In August 1928, English First Division side Everton brought Ritchie down to England team up again alongside his former Easter Road and current international teammate and right-wing partner Jimmy Dunn who had made the same move some months earlier. Hopes were high that, together again, Dunn and Ritchie would rekindle the dazzling form they had displayed together at Hibs and supply further ammunition for legendary Toffees striker William Ralph 'Dixie' Dean, who had just scored his record-breaking 60 goals as Everton became League Champions for the third time in 1927–28.
Both players struggled initially at Goodison Park and, though Dunn would find his feet and go on to win League Championship and FA Cup medals with Everton, Ritchie would return to Scotland, signing for Dundee in February 1930, barely 18 months after his arrival on Merseyside; he went on to have a successful spell with hometown club St Johnstone.[1]
Following the end of his football career, Ritchie worked in the dairy industry, at first back home in Perthshire, then in Nottingham, where he died at Nottingham General Hospital on 3 July 1941,[10] following an operation. He was 41 years of age. He was buried at Carlton Cemetery, Nottingham, on 7 July 1941.[11]
References
^ abSource for death details for Ritchie is an article announcing his passing, taken from the Perthshire Advertiser,[2] dated 5 July 1941. This is available to view on the British Newspaper Archive website (or via FindMyPast) and also states that he was a native of Perth and that his father is John Ritchie, rather than Andrew as listed previously. He is not Henry McGill Ritchie (1898-1967).
^Smith, Paul (2013). Scotland Who's Who. Pitch Publishing. p. 246. ISBN9781909178847.
^John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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