Ritchie began his career with his hometown club Kettering Town before joining Stoke City in 1962. In his first full season as a professional Ritchie scored an impressive 30 goals and hit 81 goals in 135 appearances. He was surprisingly sold by Tony Waddington to Sheffield Wednesday in November 1966 for £80,000. After scored 45 goals for Wednesday in three seasons Waddington decided that selling Ritchie was a mistake and re-signed him for £28,000. He continued to be a prolific goalscorer for Stoke City and helped them win their first major trophy, the 1972 Football League Cup and reach two FA Cup semi finals. He remained at Stoke until September 1974 when a broken leg ended his career. He had scored 176 goals for Stoke in 347 matches making him Stoke's record goalscorer.