Ryan James Gilligan (born 18 January 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 le ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

Personal life

Gilligan's father, Jimmy Gilligan, was also a professional footballer and is the current head coach of the

Nike Football Academy The Nike Football Academy was an English football academy funded and administered by Nike, Inc. The academy had a revolving squad of unsigned under-20 players and was run with the intention of helping them find a professional club. The academy was ...

. He started his career at

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

just like Ryan and played most notably for the Welsh clubs

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

and

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

Career

Born in

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

, Wiltshire, Gilligan joined the

Academy at the age of 16 before

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

took over the third year of his scholarship in August 2005 after being tracked by then manager

Colin Calderwood Colin Calderwood (born 20 January 1965) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is the assistant manager at Northampton Town. As a player, he was a centre-back who notably played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hots ...

. In his first professional season, Gilligan was used mostly as a striker from the bench. He did however score four goals in part of the promotion side that finished second in

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 ...

. The next season was a poor one as he couldn't score in twenty-five appearances. For the 2007–08 season, Gilligan moved into

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

where he has looked to have found his natural position, here he played regularly in the first-team scoring four goals in 28 starts. At the end of the season, he signed a new contract keeping him at Northampton until the end of the 2009–10 season. Things went well for Gilligan in the 2008–09 season even though he only had a return of three goals in 31 games, he was described as an "integral part of the team". Gillgan was later involved in

's relegation to League Two. He then had much more productive season during 2009–10, scoring 11 goals and eight assists from midfield as Northampton narrowly missed a spot in the League Two playoffs, he was made

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

for the last five games of the season and signed a new two-year contract in May 2010. On 10 February 2010, Gilligan was loaned out 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 ...

, on a one-month loan as they chased promotion from League Two. He spent a month at the club, making six appearances and had an impact with back to back wins later leading to Torquay finishing seventh ensuring their place in the League Two Playoffs Gilligan signed on loan for Newport County on 18 August 2011, with a view to a permanent move. His father also had a brief spell on loan at Newport County. However, Ryan returned to the Northampton after his loan spell was completed. Upon expiry of his contract at

in 2012, Ryan joined Swedish club

Östersunds FK Östersunds Fotbollsklubb, commonly known simply as Östersunds FK, Östersund () or (especially locally) ÖFK, is a Swedish professional football club located in Östersund, Sweden and since 2022 play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan. The ...

, managed by ex English Footballer

Graham Potter Graham Stephen Potter (born 20 May 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of club Chelsea. In a 13-year playing career, Potter, who played as a left-back, made 307 appearances in the ...

. Within his first season at the club had their highest ever finish in history as they won promotion to the

Superettan Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Al ...

. Upon conclusion of the season in December 2012, Ryan extended his stay at ÖFK by signing a 6-month contract extension. After spending 12 months at ÖFK and upon expiry of his contract, Ryan opted to leave the club signing for

Borlänge Borlänge is a locality in Dalarna County, Sweden with 44,898 inhabitants as of 2020. It is the seat of the Borlänge Municipality with a total population of 51,604 inhabitants as of 2017. History Originally Borlänge was the name of a tin ...

based club

IK Brage Idrottsklubben Brage, also known as IK Brage or simply Brage, is a Swedish football club located in Borlänge. The club is affiliated with Dalarnas Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Domnarvsvallen. The club colours, reflected in their ...

for a period of up to 2.5 years. With IK Brage going into administration, Gilligan opted to leave and signed a contract with local rivals Dalkurd FF, this proved to be a very good move. Considered the best central midfielder of the 2014 season Gilligan was crucial in the teams playing style. At the end of the season he decided to move back to the north of Sweden and sign with Umea FC a club that had been keen on Ryan for several years. It also gave him the opportunity to work with Johan Sandhal who Gilligan openly praised on several occasions. he wears the number 10 jersey On 1 April 2017, Gilligan left PS Kemi, joining TP-47 on 19 April 2017, on a one-year contract with the option of an additional year. In June 2018, he took over some of the coaching responsibilities at the club after they sacked manager

Aleksey Zhukov Aleksey Zhukov (russian: Алексей Жуков; born 11 January 1965) is a former Russian professional football coach and a player. Club career He played 2 games in the Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Hig ...

Career statistics

References

External links

Ryan Gilligan player profile
at ntfc.co.uk * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilligan, Ryan 1987 births Sportspeople from Swindon Living people English footballers Association football midfielders Watford F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Östersunds FK players IK Brage players Dalkurd FF players Umeå FC players Kemi City F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Superettan players Veikkausliiga players English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Sweden English expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate footballers in Finland English expatriate sportspeople in Finland TP-47 players