Depending on your mindset as a Boro fan, the way you remember a certain Colombian striker will differ dramatically.

In all fairness, besides the usual suspects, most former Boro players are thought of in a myriad of contrasting views. I guess that’s like most clubs – fans will have their favourites, the cult heroes. Then there’s the villains of the piece, the money grabbers and the inconsistent big names whose reputation perhaps masks their legacy in your clubs colours.

And the subject of this piece is no different.

Some say he was lazy, frustrating, had a heavy first touch that bewildered fans who perhaps wondered how he’d made it as a pro. However, there’s just as many, if not more, who’ll remember the goals.

Yes, goals. The very thing a striker is employed to produce, and Hamilton Ricard to this day (and no doubt for some time to come), holds a very special record – for the most goals scored in the Premier League by a Middlesbrough player, ever.

FACT.

Now that’s no mean feat considering the company he’s keeping in the Boro history books. Among the likes of Mark Viduka, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Yakubu, Alen Boksic even The White Feather himself in Fab Rav, none of those can lay claim to such an achievement.

Thirty-one goals plundered over four Premier League seasons doesn’t sound like a huge amount, but let’s face it, Boro for many years now have found it hard to find a striker, or seemingly a system, that will produce a consistently prolific No.9.

His first two seasons saw him net fifteen and twelve goals respectively, not too shabby. But over the next couple of campaigns he struggled for game time, therefore struggling for goals too. For a player who appeared to be in need of confidence to succeed, periods of kicking his heels on the Boro bench will have done nothing to help matters.

Before all the above though, he arrived on Teesside as a virtual unknown, at a time when Boro were looking to bounce back to the top flight at the first attempt following the unbelievably madcap 96/97 season.

He wasn’t short on competition as he swelled what was already a healthy striking department. Along with Paul Merson and Mikkel Beck, he found himself battling for a spot up top with Italian maestro Marco Branca and talented youngster Alun Armstrong, both also having signed in and around the time of Ricard’s arrival.

The Gazette reported how he’d been signed as a result of “sourced VHS footage of him banging in 36 goals for Cali, the top team in Colombia”, as well as Bryan Robson spotting him representing his country in the 1997 Copa America.

It was a classic Robson signing. Full of hope, promise but also a huge dollop of risk thrown in too – and to begin with it appeared to have been a more risky, rather than promising, acquisition.

Evidently lacking in confidence, and no doubt getting used to his new surroundings, Ricard started slowly, bagging just two goals in nine league outings. He also made just his second appearance for Boro in the League Cup Final against Chelsea, such an event that was sure to add to the worries of an already nervous Ricard.

“When I first arrived I started to cry because in several matches I missed goals from nervousness,” he later said. “But Bryan Robson always supported me. He was a friend of the players, he believes in them, is a very human person.”

On a personal note I can even remember yelling loudly in the playground and fields at home about how I’d ‘done a Ricard’ every time I missed a sitter, such was the regularity of opportunities spurned. Football can be a cruel world, kids can be too, but it wasn’t long before he reversed many of the negative opinions those had of him.

That belief Robson showed in him eventually paid off as he made a barnstorming start to the 98/99 season as Boro returned to England’s top table. As he hammered in eleven goals from the first twelve games, as well as notching what was once the fastest goal at The Riverside (after 15 seconds of a 3-1 win over Wimbledon), the Boro fanbase sat up and took notice.

This guy wasn’t a flop, a joke or some lumbering excuse of a footballer, he was the real deal. To ‘do a Ricard’ now was to hit the back of the net. Oh, and to terrorise Sol Campbell, too.

Any fans reminiscing about ‘Ham The Man’ will always look back to the times (yes, it happened more than once) when he tore one of England’s top centre backs apart. Bagging a brace in both the 98/99 & 99/00 seasons, you can be sure Spurs fans (and Campbell) will have been glad to see the back of him.

Then there’s the curler that defied the laws of physics (and belief for some) away at Bradford in the FA Cup. You see, he had that in his locker, he could produce moments of absolute magic, so when he was having an off day it was hard to take in that it was actually the same player.

However, most players have off days, just that some perhaps suffer more than others when those days come.

But there’s no doubting that thanks to the aforementioned memories, as well as the enviable record he holds, his stock among the Boro faithful, on the whole, is pretty high.

And so it should be.

The shame really was how it ended and went for him in the subsequent years after his Boro departure.

Aside from a productive stint in Ecuador for Emelec, and a decent showing for Shangai Shenhua long before it became en-vogue for some of the world’s top players to head to China, his nomadic existence saw him fail to rack up any sort of consistency of the like he’d achieved during his time on Teesside.

Well documented off the field problems (of which the facts are still debatable to this day), as well as some on the field disciplinary issues, dogged a large chunk of his remaining playing years too.

Despite all that, the welcome news is how Ricard has managed to forge a relatively successful post-playing career as a coach in his homeland, as well as regular stints as a TV pundit too. It has to be said, the Colombian is a well known and respected player back home, having appeared 27 times for his national team, bagging five goals, his name definitely holding up in many households.

Still, after all these years (17 since he departed for CSKA Sofia), he still looks back fondly on his time with Middlesbrough.

Through the power of social media I was able to track him down (with a huge portion of the credit going to @diveronline), and rather surprisingly (and quite brilliantly) he agreed to take time out of a busy schedule to sit down and tap out some replies to not only questions from myself, but many from you too.

In what follows, he talks about his “pride” at playing for Boro, being compared to Dennis Bergkamp, who were his best mates and how THAT goal at Bradford definitely wasn’t a cross.

Hope you enjoy.

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Questions from Smithy_MFC84 (me);

Did you know anything of Boro before Robson approached you?

“I did not know anything about Boro. Before I was with Boro I was in another nearby city (I do not remember the name of the city), but it was very close.

You’re Boro’s all time leading PL scorer – that must be a nice record to hold? Where does that rank in your career achievements?

“I am very pleased with that record and if it is necessary to look back, it is a story that is worth being proud of”

You arrived at a time when Boro had the likes of Merson, Beck along with newly signed Armstrong and Branca – did you relish the competition for places?

“There is always competition in a team, there are good players, that’s how I knew that I had to compete for a position with those great players, it’s part of the game”.

After relatively slow start to your Boro career you exploded to life in the PL following promotion – how did it feel to be testing yourself, and more than holding your own against some of the best players in one of the strongest leagues in the world?

“The truth is that it was a dream. I felt more committed by what was happening at that time being hand to hand with players who were already established, but it was not easy because when you are at that level it is more demanding, but it was a dream fulfilled”

Do you look back on your time at Boro with pride?

“Naturally I look back at Boro and if it fills me with a lot of pride. To do it in the first team of a team on the outside (of his home country), that opened the doors for me

Boro had been adventurous in the South American transfer market in the years previous, bringing in Brazilians – did Boro’s ambition and willingness to explore that region play a part in you agreeing to the move?

“Always, because when it comes to contracts, Brazilians who play well will tell you that it stimulates you to accept the adventure, and it gives you more tranquillity. The adventure was good”.

Did you leave Boro with a heavy heart?

If I left with a heavy heart it was because it was not a decision that I took consciously. I was deceived by my agent and I never liked that”.

And now, some questions from ChrisUTB (@diveronline) who helped me out hugely with this piece (namely in making contact with Ricard);

My favourite goal was the one against Wimbledon at home – that was some strike wasn’t it?

“Hahahahaha that was a very nice goal If I remember that was not long after starting the game”.

*Indeed, it was all of fifteen second, Ham!*

Out of all of your career goals you scored in international or club football, which ranked as your best?

“The best goals were against Bradford, one against Arsenal another against Wimbledon then one in Shanghai but for me the best was against Arsenal in Boro when we won 1-0”.

Sol Campbell once said that you were one of the toughest centre forwards he had ever faced – who was the toughest defender you played against?

I am very pleased to know that Campbell feels it; it’s the same thing I say about him every time they ask me. He was a rock Campbell! I played against him in the World Cup also” (Colombia’s group match against England at France 98, England winning 2-0 – Ricard was subbed on for the second half).

Out of all of the players you have played with (or against), was there anyone in particular you looked up to or were in awe of?

“I always admired Ronaldo – the Brazilian the phenomenon”.

Before we get on to the rest of the questions that have been sent in by yourselves, here’s a fun fact (depends on your definition of fun though…) on Hamilton Ricard as provided by The Guardian;

“The one case we did track down of a player having his name correctly written on both sides of his shirt was in fact former Middlesbrough striker Hamilton Ricard, who had been playing for Danubio in Uruguay.

Danubio are sponsored by Ricard – a brand of chocolates – and although player names are not printed on shirts in Uruguay, the sponsor’s logo is blazoned across both the chest and back of Danubio’s strip, meaning that Ricard’s name is, indeed, on both sides of his shirt”.

So there you go.

The full piece can be found here, along with some more interesting stuff…

Anyway, back to what you’ve come here for, the Q&A, and here’s some of the best questions that were submitted to me (a big ‘thank you’ for all your contributions).

Craig Douglas – @cdouglasfilm asks;

What did he expect when he signed for the Boro and how different were those expectations after he had settled in?

“I had a great feeling and I was hoping I could help Boro get to the Premier league, then when I arrived I saw that it was as I imagined, it was fantastic to have lived in that big city”.

stew – @borobaldy77 asks;

Looking back on your footballing career what was your most enjoyable moment and why?

“The most enjoyable moment was having played in a World Cup, but also having been as a top scorer in the top 5 places and having played Cup Final(s). It is difficult to choose the best ones, but the best were at Boro”.

stew also asks;

Who was your best team mate at Boro?

My best partner is difficult, they were all good, but I think I made good friends with Paul Okon and Juninho. I think living close by made us good companions”.

wllow – @nmw1964 asks;

“Would he say the game at White Hart Lane was his best in a Boro shirt? He was unplayable that night”

“I would say it was one of the great ones, that is true”.

Guy Bailey – @guyrbailey asks;

What is the biggest difference between Colombia and the UK? What’s similar?

“I think the biggest difference is the safest way of life, the quietest the cold. Hahahahahaha nothing similar everything is totally different in the UK”.

JB – @Jonny_Boro asks;

Your goal against Bradford away, who were you crossing it to? 😉

“Hahahahaha not against Bradford, I did not cross the ball to anyone. I put the ball at exactly the angle”.

Alex Harrison – @1lechamp asks;

What’s your favourite Boro goal?

“I think my favorite goal was one against Wimbledon (away 99/00) where I ran with the ball from the middle of the field on the left, taking out several opponents to then feint the goalkeeper”.

Iwan Evans – @IwanEvans19 asks;

Did you ever score a better goal than that curler at Bradford?

The great goals are all cute, but I scored great goals in different ways with other teams, and with Boro too”.

James E. Keen – @JamesEKeen asks;

I’d like to know how you reacted after being compared to Dennis Bergkamp after ripping Spurs to shreds in 1998 (if memory serves)?

“For me to be compared to Dennis Bergkamp at that time was pride because he was one of the Premier League greats, and that already put me in a different position and I knew the responsibility that came with it”.

gr3g – @geepjay99 asks;

What do you miss most about the Boro, and have you been back to the town since you left?

Also, what are you doing these days?

“What I miss the most about Boro life is playing and the fans”

“I have not returned hehehehe”

“These days I’m working in football and in my own company (self titled) with its own club and school”

Paul Bowdler – @smoggyboy78 asks;

Who was your best friend at Boro ?

“Choosing who was the best partner is difficult but I as I said, Okon and Júniñho. I’m still talking to Dean Gordon also”.

Keith Watson – @wato6282 asks;

Best and worse players you played with at Boro ?

Best and worse players played against whilst at Boro ?

“The best players that I played in Boro were all very good, the truth is I never complained about any of them, so there were no worse”.

“And against I played against many, but I do not remember the worst. Of the best is Thierry Henry, Bergkamp, ​​Michael Owen and Gianfranco Zola, not many”.

TAT – @taylor198269

What was your most memorable game??

Has to be away to Spurs for me – unreal that day your value today would be nothing short of 20 million (high praise indeed, TAT).

“The truth is that the game we beat Arsenal in our home with my goal that was a memorable match as the goal I scored came after play that I passed the ball through the legs of Emmanuel Petit”.

*That was pretty special, Ham.*

Here’s one from your ex-teammate Andy Campbell…

Andy asks;

What was the best game you played for the club? (Maybe help him towards Spurs away, Sol Campbell couldn’t handle him. He was unplayable)

“That first game against Spurs in London I was marked by (Sol) Campbell in a way that it was difficult for me to score. *(but of course he did, twice)*

And there we have it.

Honestly cannot thank Ham enough for the time taken to send these replies back to Chris, someone else who I’m also extremely grateful to for helping set this all up.

Maybe one day we’ll see Ricard back at The Riverside?

Here’s hoping.

Thanks for reading.

Smithy.