Ryan George Henson Loft (born 14 September 1997) is an English 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 plays as a striker for

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

Early and personal life

Born in Gravesend, Loft attended Northfleet Technology College, where he was a high jump champion.

Career

After playing for Dartford and

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 fr ...

, Loft joined

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

for the 2013–14 season. He moved to Braintree Town in March 2016 on a 'work experience' deal, He signed on loan for Stevenage in January 2017, and for

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 ...

in January 2018. He was released by Tottenham at the end of the 2017–18 season. In July 2018 Loft signed a two-year contract with

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. He moved on loan to Carlisle United in August 2019. He was released by Leicester at the end of the 2019–20 season. In August 2020 he signed for Scunthorpe United on a two-year contract.

Bristol Rovers

On 4 January 2022, Loft joined fellow League Two side

for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-and-a-half year deal with the club. He made his debut in a 2–0 win 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 ...

. Loft opened his account for the club on 18 April 2022, scoring the third goal in injury time to secure a vital win for Rovers over promotion rivals

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

, lifting the ball over the onrushing Vale goalkeeper after being played through by Sam Finley. The season ended with a first career promotion for Loft, a 7–0 victory over Loft's former club Scunthorpe seeing Rovers overtake

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 ...

into the final automatic promotion place on goals scored. Loft started the 2022–23 season by scoring five goals in a six-match spell through August to September 2022. Loft had impressed manager

Joey Barton Joseph Anthony Barton (born 2 September 1982) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He made 269 appearances in the Premier League, including 130 for Manchester City. He is currently the man ...

with his willingness to work for the team having returned to pre-season in fitter shape, becoming a permanent fixture in the starting line-up.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loft, Ryan 1997 births Living people Footballers from Gravesend, Kent English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Dartford F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players English Football League players