Leigh Leopards salute Ridy

Leigh Leopards are proud to celebrate the retirement of Martyn Ridyard, who has today announced that he will hang up his boots after his final game for Rochdale Hornets this Sunday against Dewsbury.

Many Leopards supporters will no doubt take the opportunity to cheer on ‘Ridy’ one last time before he concentrates on his coaching career.

Martyn is one of the most popular players ever to represent the club and over two spells between 2009 and 2020 he became one of only three players to amass over 2,000 points for his hometown club.

When you consider that the others are John Woods and Jimmy Ledgard it demonstrates the magnitude of his achievement.

Ridy made his club debut in the first ever game at Leigh Sports Village earning heritage number HN#1314. He went on to play 250 senior games for Leigh, scoring 80 tries and kicking 850 goals, including 12 drop-goals, for a tally of 2,008 points.

Martyn’s time at Leigh was marked by numerous accomplishments, including the 2011 and 2103 Northern Rail Cup Final victories, the Championship Grand Final win in 2014 and the club’s promotion to Super League in 2016. His incredible kicking game, superb generalship and all-round skills made him a central figure in the team’s successes.

Above all, though, Martyn retires with the same cap size as when he started out at Leigh Miners. Modest, unassuming and always approachable, he remains hugely popular and respected throughout the town he represented with such distinction for so long.