Matt Ritchie: ‘My dream is coming to an end. You have to reinvent yourself’

The former Newcastle stalwart on his admiration for Eddie Howe, a brutal pre-season with Paolo Di Canio and a fairytale finish to his career captaining Portsmouth It is not the first time Matt Ritchie has heard the line suggesting he should have been driving Newcastle’s open-top bus when the squad paraded the Carabao Cup before 300,000 supporters between St James’ Park and the Town Moor. “I’m not sure I could because I think it’s a different licence for commercial use,” he says, smiling, alluding to the LGV Category C one he obtained in the last of his eight seasons at the club.There is no haulage sideline but rather he and his wife, Emma, who enjoys equestrian and showjumping, took the tests so they could drive a horsebox. “It is easy … you just have to take the corners a bit wider. I loved doing it because it was out of my comfort zone. The theory test was the hardest, hazard perception … there are tricks in there. It was like being a kid again: ‘I want to get this right.’” Continue reading...

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