Ryan France (born 13 December 1980 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

, England) is an English former 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 ...

who last played for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

having spent the majority of his career at

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...

and

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

. His preferred position was as a

right winger 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 ...

, but also played as a right wingback.

Career

Alfreton Town

Born in

, France started his career at

. He had been courted by a number of league clubs but chose to remain with Alfreton until he had completed his

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

at Nottingham Trent University where he graduated in ''Sport & Exercise Science and Mathematics''. After an impressive start to the season, scoring five goals in seven games, he was signed for

by then manager

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politi ...

in September 2003 for a fee of £15,000. Previously he had spent time on trial at Ipswich Town without being offered a contract.

Hull City

The day after signing for Hull, he scored on his début (as a substitute) in a 6–1 victory over

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. France achieved the impressive feat of four consecutive promotions: 2001–02 and 2002–03 in non-league football with Alfreton and 2003–04 and 2004–05 with Hull City in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

. In the 2006–07 season, France's versatility was demonstrated as he played in a variety of positions for City, including left-wing,

right-back 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 ...

and central midfield. However, in February 2007, in a game against West Brom, France ruptured a

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's la ...

in his left knee, ruling him out for the remainder of the season. When France appeared for Hull City against Arsenal in the Premier League during the 2008–09 season, he joined an elite band of players to have represented the same football club in all four divisions. His second and final Premier League appearance came against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

at Stamford Bridge. By June 2009 however France, along with eight other players, was told he was being released by the club after six seasons.

Sheffield United

Having been on trial at

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 ...

and even scoring in ''The Owls pre-season victory over

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 ...

, he joined cross town rivals

on 24 July 2009, signing a two-year deal. He made his debut for The Blades in the first game of the new season; a 0–0 draw 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 ...

. France was unable to hold down a place in the first team, regularly featuring as an unused sub for the first half of the season. After making only nine league appearances for the Blades he picked up a knee injury in February 2010. The injury was only expected to keep him sidelined for six to eight weeks but he was never to play for the club again, failing to recover his fitness for the remainder of his contract. He revealed in a Hull City programme against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

on 5 November 2011 that he had retired from the game due to a knee injury.

References

External links

Ryan France player profile
at hullcityafc.net * {{DEFAULTSORT:France, Ryan 1980 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English footballers Alfreton Town F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Alumni of Nottingham Trent University Premier League players English Football League players Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players