Ricky Wellard

Ricky Ben Wellard (born 9 May 1988) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Isthmian League club Bedfont Sports.

Ricky Wellard
Personal information
Full name Ricky Ben Wellard[1]
Date of birth (1988-05-09) 9 May 1988[1]
Place of birth Hammersmith, England
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
Bedfont Sports
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2009 Ashford Town
2009–2012 AFC Wimbledon 79 (4)
2011Cambridge United (loan) 9 (0)
2012–2013 Cambridge United 17 (1)
2012Salisbury City (loan) 3 (1)
2013–2014 Salisbury City 46 (1)
2014–2015 Sutton United 30 (3)
2015–2016 Welling United 28 (1)
2016 Hemel Hempstead Town 12 (1)
2016–2018 Wealdstone 61 (6)
2018–2019 Hampton & Richmond Borough 30 (0)
2019 Salisbury 2 (0)
2019– Bedfont Sports 8 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:45, 3 May 2020 (UTC)

Career

Ashford Town (Middlesex)

Wellard was born in Hammersmith, London.[1] He came through the ranks of the Ashford Town (Middlesex) and made his debut for the Tangerines against Stourport Swifts on 8 January 2005, as a late sub for Anthony Eggington.[2] He went on to make 190 first team appearances for Ashford Town including scoring the winning goal in the 2009 Surrey Senior Cup final.[3] During his time at the club Wellard was also groundsman at Short Lane. In the summer of 2008, AFC Wimbledon had a transfer bid rejected which was described as 'derisory' by the Ashford board.[4] However, the Dons second bid the following summer was more successful for an undisclosed fee plus add-ons.[5] At the time of the transfer, Wellard was one of only three players to have ever commanded a transfer fee at Ashford, with the others being Dannie Bulman and Richard Butler.[2]

AFC Wimbledon

Wellard became a regular in the AFC Wimbledon side and made 43 appearances in his first season for the Dons as they didn't quite make the Conference play-offs.[6] His second season at the club saw him move down the pecking order in central midfield in January after the arrival of James Mulley. In February 2011, Wellard was sent on loan to fellow Conference side Cambridge United on a month-long loan.[7] However, he was recalled early from his loan by Terry Brown due to an injury crisis at the Kingsmeadow.[8] He regained his place in the Dons' first team and eventually played in the 2011 Conference Play-off final win over Luton Town, which saw the Dons gain a place in the Football League.[9] In May 2012, Wellard was released from the club due to the expiry of his contract.[10]

Cambridge United

Wellard signed a two-year contract with The U's on 18 May 2012[11] following his release from AFC Wimbledon earlier in the month. U's boss Jez George was quick to snap up the midfielder early in the summer transfer window in a deal which saw the Londoner return to the Abbey Stadium on a permanent basis following a popular loan spell back in February 2011.

In November 2012, he joined Conference South side Salisbury City on a one-month loan deal.[12]

Salisbury City

After a successful loan spell at Salisbury, he returned permanently, signing a contract until the end of the 2013–14 season. He featured in the squad regularly, and scored a vital free kick in the Conference South play-off final against Dover Athletic.

Sutton United

He signed for Sutton United in July 2014, and made his debut against Winchester City in a pre-season friendly.

Welling United

In May 2015, he signed for National League side Welling United on a free transfer.[13]

Wealdstone

In 2016, he signed for Wealdstone. He left the club in May 2018.

Bedfont

On 25 December 2019, Wellard moved to Bedfont Sports.[14]

Career statistics

As of match played on 9 December 2017
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
AFC Wimbledon 2009–10[15] Conference Premier 321203[lower-alpha 1]1372
2010–11[16] Conference Premier 252405[lower-alpha 2]0342
2011–12[17] League Two 22130102[lower-alpha 3]0281
Total 7949010101995
Cambridge United (loan) 2010–11[18] Conference Premier 9090
Cambridge United 2012–13[19] Conference Premier 1711000181
Total 2611000271
Salisbury City 2012–13[19] Conference South 1814[lower-alpha 4]1222
2013–14[19] Conference Premier 311101[lower-alpha 1]0331
Total 4921051553
Sutton United 2014–15[19] Conference South 303001[lower-alpha 1]0313
Welling United 2015–16[19] National League 281412[lower-alpha 1]1343
Hemel Hempstead Town 2015–16[19] National League South 1210000121
Wealdstone 2016–17[19] National League South 3631000373
2017–18[19] 120002[lower-alpha 1]1141
Total 483100021514
Career total 272151611020430920
  1. Appearances in FA Trophy
  2. Two appearances in FA Trophy, three in Conference Premier play-offs
  3. Appearances in Football League Trophy
  4. One appearance in FA Trophy, three appearances and one goal in Conference South play-offs

Honours

AFC Wimbledon

Salisbury City

  • Conference South play-offs: 2012–13[19]

References

  1. "Ricky Wellard". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  2. "No Bones". 29 July 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  3. "Tangerines dig deep to win Surrey Senior Cup". 29 July 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  4. "Wellard set for Wimbledon Talks". 20 May 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  5. "DONS FINALLY GET THEIR MAN". 26 August 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  6. "Player Profile – Ricky Wellard". 1 August 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  7. "Dons midfielder Ricky Wellard joins Cambridge United on loan". 11 February 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  8. "Dons boss explains Ricky Wellard decision". 22 March 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  9. Nakrani, Sachin (21 May 2011). "AFC Wimbledon beat Luton on penalties to reach the Football League". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  10. "AFC Wimbledon release nine players". London 24. London. 8 May 2012. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  11. "Jez collars Wellard". 18 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  12. "Whites swoop for Wellard". 21 November 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  13. "Ricky Wellard: Welling sign ex-AFC Wimbledon midfielder". BBC Sport. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  14. WELCOME RICKY WELLARD, pitchero.com, 24 December 2019
  15. Williams, Tony; Wright, James, eds. (2010). Non-League Club Directory 2011. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 26–27. ISBN 978-1-869833-68-8.
  16. Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2011). Non-League Club Directory 2012. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 162–163. ISBN 978-1-869833-70-1.
  17. "Games played by Ricky Wellard in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  18. Williams; Williams (eds.). Non-League Club Directory 2012. pp. 52–53.
  19. Ricky Wellard at Soccerway. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
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