Ritchie still learning
FOR Ritchie Humphreys the end
of the season means no escape
from football.
Just 24 hours after taking
home four awards at the Hartlepool
United player of the year
awards, the club's Player of the
Century was busy planning his
future.
After taking the player of the
year gongs, both home and away,
he was named the club's best
player of the 2000s before being
rewarded with the tag of the
club's greatest ever player.
But last night he, with some
former Pools team-mates, was
busy studying before taking his
final exams for his coaching
badges.
He plans to be playing for a
few years yet, and after 357 appearances
for Pools since moving
to the club in 2001,
Humphreys is part of the Victoria
Park fabric.
"I started coaching just to
look at it as an option," he admitted.
"If it was to come to anything
then I have the qualifications.
I've enjoyed working with
the under-15s this season and
the school of excellence.
"I've actually got my final assessment
this week. A few of us
started it together a few years
ago - Micky Barron, Mark Tinkler,
Darrell Clarke, Gavin Strachan
and Joel Porter.
"It's been really good, Gareth
Southgate and Colin Cooper
were on our course and they
passed early. It's taken us two
years, when really we should
have done it in one.
"It's an option for me, nothing
else. The game has given me a
good living, if I can give something
back and I get the opportunity
to do so, then that's fantastic."
He added: "It's right to stay in
football, I've been given a great
opportunity and I would like to
pass on my experiences. It might
not turn out great for me, I
might not be great and it might
not be for me, but you never
know."
9:26am Thursday 8th May 2008
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