He began his career at Bristol City, and turned down a move to Everton in order to make his professional debut for the club in 2008, suffering an injury in the first half that ruled him out for 11 months.

Ribeiro was born in Neath in South Wales, and at the age of 6 moved to Berkeley, Gloucestershire, and then onto Ruscombe near Stroud in his teenage years.

[4] Ribeiro came through the youth system at Bristol City before earning his first professional contract, lasting two and a half years, with the club in December 2006.

[5] His first team debut came nearly two years later in a 2–1 win over Peterborough United in the Football League Cup first round on 12 August 2008, but he was replaced after just 34 minutes after damaging his anterior cruciate ligament; the game at Ashton Gate finished 2–1 to City.

[2] Ribeiro quickly dismissed the approach by stating: "I felt I had a better chance of playing at Bristol City and I was proved right because I got into the first team, it just so happened that was when I got injured.

[10] Having made just one appearance during the 2009–10 season due to another injury sustained while international duty, Ribeiro was allowed to join Football League One side Stockport County on a one-month loan deal with a 24-hour recall clause.

[12] However, at the end of December, manager Gary Johnson opted to exercise the recall clause following an injury and suspension crisis that saw Lewin Nyatanga, Jamie McCombe and Brian Wilson unavailable.

[20] He scored the first goal of his professional career on 17 November, opening a 2–2 draw against Notts County at Glanford Park, curling the ball after a one-two with Mark Duffy.

[2] Ribeiro made his debut on 23 May 2010 against Croatia at the Gradski vrt stadium, Osijek, replacing Chris Gunter for the last nine minutes of a 2–0 loss.

He was the last of five Welshmen to make their debut that day,[42] and was tasked with marking Luka Modrić, but suffered a slipped spinal disc which ruled him out again.

[10] On 12 October, he earned his only other cap as Wales fell 4–1 away to Switzerland in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match, replacing Darcy Blake after 55 minutes.

[43] Despite the brevity of his international career, Ribeiro expressed pride in 2016 that he had played alongside players who took Wales to the semi-finals at that year's European Championship, among them Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey.