Connor Ripley

Connor James Ripley (born 13 February 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Port Vale.

Connor James Ripley was born in Middlesbrough on 13 February 1993; his father is former England winger Stuart Ripley.

He met partner Shauneen whilst playing for Oldham.

After moving to Middlesbrough on a two-year scholarship in June 2009, he signed a two-and-a-half-year professional contract in January 2011.

He was initially brought in to train with the first-team by manager Gordon Strachan, though would make his senior debut under Tony Mowbray.

Ripley turned professional at his local team Middlesbrough – where his father, Stuart, had played – in January 2011, though would play only three first-team games in eight years at the club.

He represented England up to under-20 level and had eight loan spells, playing for Oxford United, Bradford City, Östersund (Sweden), Motherwell (Scotland), Oldham Athletic, Burton Albion, Bury, and Accrington Stanley.

Ripley made his professional debut in a 5–2 loss to Reading on 5 March 2011, conceding three goals after coming on as a substitute for Jason Steele.

Ripley made his full debut on 14 January 2012, in a 2–0 loss to Burnley at the Riverside Stadium, where he allowed Kieran Trippier's long-range effort slip under his body for Burnley's second goal.

On 27 April 2012, he joined League Two club Oxford United on an emergency loan after both their goalkeepers had suffered injuries.

Ripley made his only appearance for Oxford United the next day, in a 2–0 loss to Southend United at the Kassam Stadium.

After this, manager Chris Wilder was unhappy with Ripley's performance and decided to terminate his loan spell at the club.

After returning to Middlesbrough, Ripley became the third-choice goalkeeper for the 2012–13 season and signed a new three-year contract with the club in January 2013.

He moved on loan to League One side Bradford City on 3 August 2013, and later spoke about his hope of extending the month-long deal.

The deal was extended until January, despite him being limited to a place on the bench as Jon McLaughlin's deputy.

The loan deal ended in January 2014 after he played just one Football League Trophy match for Phil Parkinson.

On 3 March 2014, Ripley joined Swedish side Östersund, playing in the Superettan for the remainder of the 2014 season.

Ripley went on to make fourteen appearances under Graham Potter, having faced competition from Peter Augustsson and Aly Keita.

Upon his return to Middlesbrough in October 2014, Ripley was praised by Peter Beardsley.

He signed a new three-year contract with Middlesbrough in July 2015, having impressed manager Aitor Karanka and goalkeeper coach Leo Percovich in training.

Having successfully kept new signing Craig Samson to a place on the bench, Ripley's loan deal was extended until the end of the 2015–16 season in January.

Motherwell boss Mark McGhee said that "he's been absolutely terrific for us but I think we have done them [Middlesbrough] a service because we are sending back a better player".

He played 40 games during his time at Fir Park.

His son, Luca, was born in August 2016.

On 31 July, Ripley moved on loan to Scottish Premiership club Motherwell until January 2016, and was given the number one shirt ahead of Dan Twardzik by manager Ian Baraclough.

He made his debut the following day, in a 1–0 win against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Ripley was sent out on loan again, agreeing a season-long move to League One club Oldham Athletic on 9 July 2016.

He joined the club on the same day as manager Stephen Robinson, who had been the assistant manager to McGhee at Motherwell.

Speaking in September, Ripley said he was "loving every minute" of his time at Boundary Park.

He went on to feature 54 times in the 2016–17 season.

Ripley equalled Oldham's clean sheet record and won three end of season club awards, including Young Player of the Year, leaving manager John Sheridan pessimistic about being able to bring him back again for the following season.

He signed a two-year contract extension with Middlesbrough in August 2017, with manager Garry Monk looking to loan him out after signing Darren Randolph from West Ham United.

He moved on loan to Burton Albion on 9 August 2017.

He signed with Preston North End in January 2019, from where he was loaned out to Salford City in October 2021.

He played ten games for Preston during his three-and-a-half years at the club, before joining Morecambe in June 2022.

He was named as League One Player of the Month for November and won the club's Player of the Year award for the 2022–23 season.

He signed with Port Vale in June 2023.

He has four children, as of 2019.

He is fluent in French after having spent three years living in Switzerland as a boy.

Ripley began his career with Blackburn Rovers.