Blake Ricciuto

Blake Ricciuto
Personal information
Full name Blake Ashley Ricciuto Harriot
Date of birth (1992-09-02) 2 September 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth Sydney, Australia
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
Rockdale Ilinden
Number 22
Youth career
Sydney Olympic
APIA Leichhardt[1]
St George[2]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2011 St George 41 (2)
2014–2015 Peñarol 0 (0)
2014–2015Canadian (loan) 27 (0)
2016–2018 Rockdale City Suns 66 (7)
2019 DPMM 29 (9)
2021–2023 Tanjong Pagar United 67 (12)
2024– Rockdale Ilinden 25 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 December 2024

Blake Ashley Ricciuto Harriot (born 2 September 1992) is an Australian professional footballer who plays mainly as a central-midfielder for semi-professional club, Rockdale Ilinden. Ricciuto was born in Sydney, Australia. He is of Uruguayan and Italian descent and speaks both English and Spanish fluently.[3]

Career

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St George

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At the age of 15, Ricciuto made his debut for St George who played in which was then called the NSW Super League. He was a key part of the club for the 3 years he was there where he played in the 2010 Grand Final.

Danubio

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Ricciuto went to try his luck in his fathers place of birth of Uruguay at the age of 19. He was lucky enough to get a trial with Danubio Reserves, which then consisted of current Atlético Madrid centre back José María Gimenez, he impressed on his trial and the club offered him a contract but 3 days later due to a dispute between the Agent that recommended Ricciuto and the head of football. Blake was left without a club.

Peñarol

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Ricciuto went on trial to his and his family's childhood club of Peñarol after not sealing a deal with Danubio, he was in trial for over 3 months until Uruguayan and Juventus legend Paolo Montero took over as a manager of the reserves and decided to sign the Australian/ Uruguayan midfielder. This team consisted of the likes of current Cagliari and Uruguay national team player Nahitan Nandez. On Ricciuto’s second start for the reserves during the curtain raiser for first grade at Estadio Jardines del Hipódromo he scored a 94th minute winner against Danubio. After this goal and several good performances he started to train regularly with first grade. Unfortunately he couldn’t crack the first team and he decided to go to second division side Canadian Soccer Club.

Canadian S.C

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Ricciuto was a key part in Canadian Soccer Club historic run to the play off finals, he played 27 games in Uruguayan Segunda Division where they lost in the play off final to get promoted to Uruguayan Primera Division which is Uruguays top tier.

Rockdale City Suns

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After an unsuccessful trial with Sydney FC following his stint in Uruguay even though impressing in a trial match against Belconnen Ricciuto signed at Rockdale City Suns on 19 January 2016 where he became a household name and a cult hero because of his David Luiz like hair. The 3 years at the club he was named player of the year twice and also team of the year of the NPL twice as well. He was a stand out performer in the FFA CUP game against Sydney FC. He was very unfortunate to not be snapped up by an A league side.

Brunei DPMM

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After having a great season with Rockdale City Suns, Ricciuto attended a trial at Brunei DPMM and was signed by the club on 3 January 2019 for the 2019 season.[4] He played a major role in the Bruneian club's title-winning season as a starter, scoring nine goals from midfield. He was named in the Singapore Premier League and Straits times Team of the Year and received Player of the Month and Goal of the month award for April.[5][6] After leaving DPMM, he was poised to move to Vélez CF in Spain,[7] but due to administration delays in his native Australia he was not registered in time for the start of the season.[8]

Tanjong Pagar United

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After the Vélez CF deal fell through, Ricciuto signed with Singapore Premier League club Tanjong Pagar United in January 2021 until the end of the season.

Ricciuto got off to a great start with Tanjong Pagar scoring on his debut for the club against Geylang in the opening 2021 fixture in round 1. He went to score another goal that season against Young Lions and finishing the season as the clubs leading assist taker with 6 assists next to his name.

After the 2021 season, Ricciuto announced that he wouldn't be returning to Tanjong Pagar United in search of a different challenge. He mentioned in a podcast that he had agreed to a deal at Indonesian club Persik Kediri but prior to travelling to Indonesia he contracted COVID-19 and the club wasn't able to go ahead with the deal. With this happening, Ricciuto announce his return to Tanjong Pagar United as the last foreign signing for 2022, he once again got off to a great start by starting round 1 with a Man of the Match performance with future champions Albirex Nigata leading them to a 2-0 victory, He later went on to have a standout season finishing the season as second leading goalscorer for the club with 7 goals with 5 of those goals coming in 5 consecutive games.

He has been announced to return for a third straight year at Tanjong Pagar as one of their key players.

Rockdale Ilinden

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After spending three years in Singapore, Ricciuto returned to Sydney, Australia and joined Rockdale Ilinden on 7 February 2024. On 9 June, he scored the winning goal as his team win Western Sydney Wanderers II 3-2.

Career statistics

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As of 2 October 2021.[9]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Peñarol 2014/15 Uruguayan Primera División 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Canadian Soccer Club (loan) 2014/15 Uruguayan Segunda División 27 0 0 0 0 0 27 0
Total 27 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 0
Rockdale City Suns 2016 National Premier Leagues NSW 23 3 0 0 0 0 23 3
2017 National Premier Leagues NSW 22 2 0 0 0 0 22 2
2018 National Premier Leagues NSW 21 2 0 0 0 0 21 2
Total 66 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 66 7
DPMM 2019 Singapore Premier League 23 9 6 0 0 0 29 9
Total 23 9 6 0 0 0 0 0 29 9
Tanjong Pagar United 2021 Singapore Premier League 20 2 0 0 0 0 20 2
2022 Singapore Premier League 26 6 3 1 0 0 29 7
2023 Singapore Premier League 21 4 2 0 0 0 23 4
Total 67 12 5 1 0 0 0 0 72 13
Rockdale Ilinden 2024 National Premier Leagues NSW 19 3 1 0 0 0 20 3
Total 19 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 20 3
Career total 183 28 11 1 0 0 0 0 194 29
Notes

Honours

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Club

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Brunei DPMM

Individual

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References

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  1. ^ "A-League reject living the dream in Uruguay". Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  2. ^ Add in Blake Ricciuto, three years at St George between 2009 and 2011
  3. ^ Bossi, Dominic (21 March 2014). "Josip Simunic just one of a growing lost generation of Socceroos". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  4. ^ "DPMM FC name new foreign imports for 2019 season". Borneo Bulletin. 30 December 2018. Archived from the original on 31 December 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Blake Ricciuto enjoying life at DPMM as he spearheads title charge". Football Association of Singapore. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  6. ^ "DPMM FC CELEBRATE SINGAPORE PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE AFTER EDGING CHEETAHS". BruSports News. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019. He was named in the Singapore Premier League and Straits times Team of the Year and received Player of the Month and Goal of the month award for April. === Velez CF===
  7. ^ "El Vélez CF oficializó el fichaje de Blake Ricciuto". El Córner del Sur. 3 August 2020. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Ricciuto will not play for Velez in 2020/2021 season". Borneo Bulletin. 3 October 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  9. ^ Blake Ricciuto at Soccerway. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
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