Ryan Bird (born 15 November 1987) is an English

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 ...

who plays as a centre-back or forward for Bracknell Town. He played in the Football League for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

and Newport County.

Career

Burnham

Bird began his footballing career at Burnham's academy, and was promoted to first team in December 2004. His main position was firstly a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, but later moved to a more forward role, establishing himself as a striker. As a part-time footballer, he was also an

electrician An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance ...

. In 2010–11, Bird scored 24 goals and finished the season as the club's top scorer. He signed a new contract with Burnham in June 2011. In 2012–13, Bird scored 45 goals in 45 matches (41 league goals in 39 matches) in 2012–13 and was again top scorer as Burnham were crowned champions. At the end of the season, Bird secured two trials, at

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

and

. He was also asked to return in pre-season training.

Portsmouth

Bird returned to Portsmouth on a trial basis in early June. On 9 July, he scored twice in a friendly match against

Havant & Waterlooville Havant & Waterlooville Football Club is a professional football club based in Havant, Hampshire, England. The club participates in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, after relegation from the National League in the ...

. Later that month, Bird signed a one-year professional contract, with the option of a second year. Bird made his Portsmouth debut on 6 August, in a 1–0 away defeat against AFC Bournemouth. He made his first start on 3 September, in a goalless draw away to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

in the 2013–14 Football League Trophy. On 19 September, Bird joined Havant & Waterlooville on a month's

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

. After appearing three times with the "Hawks", he returned to Portsmouth. Bird scored his first professional goal on 26 October, in a 1–1 away draw against Torquay. He netted twice the following weekend on his first league start, in a 3–2 home win over

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. Bird joined

on loan on 24 January, and scored twice in the first 16 minutes of his debut against Dartford the following day. He was instrumental in Cambridge United reaching the final of the FA Trophy final the first time in the club's history, scoring all three of their goals against

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

in the semi-finals. Bird scored the first goal in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

as Cambridge United beat Gosport Borough 4–0. Bird was recalled by Portsmouth on 27 March, and left the "U's" after scoring nine goals. A groin injury kept him out of Portsmouth's run-in, but the club did exercise the one-year option on his contract, although he was to leave by mutual consent at the end of the summer transfer window.

Cambridge United

Bird rejoined

, now newly promoted to

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 ...

, on 1 September 2014 on a one-year permanent deal. On 25 February 2015 he was loaned to another League Two team,

, for a month. At the end of the 2014–15 season the club did not offer him a new deal when his contract expired.

Yeovil Town

On 14 July 2015, Bird joined another League Two club,

, on a two-year contract.

Eastleigh

On 1 August 2016, Bird signed for

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

club

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, ...

Newport County

Bird joined Newport County, also of League Two, on 23 January 2017. He made his debut for Newport on 28 January 2017 in a 3–1 league win against Hartlepool United, scoring the opening goal after 15 minutes. Bird was part of the Newport squad that completed the 'Great Escape' with a 2–1 victory at home to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

on the final day of the 2016-17 season, which ensured Newport's survival in League Two. He was released at the end of the 2016–17 season after scoring 6 goals in 19 games.

Dover Athletic

On 27 June 2017, Bird joined

club

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

on a one-year contract. He made his debut on 5 August, in an opening-day 1–0 away win against Hartlepool United. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 victory over

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

a week later in what was both Bird's and Dover's third game of the season. Bird finished the season as Dover's top scorer with 16 league goals in 43 starts.

Maidenhead United

He declined Dover's offer of a second year's contract and instead signed for National League rivals Maidenhead United. Bird scored only one league goal for the Magpies in 26 games before leaving the club after one season.

Slough Town

On 3 June 2019, Bird signed for the Magpies' local rivals

Slough Town Slough Town Football Club is a semi-professional English football club based in Slough, Berkshire. Nicknamed "The Rebels", the team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football, following promotion from the Sou ...

, where he reverted to a role in the centre of defence.

Career statistics

¹ Including FA Trophy,

Berks & Bucks Senior Cup The Berks & Bucks FA County Senior Cup is the Senior County Cup competition of the Berks & Bucks FA, which first took place in 1878–79 – a time when the FA Cup had only been going for seven years, there was no Football League, and most countr ...

, Southern League Cup, Wycombe Senior Cup, Southern League play-offs and

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

. ² Including all matches since 2004.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Ryan 1987 births English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football forwards Living people Burnham F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Havant & Waterlooville F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Maidenhead United F.C. players Slough Town F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players National League (English football) players Footballers from Slough