Andy Ritchie. Morton legend. Being just too young to have seen him play I can only relive through others who were lucky enough to have seen him wear the blue and white hoops.

The excitement I can hear and feel from the many fans when describing Andy is incredible and I hope I can get just a bit of that over to you in this article.

Andy joined Morton in 1976 from Celtic in a swap deal which saw Morton also receive £10,000 while Roy Baines went up the M8 to Celtic, surely an excellent deal by the then chairman Hal Stewart.

He made his debut on the 28th of October and scored 133 goals in 246 games and was the top scorer in the Premier league for three consecutive years and also winning the Scottish Sports Writers of the Year award.

Andy played with Morton until 1983 and was an entertainer for whom many came from all over the country to see.Everyone will have their own special memories of magical free kicks, excellent passes, brilliant goals or perhaps of the attributes of the man himself hence the reason for his nickname The Idle Idol.

So in the words of those privaledged enough to have saw him:

Sent by Andrew Odonnell

"Andy Ritchie,he was and still is my all time football idol,he is GOD in my eyes even though it was 20 odd years ago the guy to my mind has never been bettered,he could do anything with the ball.

One of the highlights of my life was the day the TON were playing up atMontrose i think it was either season 1976/77 or 1977/78 we went up with the TON supporters buses,we were there hours before the kick-off,my mate and i found the local corner shop and bought a couple of super-lagers each,had those then went to the ground about 1 hour before kick-off,the park was like ravenscraig stadium but without the big stand and behind one of the goals was a wee mini cowshed and all that kept the fans off the park was a white railing that went round the playing surface. When the players came out to do their warm up we were on the park kicking the ball about with the players,talking to them etc,when the players were starting to go to the dressing room to get ready for the game i ask big andy would he wear the blue and white wrist sweat-bands!!!! i had on to which hesaid yes,i was over the moon.

So to the game the TON won 1-0 thanks to a Mark McGhee goal i think big andy may have set it up,but the vivid memories of the match were of me talking nonstop to my mate about how the big man was wearing MY sweat-bands and also of the Cappielow bugler playing the death march towards the home fans(200+) in the wee mini shed behind the goal.Superb!!!!!

But the story doesnt end there and it is to this day my mate still slags me off,not for the fact that i gave GOD my sweatbands but for the fact that once the game finished i was on the park asking for them back!!!!!! so i would have a memento of the big man.

It is a memory so very fresh in the mind of being 16,living in innocent times enjoying the big trip away(Montrose felt like light years away),being daring buying your first cans of lager,thinking your being all grown up.Magical times.

Another fantastic time was at Clydebank's ground Kilbowie(like the team unfortunately no longer there)in the season 1976/77,behind one of the goals was the supporters social club before the game the curtains would open and the fans could have a beer and look into the ground,once the game started the curtains would be closed so on-one could sit and watch the game.

During the pre-match warm up all big andy was doing was standing 20 yards out and lining up free kicks and everyone he hit was battering of the windows of the social club,he didnt hit the net with one of them!! the noise
of the windows being hit was deafening and the look on the faces of the fans in the club was priceless,GOD was killing himself laughing as he was doing this,the TON fans were loving it.

Today they talk about Beckham and his ability to score with freekicks,when he lines them up you get the feeling it could go in,with BIG ANDY you knew they were going in. RITCHIE IS GOD THERE WAS,THERE IS,AND THERE WILL ONLY EVER BE ONE ANDY RITCHIE.

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