Originally at Manchester United, Simon Ratcliffe made his league debut for Norwich City. He made 11 appearances for City but only gained regular first team football with a move to Brentford. After 197 league starts in six seasons, this central defender moved to Gillingham where he played alongside former Canary Adrian Pennock. By May 1998, Simon had made 105 appearances for Gillingham
Injury limited him to a handful of appearances in 1998/99 and Simon announced his retirement before the start of the 1999/2000 campaign. He then worked as Gillingham's Youth Development Officer. He made a total of 116(7) appearances for the Gills, scoring 13 goals.

Simon returned to Norfolk in 2000, joining the prison service and working at Norwich Prison.