27/02/2008

Ritchie Receives Golden Boot - From Morton Fans

Morton legend Andy Ritchie was presented with a golden boot by Morton fans at a surprise 52nd birthday party in the Spinnaker Hotel on Saturday night.

The boot - inscribed with the words 'King Of Cappielow Park' - was presented to Andy by journalist John Riddle (pictured, left) who is currently in the process of writing a Biography on the Idle Idol's football career.

According to Russell Steele's article in the Greenock Telegraph the author decided to present Ritchie with the boot to commemorate the Silver Adidas Boot he won in 1979 as a result of finishing 2nd top scorer in Europe which he had sold to a Morton supporting multi-millionaire.

Riddle said: “When I was writing my book, I wanted a photo of him with his player of the year trophy and an Adidas Silver Boot he received in 1979. Andy had neither, having sold them to a multi-millionaire Morton fan many years ago. I decided his birthday should be celebrated in style and managed to get hold of a replica golden boot — because he should actually have won that anyway.”

Coincidentally, Ritchie was also mentioned in today's Scottish Sun. Former Celtic and Scotland legend Billy McNeill talks about great free-kick takers - concluding that Nakamura was the best of them all.

On Ritchie McNeill says: "One player I particularly admired was [Andy] Ritchie because he had such a deft touch from set-pieces. Namakura has a bit of what each of those players [Davie Provan, Murdo MacLeod and Ritche] had. But I honestly don't think any of them had Naka's all round expertise."

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