Ricardo Dwayne Fuller was born on the 31st of October 1979, in Kingston, Jamaica, and is a former Jamaican professional soccer player, who spent almost his entire 15-year active career playing for clubs in England. Fuller retired after a short episode with League One side Oldham Athletic in May 2016. During his career as a striker, he played for clubs such as Heart of Midlothian, Portsmouth, Southampton and Stoke City among others, and made more than 450 club appearances, scoring over 100 goals. For the Jamaican national team, he totaled 73 caps, and scored nine goals between 1999 and 2012.
Have you ever wondered how rich Ricardo Fuller is, as of mid- 2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Fuller’s net worth is as high as $1 million, an amount earned through his successful career as a soccer player
Ricardo Fuller Net Worth $1 million
Fuller grew up in the poor neighborhood of the Jamaican capital called Tivoli Gardens, raised by his grandmother. As a gifted and talented player, he started his career playing for the local side youth team Tivoli Gardens for two seasons from 1999 until 2001, before he went on trial with Crystal Palace in England, but making only eight appearances, during which time he got the nickname “Wily Boo” from fans because of his dribbling skills. He was also known as “The Baller” in England, after an alleged controversial $1 million settlement between him and his former fiancé, which didn’t happen according to him. After months of training, he didn’t get a real chance, so he was released on loan to join Hearts of Midlothian (2001-2002) in the Scottish Premiership, where Fuller had a successful role as a striker and made a step forward in his long-lasting career.
After making 29 appearances and scoring 10 goals during the 2001-02 season in Scotland, he moved to Preston North End, then Football League First Division side for $750,000, and became a vital player for the team, scoring 11 goals in 20 matches before suffering a knee injury and ending his season prematurely. Fuller had a good start to the second season for Preston, scoring six goals in just five games before the knee troubled him again and resulted in form drop, but was still the club’s top scorer that season with 19 goals.
Portsmouth manager at that time Harry Redknapp bought him to his team for $3 million in August 2004, but he managed only one goal in 31 games, so after just one season in he moved to Southampton in 2005, but didn’t really revive his career, scoring only nine goals, still the club’s top scorer, but lack of support from home fans and manager saw another transfer.
Ricardo joined Stoke City for $2 million in August 2006, and in two seasons contributed 26 goals, helping secure the team’s promotion to the Premier League, which made him fan favorite, plus Fuller was named to the Champions team of 2007. In his first season in Premier League Fuller maintained his good form and scored 11 goals, but during the game with West Ham was sent off for violent conduct after slapped his teammate captain Andy Griffin after an argument on the pitch. Fuller stated that Griffin was rude and disrespectful but admitted that he overreacted.
In the season 2011-2012, he played 3 matches for the club in the UEFA Europa League scoring on one occasion against Turkish side Besiktas. Despite that incident with Griffin and occasional violent conduct resulting in yellow cards, he played three more years for Stoke. In total, he played 208 games and scored 50 goals for the club, and fans regarded him as a legend. Because of his excellent performances during those six seasons spent there, fans even listed him in Stoke’s all-time favorite eleven alongside world greats like Gordon Banks and Sir Stanley Matthews.
After the end of his contract in 2012, he moved to Charlton Athletic for a year, but he slowly started to decline because of his previous and new injuries, scoring just five goals in 31 games.
Fuller then moved to Blackpool at the end of the season on a free transfer, and spent a season there scoring on 6 occasions. He then played for Millwall, but couldn’t help his side to remain in the Championship. In 40 matches he manages to score only 6 times for the “Lions”, and retired at the end of the season.
Regarding his personal life, Ricardo Fuller has been married to Nicole since 2012, and they have a six-year-old son. During the riots in his home city in 2010, his grandmother’s house was destroyed in a fire, the upset of which left a mark on Ricardo’s health status, resulting in drastic weight loss. However, thanks to his earnings as a soccer player, he managed to rebuild it showing his deep appreciation for the person who raised him.
Leave a Comment