Ritchie started his career in 1977-78 with Manchester United, and later played for Brighton & Hove Albion, Leeds United, Oldham Athletic and Scarborough, making 661 appearances (88 as substitute) and scoring 210 goals. He played his last game, for Oldham, in the 1998-99 season. According to Chris Kamara, Ritchie earnt the nickname "Stitches" during his playing and managerial career. His actual nickname 'Stitch' came from the amount of times Ritchie would pull up whilst training (with Oldham as a player) complaining of a stitch.

Ritchie is regarded as one of Oldham Athletic's finest ever footballers, and is also an ex-manager of the club.

Manchester United midfielder and Oldham Athletic fan, Paul Scholes once told foreign journalists in the 2002 FIFA World Cup that his all time footballing hero was Andy Ritchie.

After a successful spell back at Elland Road in charge of Youth Development, Ritchie left to become Paul Hart's assistant at Barnsley. After Hart was sacked in March 2005, Ritchie's successful spell as caretaker manager led to him being confirmed as full time manager in May 2005. In the 2005/06 season, he led the club to the League One playoff final against Swansea City. The match was played on 27 May 2006 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Barnsley's victory on penalties (following a 2-2 draw) secured promotion to the Football League Championship.

Ritchie was approached by Sheffield Wednesday about their vacant manager's position, following the sacking of Paul Sturrock in October 2006, however, the request was turned down by Barnsley. Ritchie was sacked by Barnsley on November 21 2006, with the team in the relegation zone of the League Championship. The chairman at the time, Gordon Shepherd hinted that Ritchie had been unwilling to buy players when the opportunity had arisen and that his ambitions and plans did not meet those of the board.

Ritchie was appointed Huddersfield Town manager on April 11, 2007. He left the club by mutual consent on 1 April 2008 after an indifferent season, following the embarrassing 4-1 defeat at Oldham Athletic on 29 March. Ritchie's overall record with the Terriers was just won 22 out of 51 games, drawing 5 of those, and losing the remaining 24. The highlight was undoubtedly the FA Cup run which saw Town win against Birmingham City and before bowing out to Premier League outfit Chelsea in the 5th Round, the first time the club had been that far for 10 years.

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