In 2000, Paul Ritchie joined and left Rangers without playing for the club, but while his departure was through no fault of his own, he would regret the ensuing saga that resulted from his desire to move from Rangers to the blue half of Glasgow. The centre-back had impressed for several years at Hearts which resulted in the speculation linking him to Rangers, but despite his contract running down, the Edinburgh club refused to sell him on the cheap and instead let him join Bolton Wanderers on loan. Ritchie played regularly at the Reebok Stadium but by the time that he eventually made the switch to Rangers, manager Dick Advocaat seemingly had other plans. Two months after officially joining Rangers, Ritchie was sold to Manchester City without making a first-team appearance but he struggled to make an impression in England, making just 33 starts in three years in spells at City, Portsmouth and Derby County. He would end up at Walsall in the summer of 2003, contributing to their relegation from Division One before finally heading back to Scotland with Dundee United. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but had he remained at Hearts, he would have been playing European football after the Jam Tarts finished in third place in the table to secure a spot in the UEFA Cup.
A degree-educated, dart-throwing, non-smelling sports journalist based in a small Staffordshire town that has just become Floyd Mayweather's answer to the question: "What's the strangest place you have ever visited?"
