page_title: Liam Ridgewell
section_title: Birmingham City
hierarchical_section_title: Liam Ridgewell / Club career / Birmingham City
caption_attribution_description: Arsenal v Birmingham City The Emirates 16 October 2010 (2-1) This file has been extracted from another file: Emmanuel Eboue and Liam Ridgewell.jpg
context_page_description: Liam Matthew Ridgewell is an English retired professional footballer who played as a defender. He was primarily a centre back but could also play at left back.
  Ridgewell began his senior career with Aston Villa, spending a spell on loan at A.F.C. Bournemouth in 2002, before moving to Villa's local rivals Birmingham City in 2007, where he was part of the 2011 Football League Cup Final-winning team. He spent two and a half seasons with West Bromwich Albion, who released him at the end of 2013–14. He then joined the Portland Timbers, whom he captained to victory in MLS Cup 2015. During the MLS off-season, he spent time on loan in England with Wigan Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion. After signing for Hull City in January 2019, he was released by the club in July 2019.
  Internationally, he has eight caps for England at under-21 level.
context_section_description: Ridgewell completed a move to Birmingham City for a fee of £2 million on 3 August 2007, becoming the first player to transfer between the bitter rivals since Des Bremner in 1984.
  In the absence through injury of regular captain Damien Johnson, Ridgewell was given the captain's armband. He described his appointment as "a real honour". Though concerns were expressed over how some fans might react to a player signing from Aston Villa, Ridgewell's performances won over the doubters. He scored his first goal for the club in their 3–2 win against Wigan Athletic at St Andrew's in October, but then scored an own goal in the Birmingham derby two weeks later, also at St Andrew's.
  In April 2009, Ridgewell suffered a broken leg after a challenge by Plymouth Argyle midfielder Jamie Mackie. He made an unexpectedly quick return to the side five months later, playing in the less familiar position of left back. He continued in that role because of the form of preferred centre-backs Roger Johnson and Scott Dann, and played there as Birmingham went on a club-record 12-match unbeaten run in the top division and set a Premier League record by fielding the same starting eleven for nine consecutive games. He scored a 91st-minute equaliser against Tottenham Hotspur on 30 January 2010 which ensured that Birmingham remained unbeaten at home since the previous September.
  Ridgewell continued his goalscoring form with a stoppage-time winner against Derby County to send Birmingham through to the quarter finals of the FA Cup, had a goal disallowed in the quarter-final match against Portsmouth when the ball had "clearly crossed the line", and scored an equalising goal against Liverpool in the league.
  In June 2010, Ridgewell signed a new contract with Birmingham, to expire in June 2013. He played the full 90 minutes as Birmingham defeated favourites Arsenal 2–1 in the 2011 Football League Cup Final, thus earning qualification for the Europa League. In the absence of several midfielders through injury, Ridgewell played in the play-off round first leg against Portuguese club Nacional, Birmingham's first participation in major European competition for nearly 50 years, in an unfamiliar holding midfield position. As the August 2011 transfer deadline approached, Ridgewell submitted a transfer request which was rejected by the club, and despite late interest from Premier League clubs including Newcastle United, he remained with Birmingham.
caption: Ridgewell in October 2010
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