Kevin Ratcliffe
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| Kevin Ratcliffe | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kevin Ratcliffe | |
| Date of birth | November 12, 1960 | |
| Place of birth | Mancot, Wales | |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | |
| Playing position | Central defender (retired) | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| Everton | ||
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1980-1992 |
Everton Cardiff City Dundee Nottingham Forest Derby County Chester City |
348 (2) |
| National team | ||
| Wales | ||
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Kevin Ratcliffe (born 12 November 1960 in Mancot, near Queensferry in North Wales) is a former Welsh footballer who spent most of his career playing for Everton
Ratcliffe was considered one of the fastest central defenders ever to play football. On arrival at Everton he challenged the whole first team squad to a sprint race and won. He was not the most skillful of footballers but he anticipated superbly, tackled ferociously and did the simple things well.
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[edit] The Toffee Years
He joined Everton as an apprentice in 1977 and made his début in 1980 but was not a first team regular until 1982. In 1983 at the age of 23 he was made captain of Everton, just as they began their highly successful spell. His greatest achievements were when Everton in 1984 won the FA Cup, in 1985 and 1987 won the Football League Championship and also in 1985 the European Cup Winners' Cup. There were also two other FA Cup finals. Ratcliffe made 461 appearances for Everton and scored two goals in that time (one a 30-yarder at Anfield).
After leaving Everton in 1991, he went to Cardiff City and then played for a short spells with Dundee, Nottingham Forest and Derby County.
[edit] Moving into Management
In 1994, Ratcliffe joined Chester City as assistant-manager to Mike Pejic and continued to play for a year. In the summer of 1995, he became manager of the Blues and stayed at the helm until August 1999, when he left after falling out with new owner Terry Smith [1]. The highlight of his years at Chester was guiding the club to the Division Three play-offs in 1996-97 and he later took credit for steering the club to a mid-table position in 1998-99 while in serious financial trouble. Reputedly Ratcliffe drew £5000 from his own bank account to help cover the costs of a water bill because the club's cheques were refused.
In November 1999 Ratcliffe joined Shrewsbury Town as manager and helped them avoid relegation from the Football League on the final day of the 1999-2000 season at Chester's expense. The highlight of his tenure was a January 2003 FA Cup third round victory over his old club Everton, who were doing well in the Premiership at the time. Interestingly, Everton manager David Moyes was a former Shrewsbury player. But a disastrous run after this saw Shrewsbury relegated to the Football Conference after 53 years in the Football League. Ratcliffe left the club within days, stating that he had to take the blame for Shrewsbury's downfall as he had brought in most of their players.
He now works for BBC Wales Sport.
[edit] International Career
Ratcliffe was capped 59 times by Wales, often as captain. He also represented his country at under-21, youth and schoolboy level. Despite several near-misses and boasting famous players such as Ian Rush, Neville Southall and Mark Hughes as well as Ratcliffe, Wales failed to qualify for a major tournament while Ratcliffe was involved in the set-up.
[edit] External link
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