James Ryan (born 6 September 1988) is an Irish 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 lea ...

that played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He made 419 league appearances in the EFL and was capped four times for the Republic of Ireland Under-21.

Career

Ryan began his career with

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and was part of their

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

winning teams of 2006 and 2007. He plays for

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

at youth level. He is known for his shots from distance, which accounted for most of his goals in the two FA Youth Cup runs. It was announced on 14 August 2007, that Ryan was to join League Two side

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

on a month's loan. He made his debut for Shrewsbury on 14 August 2007, playing the full 120 minutes of the 1–0 win over

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

in the League Cup. In October, a permanent deal was agreed, effective from 1 January 2008. In the interim period, Ryan was still technically a loan player, but was unable to play for Shrewsbury between 26 November and 1 January, due to a 93-day restriction on short-term loans. He made a total of seven appearances, before being released by the club on 29 April 2008. In August 2008, Ryan signed for

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

, following a trial. He scored his first goal for the Republic of Ireland U21 in Lithuania in October 2008. After his performances for Accrington Stanley throughout the 2010–11 League Two season he was voted in the

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

. On 28 June 2011 he signed a two-year contract with League One side

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

. On 5 June 2013 Ryan signed a one-year contract with League Two side Chesterfield. On 1 July 2015, Ryan signed for

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

on a free transfer. After 67 appearances and winning the club's Player of the Year in 2016, Ryan penned a two-year deal with

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. On 29 July 2019, Ryan signed a two-year deal with

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

. On 19 May 2021, Rochdale confirmed their 2020-21 Retained/Release List, with Ryan being confirmed as one of the players set to depart the club upon the expiration of his contract on 30 June. Ryan made 38 league appearance for the club, scoring on one occasion against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

in a 2-0 win on 11 January 2020.

Career statistics

Honours

Liverpool Youth *

: 2005–06, 2006–07 Chesterfield *

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

: 2013–14 *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

runner-up: 2013–14 Individual *

2010–11 Football League Two The 2010–11 Football League Two season, (known as the Npower League Two for sponsorship reasons), was the lowest division of the Football League for that season. It began on 7 August 2010 and concluded on 28 May 2011 with the play-off fina ...

Player of the Season: 2008–09,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Player of the Season: 2015–16

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Jimmy 1988 births Living people Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Liverpool F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players English Football League players 21st-century Irish sportsmen ru:Райан, Джимми