Born in Manchester, England, Buckley-Ricketts joined Manchester City at 13. After progressing through the ranks of Manchester City's Academy, he signed a scholarship with the club in July 2014. Buckley-Ricketts quickly progressed through the club's U18 side and then the development squad. Buckley-Ricketts played abroad for the first time in his career when he joined Eredivisie side FC Twente on a season-long loan for the 2017–18 season. He made his Twente debut in the opening game of the season, on 13 August 2017, coming on as a second-half substitute for Nikola Gjorgjev, in a 2–1 loss against Feyenoord. However, his first-team opportunities were limited, so he returned to England in January 2018 having made eight appearances for Twente. On 12 January 2018, Buckley-Ricketts joined League One club Oxford Unitedon loan for the rest of the 2017–18 season. He made his debut on 20 January in a 2–1 home defeat to bottom club Bury. He signed for Peterborough Unitedin the summer of 2018 but was subsequently transfer-listed by the club at the end of the 2018–19 season having made only two appearances throughout the campaign. On 2 September 2019, Buckley-Ricketts was released by Peterborough United.
International career
After being called up by England U18, Buckley-Ricketts made his England U18 debut on 23 March 2016, playing 74 minutes before being substituted, in a 3–2 win over Austria U18. He went on to make four appearances for the side. He made his England U19 debut on 1 September 2016, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–1 draw against Netherlands U19. He then scored his first England U19 goal, as well as setting up one of the goals, in a 5–1 win over Belarus U19 on 27 March 2017. Buckley-Ricketts was in the team that won the 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Georgia, managed by Keith Downing. He went on to make 12 appearances and scored once for the England U19 side. Buckley-Ricketts made his England U20 debut on 31 August 2017, in a 3–0 win over the Netherlands U20. He then scored his first goals for England U20 in a 5–1 win over Italy U20.
