Player of the Year in 1975–76, won the Anglo-Scottish Cup with Chesterfield in 1981, and helped Port Vale to win promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1982–83.
[4] He carried on playing amateur football long after leaving Port Vale and won the Sentinel Sunday Cup at age 48.
[5] Ridley signed professional forms with Port Vale in July 1973, having previously been at the club on youth terms.
He established himself in the first team as a midfielder under manager Roy Sproson by March 1975 and played nineteen games of the 1974–75 campaign.
[7] Ridley played 47 games of the 1977–78 season and found the net in a 5–2 demolition of non-League Arnold in the FA Cup First Round.
[8] Strikers went on to reach the Conference finals, losing a penalty shoot-out to the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
[10] A Frank McLintock signing, when Jock Wallace took over as manager Ridley's days at Filbert Street were numbered.
Ridley returned to Port Vale in July 1982 amid a financial crisis at Chesterfield that meant the club could not pay him the £10,000 signing-on fee that would be owed if he were to sign a new contract with them.
[12] Ridley switched between defence and midfield as he played 44 games in 1982–83, as Vale won promotion out of the Fourth Division in third place under the management of John McGrath.
However, Vale failed to retain their third-tier status in 1983–84; Ridley scored against Newport County and Southend United as he made 35 appearances.