard conditions. “I looked to my left and there was a bloody elk running around – they are humongous,” Ripley says. “Another time I went skiing there and you would look across the mountain and see a herd of reindeer just running around. I was thinking: ‘You don’t get this in England.’”
