We’re still in November, but already it has been a pretty major season for young Aberdeen goalkeeper Tom Ritchie. On the bench on seven separate occasions for the first team thus far this term, he has also joined up with Huntly to play games in the Highland League and was one of the stars of the impressive run in the SPFL Trust Trophy.

The beating of Arbroath in that competition, featuring the Dons Development side against a proper, senior outfit was a remarkable victory for the youngsters and Tom understandably numbers that game amongst the very biggest of his short career to date.

“The Arbroath cup game earlier this season was probably the highlight so far. I was dead nervous before the game, up against a senior team on a big pitch! Saying that, there was a belief we could get something out of it and give a good performance, and as the match went on in the first half you started to think, “We could maybe win this!”

“We started really well and were winning most of the first and second balls and so the confidence grew throughout the team. It wasn’t easy in terms of the preparation for the game with so many boys out on loan. We don’t get together all that often to work as a group so Barry Robson and Scott Anderson did a great job in getting us organised for it.

“Conceding the equaliser so late on, the fourth minute of time added on, that was just such a kick in the teeth because we’d done so well defensively throughout the whole game, especially the last 20 minutes, and then they score, it was tough. At full-time, I thought it was going to extra-time, I didn’t know it was straight to penalties! But I was able to make a couple of saves, the boys took their penalties really well and we came through it. I really enjoyed the games against Bora Rangers and Hamilton Accies as well.

“Having had that games, and felt what it was like winning a big match, it just makes it all the more frustrating that we never got to play the SFA Youth Cup final that we qualified for in 2020. Obviously, Covid just ruined the chances of all of that, but the semi-final game against Rangers was up there with the Arbroath one as the biggest games I’ve played in. It was such a great feeling to come through that one and we were really looking forward to the final, we felt we had a great chance of winning it, but it wasn’t to be.”

Tom has been associated with the club for seven years now, and been a professional for the last two and a half, but he has long seemed destined to follow in the footsteps – or handprints – of his dad, as he explains.

“My dad was a goalkeeper. I remember when I was growing up, getting my first pair of gloves for Christmas one year and going into the garden where he would just throw balls at me to save. He played for Forres and Nairn in the Highland League, so I followed after him. I always loved diving about and throwing myself in front of things.

“I’m from Elgin so when I was younger I played for Ross County, who had a side of young players from the Elgin area. When I was 11, Aberdeen came to watch me and scouted me there. I had a six week trial here but after the fourth week, they decided to take me on, so I was delighted with that. Then from 11 until 16, basically I just travelled through to train twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday, and then we played a game on the weekend.

“My parents used to take me down to training and games, and there was another boy here from Elgin, Mark McLaughlin, so we used to car share with each other, which was good. When I was 16, I got offered a professional contract and moved here and I’ve been in digs over the last two years or so.”

Tom is one of the beneficiaries of the system whereby Aberdeen’s youngest cohorts of players get taken overseas to take part in youth tournaments. It’s a programme that has benefits on every level according to Tom.

“Those trips when you’re very young are massive, they’re ones that stay with you for a long time. You’re in a tournament, out in a country you’ve never been to before and it’s a different experience. I remember I went to a tournament, under 15s or 16s, in Holland and we played Athens in the last game. There wasn’t anything on the game by then, we hadn’t won a game at that stage.

“We were leading 1-0 and in the last minute their boys had this shot that was going right in the top corner and as I dived, I thought he’d scored, then it hit my hand and that got us our only win in the tournament, against one of the best teams actually. It was a save to remember because after the game everyone was congratulating me, so I always remember that one. I think because I made it abroad in a tournament, that’s why that’s one of my more notable saves because the whole trip really just stays with you.”

Tom has also attracted the attention of the national selectors at youth level too, broadening his experience of the game still further.

“I’ve been to a few tournaments and played a few friendlies with Scotland now. My debut was against England and I don’t think I’ve ever been as nervous as I was before that game. There were some big names in their side like Jude Bellingham, but I ended up having probably the best game of my life against them. That really brought me on in terms of my belief and confidence. It’s great to mix with the boys from the different clubs. You start off looking at them almost as the enemy because they’re players from other clubs that you’ve played against, but once you’ve trained and mixed together, I’ve met some great boys through those trips.”

Like so many of the Aberdeen young pros, Tom is currently out on loan to get some much needed experience and game time. He is clearly relishing the opportunity.

“I’m on loan at Huntly in the Highland League now, which is something I am really enjoying. I just want to be playing games because obviously last season with COVID, there were no games for me to play, I was just training. Working with the first team brought me on massively but I missed playing games. Playing that Arbroath game, afterwards I was just thinking, “How did I go the whole of last season without playing games?!” The feeling afterwards was just amazing so I’m really excited to be getting games again and playing at a competitive level.

“I get the best of both worlds because I go and play at Huntly but I’m still involved with the first team during the week in training. Working with Gordon and training alongside Joe and Gary, it’s hard to take that in sometimes! They’re both really experienced goalkeepers, so I get to learn something new from them every single day that I’m in training. They look after me and if they see me do something in training that they think I need to look at, they’ll let me know, which is really valuable to me. Working with the first team has probably brought me on as a person as well because I’m see all these different personalities and make relationships with them, so it helps you grow up really.

“With every game I’ve played, I just feel like I’m just getting better with all the minutes I get on the pitch. It’s just about building up experience and confidence and hopefully getting a consistent level that I’m happy with and then to keep on pushing.”

One area where Tom is particularly strong is in his use of the ball, an increasingly crucial weapon in the goalkeeper’s armoury.

“I think the kicking side of the game as a goalkeeper is more important now more than ever, that’s part of how goalkeeping is changing. When I was growing up, you didn’t do too much distribution stuff, but now, it’s a really big part of playing in that position. When I was young, if I didn’t have anything to do, I’d go out onto the local pitch and just shell balls off the wall, so although I didn’t think much of it at the time, that’s probably helped my game.

“As a goalkeeper, you never stop learning. It’s usually a longer journey to get in the first team at a club as big as this one. Very few teams are going to put an 18 year old goalkeeper straight in, so I know there’ll be spells of going out on loan ahead of me. The aim is to play games, to impress, to get a better loan move each season and then hopefully to come back here and start to fight for the number one spot.”