Latest news with #MattRitchie
The Guardian
14-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Matt Ritchie: ‘My dream is coming to an end. You have to reinvent yourself'
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.'' Ritchie passed first time and this month he begins another qualification on more familiar ground, in the game he has dedicated his life, enrolling on the Uefa A licence coaching course. The 35-year-old, whose contract at boyhood club Portsmouth runs until the end of next season, is weighing up which move he will make when he does call time on a career that has taken him from Privett Park, home to his first club, Gosport Borough, to the Premier League. 'My dream now is coming to an end,' he says. 'You have to reinvent yourself. I'm starting to take the blinkers off, opening my eyes. What can I learn?' On a sunny day in the New Forest, Ritchie is reflecting on almost two decades as a professional, from his debut on loan at Dagenham & Redbridge as a teenager and lessons from Paolo Di Canio at Swindon to scaling new heights with Bournemouth under Eddie Howe, Rafael Benítez's tactical methods and marvelling at Elliot Anderson during seven-a-side at Newcastle training. But he is looking forward, too, his appetite to explore fresh challenges and different worlds clear. 'I listen to Chris Voss, the famous [FBI] negotiator,' he says. 'It makes you curious and I think if you act on curiosity, you can grow. We can all talk about doing this and that, but you have to take action.' Ritchie is thinking about management but, for now, it is small steps, occasionally coaching Bournemouth's under-15s and under-16s. Ten years ago this month Ritchie enjoyed one of his greatest days with Bournemouth, winning promotion to the top flight as champions. Ritchie jests he needs 10 days to discuss what he learned from playing under Howe at Bournemouth and, more recently, Newcastle, comparing the way he has developed scores of players to pruning roses. Ritchie has witnessed first-hand the hours Howe and his coaches have invested down the years. 'I travelled back and forth from Newcastle to Bournemouth with JT [Jason Tindall] and Purchey [Stephen Purches] for two years. You'd get on the plane: they'd be on the laptop. In the airport, on the laptop, phone. 'Have you seen this, Purch?' You can't switch off. They are constantly thinking about the next game. 'How can we improve?' I am thankful for those experiences, I've sucked it all up. It has given me a picture of what management might look like.' Ritchie remembers a team meeting in which Howe stated his desire to win silverware. 'We stayed up [in 2021-22] and the next season, prior to the first League Cup game, he said: 'I don't know how you've treated this competition before, but we're here to win. There may be rotation, but I believe we can win.' We got to the final [in 2023], lost on penalties to Chelsea [in 2024], and then this year, they won it. The journey to winning started in 2021, because he changed the mentality of the group to say: it is unacceptable for this club, because we were knocked out in the second round in four of the previous five years. It was pure leadership. What I love about him is that the sky's the limit. 'I have loved seeing the success he and the club has had, winning the Cup. He is a hero in Newcastle for ever. I know how Sir Bobby Robson is thought of in Newcastle. After a week there, I was like: 'Wow, they love Sir Bobby here.' After a year, I understood it was more than love. Eddie Howe will, in my opinion, be up there with Sir Bobby Robson, and deservedly so. Newcastle were in a real pickle when the gaffer came in. He and his staff created this synergy: it's us against the world and together anything is possible, which is the club motto at Bournemouth.' Ritchie can vouch for that. He acknowledges Di Canio is a more Marmite character but looks back fondly on his time with the Italian; even 54 straight days of double or triple sessions in pre-season but, particularly, his approach to nutrition. Di Canio banned butter, sauces, sugary drinks – and ice cubes, to minimise the spread of bacteria. 'He made me aware that if you want to be a top player, you need to know what you're eating and why you're eating it. It made me inquisitive … so rather than eating Skittles on the way to a game, I changed to having a bowl of porridge. He got me as fit as I've ever been. I didn't know my body could push itself so far. Without that experience and the pre-season I had with Paolo Di Canio, I wouldn't have had the career I've had.' Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Ritchie always wanted to return to Portsmouth. He made his Premier League debut as a substitute in 2010, at the end of a season in which they entered administration. 'The emotion of playing at Fratton Park was something I never really conquered, because I played with so much fear when I was there,' he says of his first spell, recalling a League Cup home defeat by Leicester. 'I remember the moment like yesterday. I cut inside, right foot, and I should've taken another touch and I would've been inside the 18-yard box. But I shot from about 22 yards … I thought: 'What am I doing?' If that was in a youth-team game or on loan at Dagenham, you would've driven at the defender, got in the box.' But I tensed up. I feel passionate about passing that on to young players. I was living my dream and I didn't fully grasp it. You don't lose, you learn – a famous Simon Weatherstone, 'Tinners' [Newcastle first-team coach] saying – and it's so true.' Ritchie was Portsmouth captain when they secured their Championship status on Easter Monday, his nine-year-old son, Harry, and six-year-old daughter, Olivia, walking out with him as mascots. A longtime friend, a Pompey fan, messaged Ritchie expressing pride in the journey of a boy who always bled blue. 'It made me take a step back and think: 'You know what? He's right.' Imagine if someone had said to me at 16, when I was training with the first team – with Papa Bouba Diop, Kevin-Prince Boateng, David James, Sol Campbell, these players I grew up watching – that one day you're going to be the captain at Fratton Park and having what is regarded as relative success.' On his return to the south coast last summer, his career coming full circle, he walked into a loft full of old boots. It is not something Ritchie volunteers but he decided to donate several pairs to Bournemouth's women's team, recently promoted to the third tier. 'I certainly don't want any thanks,' he says. 'Being given boots for free, I kept them all. A boy from Gosport, you don't expect to be given anything. If you want something, you go and work for it. If I can give a little back to the game that has given me so much, it's the least I can do. I'm really thankful for all of the experiences I've had – I've travelled the world playing the game I love.'
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
New 3D model shows what ancient site looked like 6,000 years ago
Visitors to an ancient chambered cairn can now step back in time to see how the ruin once looked around 6,000 years ago. An enormous pile of stones is all that remains of Boreland in Knockman Wood, Galloway. The cairn was built by the Neolithic farming pioneers who made the area their home but now an innovative new visualisation allows people to imagine what the cairn would have looked like in the past. Hundreds of photographs taken from drone have been used to create a 3D model of the tomb – a technique known as photogrammetry. The full textured model of the site is used as the foundation for reimagining the monument in its original state and how the cairn may have been used by those who built it. Working with professional archaeologist and artist Marcus Abbott, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) has produced an online video that can be accessed via a QR code on the interpretation panel at the site or viewed on the FLS website. READ MORE: World Heritage plans for A-listed Brutalist seminary 'are still a go' The greatest concentration of malt whisky distilleries: could it be a heritage site? Treasure trove of Scotland's past in records and images goes online FLS Archaeologist Matt Ritchie said: 'This visualisation allows us to imagine what this Clyde Cairn - a type of tomb characteristic of southwest Scotland – would have looked like when it was first built. 'The architecture suggests its use as both a tomb for the dead, where people placed the deceased in the chambers within the cairn, and a space for the living, where people could pay their respects within the forecourt. 'Archaeological studies of these chambered cairns can reveal only the bare bones of their story, leaving much to the imagination. But they were built by a vibrant ancient society with beliefs, traditions and practices that would seem very strange to us today. Boreland Cairn visualisation (Image: Marcus Abbott) 'Watching the video and seeing the cairn come to life will hopefully get visitors at the site – and those visiting online – curious and questioning whether the ceremonies that accompanied the placing of the dead in these monuments were small family affairs or large communal gatherings? Were there drums and chanting, dancing and trance-like states? Perhaps there were grand fire-lit feasts with songs, speeches and toasts? Or were there solemn torch-lit processions, arcane rituals and strange incantations?' Of the cairns that survive across Scotland, some remain closed, their secrets hidden beneath huge mounds of stone, such as at Boreland in Galloway. Others bear the ravages of time, their features masked by rubble and collapse. Or have disturbed by treasure-hunters, their chambers ripped open and exposed. Many more have simply been lost over time. Mr Ritchie added: 'The reconstruction of Boreland really helps us appreciate and understand the remains of the chambered cairn as it survives today. 'It can be difficult to connect with these people and communities from so long ago, but their lands are our land and by reimagining and appreciating these ancient structures that they left behind, their story is told and can connect us today with the lives of our ancestors.'
The Herald Scotland
30-04-2025
- Science
- The Herald Scotland
New 3D model shows what ancient site looked like 6,000 years ago
The cairn was built by the Neolithic farming pioneers who made the area their home but now an innovative new visualisation allows people to imagine what the cairn would have looked like in the past. Hundreds of photographs taken from drone have been used to create a 3D model of the tomb – a technique known as photogrammetry. The full textured model of the site is used as the foundation for reimagining the monument in its original state and how the cairn may have been used by those who built it. Working with professional archaeologist and artist Marcus Abbott, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) has produced an online video that can be accessed via a QR code on the interpretation panel at the site or viewed on the FLS website. READ MORE: World Heritage plans for A-listed Brutalist seminary 'are still a go' The greatest concentration of malt whisky distilleries: could it be a heritage site? Treasure trove of Scotland's past in records and images goes online FLS Archaeologist Matt Ritchie said: 'This visualisation allows us to imagine what this Clyde Cairn - a type of tomb characteristic of southwest Scotland – would have looked like when it was first built. 'The architecture suggests its use as both a tomb for the dead, where people placed the deceased in the chambers within the cairn, and a space for the living, where people could pay their respects within the forecourt. 'Archaeological studies of these chambered cairns can reveal only the bare bones of their story, leaving much to the imagination. But they were built by a vibrant ancient society with beliefs, traditions and practices that would seem very strange to us today. Boreland Cairn visualisation (Image: Marcus Abbott) 'Watching the video and seeing the cairn come to life will hopefully get visitors at the site – and those visiting online – curious and questioning whether the ceremonies that accompanied the placing of the dead in these monuments were small family affairs or large communal gatherings? Were there drums and chanting, dancing and trance-like states? Perhaps there were grand fire-lit feasts with songs, speeches and toasts? Or were there solemn torch-lit processions, arcane rituals and strange incantations?' Of the cairns that survive across Scotland, some remain closed, their secrets hidden beneath huge mounds of stone, such as at Boreland in Galloway. Others bear the ravages of time, their features masked by rubble and collapse. Or have disturbed by treasure-hunters, their chambers ripped open and exposed. Many more have simply been lost over time. Mr Ritchie added: 'The reconstruction of Boreland really helps us appreciate and understand the remains of the chambered cairn as it survives today. 'It can be difficult to connect with these people and communities from so long ago, but their lands are our land and by reimagining and appreciating these ancient structures that they left behind, their story is told and can connect us today with the lives of our ancestors.'
BBC News
29-04-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Ancient Galloway cairn brought back to life with 3D model
Visitors to an ancient chambered cairn in Galloway are being given the chance to see how it might have looked 6,000 years enormous pile of stones is all that remains of the structure built by Neolithic farmers at Boreland in Knockman Wood, north of Newton a 3D model of the tomb has been brought to life using hundreds of photographs taken from a drone.A video of how the tomb would have looked can be viewed on an interpretation panel at the site or on the Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) website. FLS archaeologist Matt Ritchie said: "This visualisation allows us to imagine what this Clyde Cairn - a type of tomb characteristic of south-west Scotland – would have looked like when it was first built."The architecture suggests its use as both a tomb for the dead, where people placed the deceased in the chambers within the cairn, and a space for the living, where people could pay their respects within the forecourt."He said archeological studies could only reveal the "bare bones" of the cairn's story, leaving "much to the imagination"."They were built by a vibrant ancient society with beliefs, traditions and practices that would seem very strange to us today," he said. Mr Ritchie added that hopefully watching the video and seeing the cairn come to life could answer some questions visitors might have."Of the cairns that survive across Scotland, some remain closed, their secrets hidden beneath huge mounds of stone, such as at Boreland in Galloway," he said."Others bear the ravages of time, their features masked by rubble and collapse, or have been disturbed by treasure-hunters, their chambers ripped open and exposed."Many more have simply been lost over time." He said the reconstruction at Boreland could hopefully help people "appreciate and understand" the remains of the chambered cairn that survive today."It can be difficult to connect with these people and communities from so long ago," he said."But their lands are our land and by reimagining and appreciating these ancient structures that they left behind, their story is told and can connect us today with the lives of our ancestors."
BBC News
07-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Pompey have inability to learn away from home'
There is seemingly a palpable shift in opinion within pockets of the Pompey fanbase - from what was relative confidence of divisional status in the Championship next season - to a tangible fragility and nervousness in view of just how tight these last few weeks are going to feel during the campaign's shift is in large part down to Pompey's inability to learn anything about themselves from previous misadventures away from home - twinned with an almost expected late resurgence from a number of sides below games on the road are less attributable to conceding four or five now, and more often than not separated by the single goal - there is a horrible repeat pattern of no sooner looking like rescuing a point, to undoing it all and coming away with absolutely the Preston and Millwall 2-1 defeats have similarities in scoreline and endeavour only visible after Bishop had probably the biggest chance of the first half, Matt Ritchie in turn struck the upright moments before Pompey's equaliser which felt like it would never find the back of the net. Outside of the aforementioned, there was little troubling Lukas Jensen all Pompey are to stay in the Championship, it will almost certainly be through heavy reliance on fortunes at Fratton albeit had been a source for an awful lot of our joy this season - heaps huge pressure on the outcomes of our remaining home home points and minimum away points would just about be enough from anything is to be taken from the upcoming midweek trip to Coventry - it will also have to come by doing something different away from points away from home have come at a premium at the best of times, so a handful of those to aid the fight at the sharp end of a relegation battle would be extremely welcome.
