Ryan Brobbel (born 5 March 1993) 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 winger for

Cymru Premier The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 200 ...

club

The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, also known as The New Saints ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed y Seintiau Newydd) or TNS, are a professional football club that currently play in the Cymru Premier. They are the most successfu ...

. Brobbel signed a professional contract with

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in 2011 after progressing through their

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

. He had two

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 d ...

spells with

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

in the 2013–14 season and played for them in the

League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engli ...

. He had a loan spell with

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

in late 2014 and was released by Middlesbrough in May 2015.

Early life

Brobbel was born in

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

, County Durham and attended

High Tunstall College of Science High Tunstall College of Science (formerly High Tunstall Comprehensive School) is a coeducational secondary school located in the West Park area of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. History The school was originally built to amalgamate Har ...

Club career

Brobbel started his career with the

and signed a three-year professional contract with the club on 1 May 2011 after finishing his apprenticeship. He joined

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 ...

club

on 30 August 2013 on a one-month

, making his debut the following day as a 74th-minute substitute for Ashley Chambers in a 2–1 defeat away to

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 ...

. Brobbel scored his first career goal in the second minute of the following match at home to

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

on 14 September 2013 with a header from six yards, although York went on to lose 2–1. On 27 September 2013, after making three appearances and scoring one goal for York, Brobbel's loan was extended to 5 January 2014. York opted against extending his loan when it expired, having made 13 appearances and scored three goals for the club. Brobbel rejoined York on 27 March 2014 on loan until the end of the 2013–14 season, following an injury to Josh Carson, and made his second debut for the club two days later in a 0–0 home with

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

. He played in York's 1–0 home defeat to

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

in the play-off semi-final first leg, but did not play in the second leg, after which York were eliminated 1–0 on aggregate. He made eight appearances and scored one goal in his second spell with York. Brobbel signed a new one-year contract with Middlesbrough in July 2014, before joining League Two club

, his hometown club, on a one-month loan on 8 August. He made his debut as a seventy-sixth-minute substitute in a 1–0 away defeat to

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

on 9 August 2014, and having impressed the loan was extended for a second month in September. Another one-month extension came in October 2014, before being sent back to Middlesbrough by new Hartlepool

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Paul Murray in early November having made 17 appearances for the club. Brobbel struggled to get into Middlesbrough's under-21 team after returning, with manager Paul Jenkins saying that Brobbel was "at a crossroads in his career". He had

trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

with

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

clubs

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

and

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

, scoring two goals for Scunthorpe in a reserve-team match in April 2015. He was a member of the Middlesbrough under-21 team that won the Under-21 Premier League Division 2 and

North Riding Senior Cup The North Riding Senior Cup is the county cup in the North Riding of Yorkshire. It is administered by the North Riding County FA. According to the current rules of the competition, it is open to all clubs whose first affiliation is with the NRCF ...

, but was released in May 2015 after a 15-year association with the club. Brobbel trained with

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

Premier Division club

Darlington 1883 Darlington Football Club is an association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League North, at the sixth tier of English football. The club was founded in 1 ...

in the summer of 2015, before going on trial with

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 ...

of the

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 s ...

. He signed for Darlington 1883, and made his debut in a 2–1 home win over

Ramsbottom United Ramsbottom United Football Club are an English association football, football club based in Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester. Nicknamed "The Rams", they currently compete in the and play their home matches at the Harry Williams Riverside Stadi ...

on 9 September 2015. He went on trial with a club in Scotland, before he left Darlington in early-October 2015 making only two appearances for the club. Brobbel joined Darlington's Northern Premier League Premier Division rivals Whitby Town, and debuted a 78th-minute substitute in a 0–0 away draw with

Halesowen Town Halesowen Town Football Club is a football club based in Halesowen, West Midlands, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Grove Recreation Ground. History The club was believed to have been established around 1873, but rece ...

on 3 October 2015. On 1 February 2016, Brobbel signed for

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 20 ...

champions

. Brobbel was named in the Welsh Premier League team of the year in the 2016–17 season. After scoring 15 goals in 30 league games, he made the Welsh Premier League team of the year again in the 2022–23 season and signed a new two-year contract at the end of the campaign.

International career

Brobbel is eligible to represent England, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland at international level, and has been on training camps with both Irish teams. He played for the Northern Ireland national under-17, under-18 and under-19 teams before making his debut for the under-21 team in a 3–0 away defeat against

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

on 30 May 2013. His first goal for the under-21s came in a 2–1 home defeat to

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

in a

2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship started with a qualifying competition which began in March 2013 and finished in September 2014. The final tournament was held in the Czech Republic. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 31 Ja ...

match on 9 September 2014. He earned nine

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and scored one goal for the under-21s from 2013 to 2014.

Career statistics

Honours

The New Saints * Welsh Premier League/ Cymru Premier: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22,

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

: 2015–16, 2018–19, 2021–22,

Welsh League Cup The Cymru Premier League Cup, currently known as the Nathaniel MG Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a cup competition in Welsh football organised by the Cymru Premier. The competition was established in 1992 and is considered to be the second-mos ...

: 2016–17, 2017–18 *Welsh Cup runner-up: 2016–17 Individual *

Team of the Year: 2016–17,

References

External links

Ryan Brobbel profile
at the New Saints F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brobbel, Ryan 1993 births Living people Footballers from Hartlepool English men's footballers Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football wingers Middlesbrough F.C. players York City F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Whitby Town F.C. players The New Saints F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players Cymru Premier players English people of Northern Ireland descent