Andy Ritchie (Scottish footballer)
Born in Bellshill, as a teenager Ritchie had trials with Manchester United, Coventry City, Everton, Middlesbrough and Rangers, but chose to join Celtic in 1971, aged 15.[citation needed] Ritchie was famous for what, by the standard of most professional footballers, was a rotund build and apparently blase demeanour.[citation needed] In an incident, he almost broke his leg falling over Greenock Telegraph photographer, Jim Sinclair, after he failed to stop on a long run up the field.[citation needed] Whilst at Morton, Ritchie won a solitary cap for the Scotland national under-21 football team as an overage player, against Belgium.[citation needed] A more warts and all account of Ritchie's life appeared in Flawed Genius; Scottish Football's Self Destructive Mavericks' (Birlinn 2009).