Ryan Griffiths (born 21 August 1981 in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

) is an Australian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager who currently serves as the assistant manager of

Newcastle Olympic FC Newcastle Olympic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Hamilton a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales. They currently compete in the National Premier Leagues Northern NSW, the second tier of football in Austral ...

for

National Premier Leagues Northern NSW The National Premier Leagues Northern NSW is a regional Australian Professional association football league comprising teams from Northern New South Wales. As a subdivision of the National Premier Leagues, the league sits at Level 1 on the Nort ...

and retired 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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

Griffiths Began his professional career at the bright age of 17 scoring 4 goals in his first 10 appearances for Northern Spirit. He then attracted interest from other Australian clubs and decided to sign for

Newcastle United Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Austral ...

for 2 years with his old youth team coach

Ian Crook Ian Stuart Crook (born 18 January 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a midfielder who began his career with Tottenham Hotspur. before making 418 appearances for Norwich City where he notably ...

and

Gary van Egmond Gary Rudy Peter van Egmond (born 29 June 1965) is an Australian former soccer player and former head coach of Newcastle Jets in the A-League. Playing career Van Egmond began his playing career with APIA Leichhardt in 1982. It was not until he ...

. His performances at the club granted him a call up to the Olyroos Australian Olympic games team where he went on to play in the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. He then attracted attention from English clubs and was about to put pen to paper with

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. Unfortunately he could not sign with the club due to not having the right credentials and family background status to live and work in the UK. Griffiths got picked up by National Bucharest in the Romanian Divizia A where he played for 2 seasons and attracted offers from some eastern European Giants. Griffiths decided to sign for

Rapid București Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a '' cascade' ...

for 4.1 million Rupees transfer fee. On 18 March 2007, Ryan scored his first goal for

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

in the 32nd minute, giving his team a 1–0 win over

Shenyang Jinde Guangzhou City Football Club (广州城) is a Chinese professional football club that competes in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Guangzhou, Guangdong, and their home venu ...

. Griffiths went on to produce several notable performances for the Chinese Super League side. He went back to China and at the end of 2008 season he left Liaoning for

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in the Chaoyang District in Beijing and their ho ...

. On 8 June 2009 it was announced that he would join

A-league A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

club

Gold Coast United Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first era of Gold Coast Unit ...

at the conclusion of the 2009

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

season, but he later returned to Beijing. On 18 November 2010 Griffiths signed an 18-month deal with A-League club Newcastle Jets starting January 2011. On the opening day of the

2011–12 A-League The 2011–12 A-League was the 35th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the seventh season of the Australian A-League soccer competition since its establishment in 2004. At the end of the previous season, the North Queensland Fury wer ...

season he scored a brace, allowing the Jets to win the game 3–2 over

Melbourne Heart Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...

in Newcastle. On 27 February 2012 he signed a two-year contract extension with Newcastle Jets rejecting interest for both rival A-League club and clubs abroad. On 26 February 2013 Griffiths was granted a release from the club to return to China and sign with

Beijing Baxy Beijing Sport University Football Club (), commonly known as BSU (), is a Chinese professional football club that currently participates in the China League One division under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based ...

. At Baxy, Griffiths started prolifically, scoring 4 in his first 6 and was determined to make an impact for his second Beijing club In late 2013, Griffiths was linked with

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League ( ms, Liga Super Malaysia) is the men's top professional football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP), now known as the Malays ...

club

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

for the 2014 season. His brother

Adam Griffiths Adam Griffiths (born 21 August 1979 in Sydney) is an Australian professional football manager who currently serves as the Assistant Coach of Western Sydney Wanderers. He is a former professional football (soccer) player and Socceroo. Since 202 ...

played for Malaysian club

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

in 2013. On 8 January 2014, Griffiths returned to the A-League, signing with

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

. After only two-months and four appearances Griffiths left Adelaide United to sign for Sarawak, whom he was linked with earlier in the year before signing for Adelaide United. On 5 December 2015,

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Hong Kong Football Association. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inaugural seaso ...

giants

South China South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...

announced the capture of Griffiths from Sarawak via Facebook. On 27 January 2017, Griffiths joined

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

to bolster their attacking options. In late 2017 Griffiths joined

Lambton Jaffas Lambton Jaffas Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Lambton a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in the National Premier Leagues Northern NSW, the highest division of the New South Wales Football Leagues. History ...

to play in the Northern NSW

National Premier League The National Premier League, also known for sponsorship purposes as the Red Stripe Premier League, is sanctioned by the Jamaican Football Federation as the top division for men's association football in Jamaica. Contested between 12 clubs, it op ...

competition.

International career

He made his international debut on 6 September 2006, coming on as a substitute for

Ahmad Elrich Ahmad Elrich ( ar, أحمد الريش; born 30 May 1981) is an Australian professional association footballer who plays as a right winger for Australian club Parramatta FC. Born in Australia to Lebanese parents, Elrich represented his native co ...

(who was injured) in the 30th minute in an

2007 AFC Asian Cup The 2007 AFC Asian Cup was the 14th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For the first time in its h ...

qualifier against

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. His second cap for

came in a friendly against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

in November 2006, substituted on the last 15 minutes of the match. His third cap for Australia came in a 3-1 lost friendly against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

when he again was used off the bench to have significant effect on the game. Fourth cap game in June 2007, in a friendly rematch against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, when he came on as a substitute in the 55th minute. The game ended in a 2–1 loss. His latest appearance for the Socceroos was in 2008 in a friendly game against

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, when he came on as a substitute. The game ended in a 0–0 draw.

Personal life

His two brothers, twins

Joel Joel or Yoel is a name meaning "Yahweh Is God" and may refer to: * Joel (given name), origin of the name including a list of people with the first name. * Joel (surname), a surname * Joel (footballer, born 1904), Joel de Oliveira Monteiro, Brazili ...

and Adam, are also professional footballers.Griffiths brothers sink Jets
His twin brothers are born on the same day as him (21 August). Ryan is now the Director at the Digital Marketing Agenc
Geek Media

Honours

With

: *

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Club statistics (Hong Kong)

References

External links

Oz Football Profile

South China Squad – Ryan Griffiths Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Ryan 1981 births Living people Sportsmen from New South Wales A-League Men players Australian expatriate soccer players Olympic soccer players of Australia Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Soccer players from Sydney Association football midfielders Australia international soccer players Newcastle Jets FC players Northern Spirit FC players National Soccer League (Australia) players Liga I players FC Progresul București players FC Rapid București players Liaoning F.C. players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Beijing Guoan F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Romania Expatriate footballers in China Sutherland Sharks FC players Beijing Sport University F.C. players Australian expatriate sportspeople in China Manly United FC players Adelaide United FC players Expatriate footballers in Malaysia Australian expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Sarawak FA players Malaysia Super League players South China AA players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players Expatriate footballers in Hong Kong Chinese Super League players China League One players Australian soccer players