Connor Patrick Ronan (born 6 March 1998) is a professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
who plays as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
Ronan started his career with Copperpot JFC and attended
St Cuthbert's RC High School
St Cuthbert's Roman Catholic High School is a coeducational secondary school located in the Thornham area of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England.
History
St Cuthbert's was founded as Bishop Henshaw School in 1968 and was Rochdale's first ...
in Rochdale with whom he reached the final of the English National Schools Cup as a Year 7 in 2009 with a team that also included
Axel Tuanzebe
Axel Tuanzebe (born 14 November 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Manchester United.
Tuanzebe is a graduate of the Manchester United youth system and won both the Jimmy Murphy Young Pla ...
, Kisimba Kisimba and Johny Diba, who all went on to become professional. He then joined
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
, his boyhood club in which he stayed until he joined
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
at the age of 16. Ronan made three appearances for the team's development squad in the
2016–17 EFL Trophy
The 2016–17 EFL Trophy, known as the Checkatrade Trophy for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd season in the history of the competition and the first since being rebranded from Football League Trophy. It was played as a knock-out tournament for E ...
, scoring a goal in their 4–0 win over
EFL League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
Paul Lambert
Paul Lambert (born 7 August 1969) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Ipswich Town.
Lambert played as a midfielder and won the Scottish Cup in 1987 with St Mirren as a 17-year-ol ...
as manager, Ronan was part of the first-team squad for the first time on 26 November 2016, as an unused substitute in the 2–0 defeat to
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
. Ronan made his debut on 17 December 2016, replacing
Hélder Costa
Hélder Wander Sousa de Azevedo e Costa (born 12 January 1994) is an Angolan professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Leeds United. Initially representing Portugal at youth and senior level, in 2021 he opted to represent the A ...
for the final nine minutes of the team's 2–0 win over
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
on loan until January 2019 along with team-mate Connor Johnson.
Ronan returned to Wolves at the conclusion of his loan spell, making 15 appearances in all competitions for Walsall.
He signed for League One club
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
on a six-month loan deal on 17 January 2020. His playing time was however restricted to ten games after the League One clubs voted to curtail the season owing to the COVID-19 outbreak.
In August 2020, he signed a new contract – lasting until 2024 – with Wolves before again being sent out on loan, this time joining Swiss side
Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago.
Grasshop ...
for the 2020–21 season. His would make his first appearance coming on as a substitute in the second half, in a 3–0 victory against FC Wil. Ronan's first goal for the Swiss club came in a 3–0 home win against
, when he scored the second goal in the 91st minute.
In May 2020, Ronan returned to his parent club for treatment, after breaking his
metatarsal bone
The metatarsal bones, or metatarsus, are a group of five long bones in the foot, located between the tarsal bones of the hind- and mid-foot and the phalanges of the toes. Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are numbered from the ...
, ruling him out for up to four to five months.
On 31 August 2021, Ronan sealed a season long loan to
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...
side St Mirren. He made his debut in a 0–0 draw at home to Dundee United in September. He made a habit of scoring sensational long range goals throughout his spell at St. Mirren, including a 30-yard strike in the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Colorado Rapids in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
. It will see him play through to the 2026
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
season, with an additional club option for 2027.
International career
Ronan has played at under 17, under 19 and under 21 level for the Republic of Ireland. Ronan was selected for the
2019 Toulon Tournament
The 2019 Toulon Tournament (officially french: 47ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) was the 47th edition of the Toulon Tournament. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 1 to 15 June 2019. England w ...
where he played in every match.
He was called up to the senior
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
squad for the
friendlies
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
against
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
and
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...